If your living room feels cramped and uncomfortable, you may assume that excess furniture is caused. But the real reason for this interior design dilemma can surprise you. We asked the interior designer to explain a common mistake that makes the rooms feel firmly – with professional advice on how to fix the situation.
Meet the expert
Marie Flanigan Is the interior designer, a classically trained architect, and the founder of Marie Flanigan interior in Houston.
The scale is off
When you enter the living room and everything just feels good, the scale is often an inconspicuous hero behind that feelings of harmony, says the interior designer Marie Flanigan.
“The scale determines how the furniture, rugs, lighting and decor relate to space and one another,” she explains. “When he is right, the room is breathing – she feels openly, and yet grounded, functional, and again calls. When wrong, even space with minimum furniture can be felt.”
When you enter the living room and everything just feels properly, the rankings is often an inconspicuous hero behind that feelings of harmony.
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Errors Error Error Living Room
Flanigan wipes routine mistakes with a scale that can destroy the decor of your living room.
- Processed couch: Excessive couch or cross-section dominates in the room, leaving some space for anything else.
- Donjet table for coffee.
- Too little carpet: A mat that is not great enough fails to secure space and can leave a seating area that looks like it floats in the middle of the room.
- Insufficient lighting bodies: Pendants, chandeliers, and even table lamps that are too small can disappear in the background instead of helping the balance of the room.
- Lack of variation in a scale: Decor It’s all size – whether it’s a small or large-flat-flatte space and makes it feel visually covered.
How to choose the right scale
Design by Marie Flanigan Interiors / Julie Soefer Photography
Focus on getting the main components right when designing your living room, it suggests flannigan.
- Couch: “In the average living room, the couch in 84 to 90 inch is usually a safe choice, while the sections are often done between 110 per 120 inches,” she says. “Leave some breathing rooms on both sides so the piece don’t feel in a space.”
- Coffee table: Flanigan suggests with the goal of something about two-thirds of your sofa length. Set it about 16 to 18 inches from the seat so that it is pleasant to reach.
- Rugs: The mat area should be large enough to extend each piece of each piece in your seating schedule. Flanigan suggests a minimum size of 8×10, with 9×12 that creates an even more greasy look.
- Lighting: “Do not be shaken from the fixing of the statement that meets about a third of the width of the room,” it advises flannigan. “The right presence above your head can even balance even the largest pieces of furniture.”
Advisory Budget Tracking Tips
Design by Marie Flanigan Interiors / Julie Soefer Photography
If you cooperate with a smaller budget, the designer suggests starting with the mat. “It’s one piece that can currently make your living room feel bigger, anchid and more intentional.”
Priority investment in a sofa that is comfortable, properly scaled and neutral to work with individual pieces when you are a layer over time. Tables and sidewalks for coffee can be temporary or budget for now, flanigan lights, because they are easy to upgrade later without interfering with the flow of the room.
“If a large chandelier is not possible immediately, add floor lamps or desk lamps that are right heights and proportions with your sitting,” she says. “Lighting is an easy way to layer in balance and warmth without a great investment.”
Daily residence schedule tricks
Design by Marie Flanigan Interiors / Julie Soefer Photography
Selecting the right ladder is just part of the equation – how you set the furniture and the decor is equally key.
“Drag the furniture away from the walls whenever possible, even in just a few inches,” says Flanigan. “This subtle shift creates the illusion of more space.”
Consider balance in terms of height and shapes. “If your sofa is low and simplified, pair it with higher books or an arched lamp for creating visual diversity,” says the designer. “Peeled upholstery and open upholstered pieces – like pairing a skirted sofa with feet – to create visual diversity while allowed light to pass through space.”
Finally, don’t forget the negative space – empty areas around and above the furniture.
“Resignation of breathing space between the piece is not lost space,” Flannigan says. “That’s what it allows your living room to feel inviting rather than scare.”