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Formal Living Room Ideas and Designs

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Living Roomn
Living Roomn
Samuel Gordon Architects, PCSamuel Gordon Architects, PC
Photo of a coastal formal open plan living room in New York with beige walls, a standard fireplace and beige floors.
Midcentury Modern Home
Midcentury Modern Home
Lensit StudioLensit Studio
Luca Sforza of Lensit Studio
Retro formal open plan living room in Seattle with white walls, light hardwood flooring, no fireplace and beige floors.
RiverBanks Residence, Great Room
RiverBanks Residence, Great Room
Foz DesignFoz Design
In the open concept home, the living area is defined by steps and a hearth to create a distinction of space and activities while maintaining flow. A custom-made wood panel conceals the television and complements the custom-made coffee table. Photo Credit: Garrett Rowland
Tiburon Modern
Tiburon Modern
Ann Lowengart InteriorsAnn Lowengart Interiors
To eliminate an inconsistent layout, we removed the wall dividing the dining room from the living room and added a polished brass and ebonized wood handrail to create a sweeping view into the living room. A blue velvet tufted sofa, crosshair hide stools from Wisteria, and a coffee table from HD Buttercup create a comfortable seating area.
Villanova Residence - living room
Villanova Residence - living room
Archer & Buchanan Architecture, Ltd.Archer & Buchanan Architecture, Ltd.
Photographer: Tom Crane
Design ideas for a large classic formal open plan living room in Philadelphia with beige walls, no tv, carpet, a standard fireplace, a stone fireplace surround and a dado rail.
Historic Preservation
Historic Preservation
Joanie Wyll & Associates, Inc.Joanie Wyll & Associates, Inc.
Design ideas for a midcentury formal open plan living room in Dallas with light hardwood flooring, a standard fireplace and a wall mounted tv.
Socal Modern Renovation
Socal Modern Renovation
Horst ArchitectsHorst Architects
Photo of a contemporary formal open plan living room in Orange County with white walls, dark hardwood flooring, a ribbon fireplace and a stone fireplace surround.
Vista Residence
Vista Residence
Miró Rivera ArchitectsMiró Rivera Architects
Paul Finkel
This is an example of a large midcentury formal open plan living room in Austin with white walls, light hardwood flooring, no fireplace and no tv.
Scenic Drive
Scenic Drive
GREER Interior DesignGREER Interior Design
Reagen Taylor Photography
Traditional formal living room in Austin with brown walls, dark hardwood flooring and brown floors.
Contemporary Living Room
Contemporary Living Room
This is an example of a large contemporary formal open plan living room in London with beige walls, light hardwood flooring and no tv.
ROCKSLPIT
ROCKSLPIT
COMETA ARCHITECTSCOMETA ARCHITECTS
Dimitris Kleanthis, Betty Tsaousi, Nikos Zoulamopoulos, Vasislios Vakis, Eftratios Komis
Photo of a mediterranean formal enclosed living room in Barcelona with white walls, concrete flooring, a standard fireplace, a plastered fireplace surround, no tv and grey floors.
Sonoma Valley Residence
Sonoma Valley Residence
RYAN ASSOCIATES GENERAL CONTRACTORSRYAN ASSOCIATES GENERAL CONTRACTORS
Inspiration for a contemporary formal open plan living room in San Francisco with medium hardwood flooring.
Transitional Central Park Home
Transitional Central Park Home
Fox Force Five ConstructionFox Force Five Construction
Designed by Chango & Co Photos by Jacob Snavely
Inspiration for a medium sized classic formal open plan living room in New York with white walls, dark hardwood flooring and feature lighting.
Naperville Realtor Luxury Custom Home Living Room
Naperville Realtor Luxury Custom Home Living Room
MILLER + MILLER Architectural PhotographyMILLER + MILLER Architectural Photography
Pass through window between family room and kitchen allows for easy entertaining. Granite countertops in the kitchen. Two larders for food and dish storage. Distressed live sawn, wide plank, white oak hardwood floors. Recessed lighting and museum quality fixtures/trims. Naperville Realtor Luxury Custom Home Living Room
pashley
pashley
Design4spaceDesign4space
Contemporary formal open plan living room in Sydney with a hanging fireplace, white walls and a wall mounted tv.
Cottenham Park Road
Cottenham Park Road
3s architects3s architects
Inspiration for a contemporary formal enclosed living room in London with white walls, dark hardwood flooring, a hanging fireplace, a metal fireplace surround and brown floors.
The Lake House
The Lake House
EDR Building DesignsEDR Building Designs
'The Lake House' designed by EDR Building Designs, multi BDAQ award winner, as seen on Australia's Best Houses Status Images
Medium sized contemporary formal open plan living room in Cairns with grey walls.
Montecito Andalusian
Montecito Andalusian
Cabana HomeCabana Home
Santa Barbara Style is eclectic in this Living room centered with a carved Limestone fireplace flanked with a pair of imported Italian chests; Bill Sofield leather chairs, Barbara Barry Slipper Chairs, and a Lee Industries Sofa, all available at Cabana Home. Custom window coverings and rug by Cabana Home. Home Furnishings & Interior Design by Cabana Home. Photography by: Mark Lohman
Home Staging- Morning Sky
Home Staging- Morning Sky
Create Luck Realty, Design & Lifestyle, LLCCreate Luck Realty, Design & Lifestyle, LLC
Design ideas for a mediterranean formal living room in Las Vegas with white walls, dark hardwood flooring and brown floors.
Farm House
Farm House
DD Ford ConstructionDD Ford Construction
Inspiration for a large rural formal enclosed living room in Santa Barbara with dark hardwood flooring, a standard fireplace, grey walls, a wooden fireplace surround and no tv.

Formal Living Room Ideas and Designs

Looking for living room ideas? Whether your living room is lacklustre, your lounge is limited in space, your sitting room is suffering from outdated decor or your front room is full of clutter, there are living room ideas and designs that will inspire you to breathe life into your living space. Discover small living room ideas to help maximise tiny spaces or layout ideas that will work with awkward shaped living rooms. Perhaps you’re struggling to decide on living room colours? Read on for help with colours, layout and design ideas, or find inspiration from the millions of living room photos on Houzz.

Living room wallpaper ideas

A good place to start when it comes to redesigning your living room is with the walls. While paint may seem the simplest choice, and easy to change, don’t discredit the design opportunities of wallpaper in living rooms. There are tons of great living room wallpaper ideas, from modern geometric patterns to traditional florals, and loads of ways to use them – you don’t have to cover the whole room or go for the ubiquitous feature wall. You could wallpaper only above the dado rail (if you have one), either side of a chimney breast, or behind a shelving unit to give your displayed items a stylish backdrop. Discover more living room wallpaper ideas or if paint is more your style, there’s plenty of living room designs to discover when it comes to paint ideas; just browse through the huge selection of living photos and search for the specific paint you’re after if you really want to narrow it down.

Small living room ideas

When it comes to our living room design, we want it to feel as welcoming and personality-filled as possible, but that can be a struggle when we’re working with a small space. But not to fear, there are small living room ideas to help you make most out of what you’re working with. A couple of small living room ideas can include: working with the height you have – installing floor-to-ceiling bookshelves or drawing the eye to the top of the walls with wallpaper; choosing space-saving or storage-incorporating (or both!) furniture, such as corner sofas with storage space under the chaise longue section; and keeping things symmetrical – a central fireplace with seating opposite, or seats facing each other, can give the illusion of a larger, more grand room. When it comes to the best decor for small living rooms, you can either choose to keep things light and airy to open up the space, or embrace the cosiness of the smaller area you have by going for warm colours and filling the room with your favourite accessories.

Living room layouts and choosing the right living room furniture

When it comes to the layout of your living room, it will depend on what pieces of furniture you have – but how do you choose what living room furniture to add, whether you’re refreshing your living room design or starting from scratch? The best place to start is with the seating – one corner sofa will usually seat three to four people, and if that’s all you think you’ll need, then you can leave it at that. Placing your sofa along the longest wall helps to make the most of the space, but think about where you want the focus of the room to be, too. If you need more seating, look at armchairs that offer comfort but don’t take up too much space – cramming a room with too many large armchairs is something to avoid. But armchairs and sofas don’t have to be your only options – go for bean bags and floor cushions for an eclectic feel, pouffes and ottomans if you’re more traditional, and smart design chairs for contemporary living room ideas. Coffee tables are always handy, but you can always add a couple of side tables if you don’t want to clutter the central space in front of seating with anything. If you centre your living room design around a fireplace or TV, then you might want storage and shelving to feature around the focus of your room. There are plenty of style options when it comes to TV units, and you can even go for bespoke living room storage units to make the most of the space if you want a sleek, built-in look. Keep reading below for more living room storage ideas. Discover a huge range of living room furniture, as well as living room accessories, to help you finish your room design.

Living room design ideas

Struggling with what living room colours to choose, or what style to go with? While a grey living room design is popular at the moment, you might not want to go with the ubiquitous colour. Although, if neutral and contemporary are the living room ideas you’re after, a grey sofa or grey walls will give you a good base to work on. If you want to stay neutral, beige is not your only other option, either. Light yellows, taupes and soft greys will work. Why not try adding simple but plush cushions to your sofa and a rug in these colours to achieve a modern-traditional look? For contemporary living room ideas, dark blues and greens are on trend, but if you don’t want to dive straight into the dark wall trend, you could opt for a couple of pieces of furniture, or go for dark-hued living room accessories instead. Whites, woods and pastels could work well for Scandinavian living room designs. If an eclectic living room is what you’re after, you could go for large print wallpaper, a statement lighting piece, vibrant rug and lots of colourful book or ornament displays. For a country feel, rustic carpet, stone hearths, comfy armchairs and traditional patterns in creams, greens and browns will give you that cosy cottage feel.

Living room storage ideas

It’s natural that our living rooms tend to attract lots of items and belongings seeing as they act as multipurpose living spaces. Whether you love to read a book; watch a film; let your children play with their toys; practise a craft like knitting or drawing; play a musical instrument or play video games in your sitting room, there will always be a need for a few extra living room ideas that can help you with storage. Apart from the standard bookcases, side tables and TV units, there are a few other handy living room storage ideas you can invest in. As mentioned before, if you have the room and budget for it, a built-in storage unit could be the way forward. With a well-built unit you could hide your TV, DVDs, players, books, video consoles and all sorts away in one place. If you don’t quite have a large enough area for one, you could look at shelving – either side of the chimney breast is a great place to install shelving if you have one in your living room. And don’t forget living room furniture such as sofas, benches and ottomans that lift up to reveal hidden storage; providing seating and storing space at the same time. With the right storage solutions your living room design could open up and feel so much more spacious and stylish. Discover more living room storage ideas by browsing these photos. Once you have your living room storage, colours, design, layout and furniture sorted, all that’s left is to browse the millions of living room ideas on Houzz and save your favourites to an ideabook. If you’re still searching for specific living room ideas, check out the popular pages below:
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