Large Living Room Decorating & Furnishing In furnishing a large living room, use large pieces for the necessary furniture and keep small the unimportant pieces, the small tables, chairs, stools, etc. The large pieces will do the actual furnishing, and the smaller ones fill in spaces and create the "homey" atmosphere. Place bright pieces in dark corners, as a dark piece will lose itself in the shadows. Before arranging furniture, it is best to draw the floor plan to scale, say one-fourth inch to a foot, using white paper for the plan and yellow for the furniture, which also should be drawn to scale. In that way you will not only be better able to judge convenience, balance, uncluttered floor space which make so much for the dignity of the room, but you can demonstrate to others, so that when the actual placing time comes, you know to a half-foot where each piece should go. Remember that it is always better to leave a space empty than to have it occupied by a badly placed piece of furniture. Good furniture needs space to be seen to advantage. If there is a motley array of furniture in the living room, keep the carpet, hangings and furniture upholstery all to one tone. Never use two kinds of figured cretonne in the same room. If a small figured cretonne is used, it can be used lavishly. The living room can stand a stronger color tone than the drawing-room. But, as a rule, it is best to have plain walls and plain upholstery for the furniture, leaving the decoration to the hangings. Never put a pictorial paper on the walls; they are tiresome and distracting. One usually comes into the living room after a fatiguing day's work, and it should not over-stimulate. For that reason, natural finished woodwork, in oak, cypress or gumwood, with a dull finish, is preferable to white walls, save in the case of a country house. Next Page: Living Room Sofas. |
