This is likely to be the largest room in your home. It's also the room in which you've probably spent the most money on furniture, fabrics and carpets. You entertain here and spend a lot of time in it, so the living room decor needs lasting appeal.
Living rooms only used for a single function are rare, so it can help to divide out spaces. Make comfortable 'nooks' by using folding screens or divide up a large area with a free-standing set of shelves. Storage in any living room is important: you'll want somewhere to keep books, magazines, CDs and videos, toys, plus a place for your 'treasures' - souvenirs, ornaments or objects d'art Real living rooms are never static. Instead, they are always changing with your needs.
If your living room seems isolated from the rest of your home, consider opening up the space by removing a wall, or simply replacing a solid or opaque door with a transparent one. Open-plan living has its benefits but do you have to turn the TV volume up to drown out the sound of kitchen equipment? Do you have to turn the volume down to answer and speak on the phone? Closing off some space with folding doors or by reducing the size of an archway with curtains, or simply re-locating the telephone, can solve a lot of problems. Adding some additional electrical sockets often means that you can relocate the stereo or TV, while changing or adding different lights can help divide up a large area into smaller spaces.
Think about moving your living room. Look at where people in your home 'naturally' congregate. It's generally in the most appealing or welcoming space and often not where you intended. If the view from your present living room window is dull or perhaps looks out at street level, why not move it upstairs so you look out across roofs or treetops? Traditional layouts tended to put living rooms at the front of the house but if this means the room is dark, why not make it your dining room or a bedroom instead?
Unless you have the luxury of more than one living room, this room must feel comfortable during the day and relaxing in the evening. There are some simple decorator's tricks that can help you solve some of the more common living room problems, and they are worth trying before you make any major or expensive alterations.
In many living rooms the fireplace is the focal point - even when central heating has been installed � but it often means that you sit with your back to the window. Try placing a mirror over the fireplace, so the windows and the view through them become incorporated into the room. A mirror placed at right angles to a window will double the image and make a small room feel more open and spacious.
Adding a window to a wall that doesn't have one can improve the quality of light and space, while curtains or blinds are often the solution to creating changes of mood in a living room. In the day, pulled aside, they are unobtrusive elements but in the evening, when drawn, they become a wall of pattern or colour, capable of enhancing and transforming even the simplest of schemes.
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