Everyone wants their family and friends to feel comfortable in their home and it can be especially challenging to find living room seating options to suit a variety of needs. Perhaps you’re looking for the right chairs and sofa for a TV area, comfortable seats for a spot where people will read or the right pieces for a place that’s perfect for relaxing. Whatever your seating needs, it’s a good idea to research a wide range of options and select from both fabric and leather styles. Each of these styles offers you a number of opportunities to design comfortable and beautiful living room seating combinations.
The stereotypical living room of the past brings to mind a recliner, sofa and maybe an occasional chair or two. Today there are a diverse range of home furnishings you can choose from; many of these are handcrafted, one-of-a-kind pieces that are made from unconventional materials such as recycled or reclaimed items. A good idea is to theme the room around a high quality fabric or leather sofa or sofa sectional set that can be arranged in a multitude of ways, if you decide that you’d like to be able to change the look. Bench made sofas and sectionals offer the greatest quality. Consider pieces made from eco-friendly materials like soy based foam, and recycled fibers.
Often furniture companies can help with free design consultations to get you started. Think about mixing your chairs, and especially if you have a large room, you can group them into various areas to create natural looking conversation or board game nooks, or inviting reading sanctuaries. Deep leather chairs offer good looks and luxurious comfort. These types of chairs can be good conversation starters and their distinctive look can define your space. Look for quality craftsmanship such as hand-tied springs, solid kiln-dried hardwood frames and muslin wrapped back cushions. You can also choose an elegant leather ottoman to add to your seat grouping. Ottomans offer more than a place to rest your feet, and designer Ottomans are available in a range of leathers and fabrics. They also sometimes can double as attractive storage pieces. Try mixing different sizes, shapes, colors and textures.
While you are selecting furnishings to outfit your living room, think about the lighting you want for each seating area you create. Soft lighting works best for some areas; while adjustable dimmers, track lighting and chandeliers can each bring the right tone to a room. Light fixtures made from recycled metal items and unusual objects can even add to your décor. Your design consultant can advise you on selecting suitable lighting options.
A living room, family room or den’s seating doesn’t have to be boring. The range of leathers, fabrics, recycled and reclaimed items, handcrafted and unique pieces available all offer so many choices and opportunities to add comfort and character to your home. Ultimately your home is for living in and an investment in comfortable seating will pay off over the days and years that you enjoy your time relaxing and entertaining.
Written by Lisa Santora; guest writer for Arhaus. Arhaus is an ecologically minded home furnishings company that specializes in designing unique living room furniture and other sustainable furnishings and then finding the best craftsmen in the world to create them for you. Lisa Santora is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. © 2010 Arhaus.