The design of homes has become less informal in recent generations. However, even though fewer homeowners are putting aside formal living room solely to entertain guests ,it is becoming apparent that the formal living space is coming back in a home where it is true that a space for family is typically a space intended for use–where you can watch movies on the computer and where the dog can sit on the couch, a formal living space is usually designed to host guests.
Formal living spaces are typically elegant and sophisticated while living rooms for families are informal and welcoming.
If you’ve stuck to the old-fashioned way of life and have devoted your area to your formal living space or want to make your family room, draw inspiration from our best ideas for making the space comfortable and functional.
What Differentiates A Formal Living Room From A Family Room?
A formal living room is more for entertaining guests, while the family room is the daily living space for the homeowners,” according to the designers, who point out that the furniture in formal spaces should be more sophisticated and stylish, whereas furniture in a family space tend to be more casual and are able to withstand wear and tear. Both rooms are meant for living, but the inhabitants and frequency of use set them apart.”
Mistakes To Avoid In Your Formal Living Room
Although a family room ought to include plenty of seating, such as a comfy sectional to relax and watch a show, You don’t want to take over with furniture. You don’t want to overwhelm the formal living space by putting up large furniture.
Instead, choose to use smaller furniture as a group to offer additional seating options while being conscious of how the arrangement does not interfere with your flow in the space.
Instead of an ottoman that is upholstered with sturdy fabric that doubles as a footrest and an extra seating for your everyday living space, choose the most sturdy furniture piece for your living space, which can be used for gathering to store food and drinks.
Highlight Brown Furniture
Antiques and furniture that have been passed down are always appreciated in furniture in a Southern home, but especially in the living area. For the 1980s, Nashville apartment Designer Jeremy Clark repurposed an antique drop-leaf table to create an attractive side table, pointing to the history of the house within the modernized living room.
Angle Furniture to Facilitate Conversation
There shouldn’t be a need to rush and change furniture when a guest arrives. Take into consideration the distance between couches and chairs as well as the look of your table to facilitate the flow of conversations. In this living room with a pass-through, the round table allows you to include a pair of chairs that face the sofas.
Weave a Single Pattern Throughout the Room
Choose a design you like and incorporate it into a variety of ways in the space, including window treatments and wallpaper to upholstery or even as framed artwork. In Hannah Seabrook’s living area, The antique enthusiast employed a traditional chintz pattern ( Lee Jofa’s Althea) for drapes, armchairs, and pillows.
Use Wallpaper
Whatever the style, simple or elaborate wallpapers are, they will enhance any space. Even if you don’t want to overpower the space or clash with your current furnishings, wallpapers are an excellent way to bring more style to your space, just as designer Lindsey Ellis Beatty’s choice of grasscloth for the living area, as seen above.
Mix and Match Pillows
Follow the example of Erin the Napiers’ living area and make sure you don’t go with the same throw pillows. To keep the room lively and in keeping with the hand-me-down couch that was covered in 1999, which belonged to Erin’s mother, The couple chose an assortment of pillows that there are no two that are alike. The same color scheme keeps the space unified.
Tuck in a Built-In Bar
Install the look of a relaxed bar to make entertaining a breeze. Although you could set aside a paneled cabinet, the fully-fledged wet bar as on this 2017 Idea House ,an old bookcase shelf that has been repurposed, or a hutch from the past as shown at Molly William’s house can also be used to create an attractive and elegant bar setup.
Design With Symmetry
In the main living area located in 2022’s Idea House, designer Charlotte Lucas balanced comfort and formality in a room that can accommodate casual living as well as formal gatherings.
A couple of comfortable sofas and swivel chairs, along with a chaise longue, offer plenty of seating and fanciful accents such as millwork, custom-designed bordered bookcases, and historic blue-and-white ceramic tiles that line the fireplace’s surround.
Make Existing Pieces Work
Some things require a freshly painted coat or reupholstery, such as antique wood pieces, which are more sophisticated in their original state.
The furniture in this living space , designed by Allison Allen, re-covered the passed-down sofa and two ottomans in a fun animal print to give the room an air of youth, and incorporated antiques to give the room a more refined look.
Anchor it With Bookshelves.
To create this living space, designer Caroline Gidiere relied on built-ins stuffed with new and old books, and different hues of blue were used.
Have Moveable Side Tables
If you have ample seating, make sure to provide plenty of table space for guests to set up the teacup or wine glass. It’s not always practical to place a table beside each seating area; think about small, easy-to-move perches that can be placed beneath a console that is not being used.
For the Design House of 2019 Idea House, designer Heather Chadduck Hillegas incorporated a multi-purpose garden stool.
Create Multiple Seating Areas
The formal living space has a dining space, which allows the room to be used for large gatherings. Each seating area has a distinct purpose.
Some groups can sit at the table while another group can gather and talk on the sofa or armchairs. Two poufs, as well as stools, can be used as extra seating options that can be moved to any place in the room where they’re required.
Vary Furniture Styles
Combine traditional pieces with contemporary pieces to make a formal living room appear fresh but classic. In this case, a leather sofa with nailhead trim is paired with contemporary mid-century tables and modern chairs.
Collected art and an antique chandelier give the room a collected look instead of a matchy-match, bought-from-a-furniture-store feel.
Adjust the Layout to Encourage Conversation
Arrange the chairs so that they face the other chairs so it is easier for guests to engage in conversation. This formal living space includes a table with four tops in the corner that can be used to accommodate a second group of people, enhancing the room’s versatility.
Additionally, you can remove the dining chairs and set them wherever there is a need for a second seat.
Symmetrical Formal Living Room
The symmetrical design brings the formality and elegance of the space. A pair of loveseats, as well as matching floor lamps that are arranged around an ottoman coffee table, create a luxurious atmosphere in this room.
The crown molding and the ornate mantel add a touch of elegance to the look of the room. An armchair with a plush design and a stool with a regal design provides an additional seating option that can be moved to wherever required.
Formal Living Room with Moveable Seating
If you have lots of seating, you’ll need ample tables at the side so that guests can enjoy an iced tea or bottle of vino. It’s not practical to put an entire table at each seat, so you should consider tables that nest and can be put away out of the way when they are not in use.
Explore Patterns and Colors
A formal living room from becoming too crowded by mixing different textures with prints. Use bright colors to enhance the fun vibe of the space. Choose soft fabrics, like the velvet upholstery on armchairs, to enhance the room.
Pattern Ideas for Formal Living Rooms
Create a formal living room look by layering a variety of textures, colors, and patterns. Bring in a variety of accessories such as drapes, upholstery, furniture, throw pillows, and throws.
The trick to make the look more organized rather than chaotic is by using a palette based on the concept of color. This is a couple of complimentary color schemes–red and green, as well as orange and blue–add a pop of color to the room.
Minimalist Formal Living Room Ideas
Sometimes, it’s all it takes to make a formal living space. Pick a few easy but striking pieces, such as this curvaceous armchair and a sculptural side table or the large potted palm. You can also make them stand out against a striking wall, like this paneled wall made of wood.
Moody Formal Living Room Ideas
Oppose the trend towards white interiors and create an atmosphere that is more somber with deep patterns, vibrant colors, and rich hues. Dark green wallpaper, furniture in forest green, and a leopard-print area rug, metallic frames, finishes, and gold frames make for the perfect, lavish formal living spaces.
Neutral Formal Living Room Ideas
The view from the window improves the formal living space by maintaining the interior’s neutral color scheme as in this stunning space. The soft upholstery of shades of cream rose, and soft tan encircles the glass coffee table and is sunk in natural sunlight from the tall window.
Formal Living Room Fireplace Ideas
Set up a comfy set of chairs on an open hearth, and then tilt the chairs so that your guests can talk in front of the fireplace on a cold night. The hearth can be elevated by hanging a gold-plated frame mirror above it and draping a festive garland over it.
Black Formal Living Room Ideas
Bring out the drama in an elegant living room by decorating the walls as well as the trim and ceilings in black. Armchairs made of leather and a velvet sofa combine textures, bold artwork adds color, and slicing of the tree. The coffee table with gold paint elevates the room.
Elegant Living Room with elegant fixtures
The Crystal chandelier enhances the formal living space and provides a strong anchor for the room. The Persian rug enlivens the space with elegant neutral shades, and a huge glass-topped coffee table provides guests with the opportunity to place an ice-cold wine glass as well as the space to display their personal items.
Formal Living Room Artwork Ideas
The perfect piece of art can bring a room together. This painting over the hearth ties together the different colors in this room, from furniture to accessories, and provides an informal touch to a formal living space.
Incorporate Antiques
A simple chest of drawers from the 19th century is a stunning end table for this elegant living area. It’s perfect with the classic wingback chairs with a modern-day design.
Mix Rustic And Traditional
The formal living space gets an updated look by combining traditional furniture in soft neutral colors with an iron chandelier made of rustic material and rough-hewn ceiling beams, and a coffee table crafted out of a single piece of wood from the old growth.
Pick the Right Light Fixtures
Choose a lighting fixture with a tale, like this stunning chandelier. The fixture’s form and color are reminiscent of the artwork over the sofa. They blend to create a dramatic, impressive statement inside this formal living space.
Color-Drenched Formal Living Room
The walls and furniture with a monochromatic green color let a stone fireplace that dates back centuries command the interest in this formal colonial-style living space. Combining a leather sofa and velvet-upholstered chairs brings an interesting and textured look to the space.
Maximalist Formal Living Room Ideas
Who said less is better? Enhance a formal living area by adding fringe to velvet sofas or old painting thick drapes, as well as crown molding. Add a modern side table to keep things multi-layered, complicated, fascinating, and intriguing.
Rustic Formal Living Room Ideas
Inspired by Spanish colonial design , this formal living space has an informal feel due to the natural textures and rustic accents, such as the weathered fireplace over the hearth, roughhewn ceiling beams, and an end table constructed out of branches from trees. An antique pair of spindle Bobbin spool chairs inject a touch of New England flair into the Mediterranean design of the space.
FAQs
What’s the definition of a formal living area?
A formal living space is more suited to hosting guests, whereas your family space is your primary home’s main living space,” said the design duo, who say that furniture in formal spaces ought to be more elegant and refined and the furniture in a family space tend to be more casual and are able to endure wear and tear.
Do you know of any formal living spaces?
It’s true that people have formal living rooms, however they’ve changed to fit the modern lifestyle. Formal living spaces are more versatile and multi-functional and are frequently utilized for daily living.
What’s the main difference between an official living area and a family room?
A living space is more formal than a family space. However, this isn’t always the situation. It’s typically used for conversation or gatherings and sometimes with no TV on display. The family room is a comfortable place to relax and watch a flick.
What is the official name of the living room?
In Western design, a living space or living area (Australian English) or living room (British English) and seating room (British English) (also known as drawing rooms) is an ideal space to relax and socialize in a residence or an apartment.
