Living Room Design Mistakes (And How to Fix Them!)

hi everyone it's Nick welcome and welcome back to my channel okay in this video today we are going to be talking about living room design mistakes and how to fix them so I did another version of this video two years ago people love that video it has like over a million and a half views it's very very popular I will link it at the end of this video so if you like this you're gonna like that one also if you see some things that are missing from this video it might be in that video so maybe go check that one afterwards I'll also say that I also have a course that you can check out I'm going to link it in the description if you're interested you can go check it out it goes over a lot of these mistakes that people are making in their living room you're going to find that discussed in that course so let's get going first mistake that I see is going to be incorrect seating placement so there are a few different ways in which you can create a seating placement for your living room so you can do side chairs your love seat your sectional your sofa whatever you've got there's a few different options in terms of how you want to do it some are symmetrical some are asymmetrical but you've got lots of options there but what I think is a mistake that some people make is where they don't consider the primary purpose of what their living room is going to be for so what is the function of a living room well yes you might it's multiple best so you might you know watch television and whatever you might do in your living room that's fine but really primarily it is going to be for you and your guests your family to be able to sit down you need some comfortable seats for you to sort of face each other and have conversation I know in the pandemic we all forgot how to do that but that is the primary function of what a living room is for yes you take a nap on the sofa yes the kids do their homework whatever they play video games whatever yes people do all that stuff but primarily that is what it's for so make sure your seat placement matches the primary function of what you're going to be using it for so make sure all the seats face each other don't put those sofas pushed up against the wall don't have everything necessarily always facing the television but you know make it so that people primarily are going to be able to comfortably sit and have a conversation with each other that is the function of a living room and that is how you need to place your furniture okay mistake number two for your living room that I see all the time is going to be rug positions so in that video the other one I mentioned about rug size and that is definitely a mistake that I see all the time drugs that are too small drives me crazy but let's talk about the position for a second so A good rule is going to be to take your largest sofa or your sectional and you want to have your rug be parallel so you don't necessarily want it to be perpendicular to the largest piece it's going to look silly you're going to want to make sure that it's parallel to that largest piece and then from there the other pieces sort of fall into place and a lot of that from there is going to be that rug size that I talked about in that other video so again you're going to take into account the proper seating placement like I discussed in point one you're going to make sure that everything is built so that people can have a conversation with one another and then you're going to consider your rug sort of like a platter that sort of sits underneath all of your furniture pieces that should dictate the direction in which your rug should go you don't necessarily want to have a rug that is going to be perpendicular to that largest piece or one that is going to you know make your furniture placement all wonky because you chose the wrong direction for your rug to go so make sure it's in the right direction to serve the functional need of the living room and also use that largest piece of furniture as a guide and you can't go wrong okay the third living room design mistake that I see is going to be uncomfortable for Furniture I love online retailers I love shopping online for furniture I think they're great articles Sundays we love all those guys sure sure but sometimes there is no substitution for sitting in the furniture pieces before you buy them or really looking into those return policies when you're buying online because you want to make sure that your furniture pieces are actually comfortable yes I know we do I show pretty photos on this channel all the time and people are fall in love with certain sofas and certain chairs and that's great and they look pretty and beautiful and gorgeous they might even be the right size they might be beautiful Fabrics but if they're uncomfortable you're never going to like that chair you know what I mean you always have to make sure that they are going to be comfortable for you and your guests and every guest is different because we're all different heights and blah blah blah but just try to make sure that it's going to work primarily for the people that are going to be living there and using these pieces the most often also let's talk about like seat Heights for a second and accessibility remember that sometimes the really low sofas that are really popular in contemporary design right now you know the ones right there really really low and really sleek and modern and awesome and we love them and they're gorgeous but but they can be really difficult to get in and out of especially when people are little bit older maybe they have bad knees maybe they have some accessibility issues it can be really challenging to get in and out of those pieces so also take that into account when you are choosing your furniture okay next mistake that I see is going to be disproportional furniture and decor so this is buying furniture pieces Decor pieces whatever we're going to talk about both that are either too big or too small for the space so this is like art on the wall where you've got those little tiny little piece of art here and it's on a big giant wall it just doesn't work okay the scale's off it just it doesn't work for the space find another room or another wall that is going to be appropriately sized for that piece of art right or a Furniture piece if you've maybe got a really big space but then you just got a little tiny dinky love seat it's always going to look out of sorts it's just not gonna really make a ton of sense you need to get a bigger Furniture piece that appropriately fits the size wall or the size space that you have now quick word on moving because this is really a challenge and I totally get it which is that you know you move from a big bigger space to a smaller space or a bigger living room to a smaller one whatever you're down downsizing whatever the case that presents a challenge because sometimes the furniture that was really appropriate for one space just doesn't work for the next one so obviously you want to try your best you want to play with the furniture you want to try to make it proportional and you want to make it work I would say though that sometimes I'm here to tell you I'm not a magician you're not either it's really difficult to get this furniture to fit if it just doesn't fit so try your best in order to do your measurements I know it might seem wasteful it might not make sense obviously you know if you can repurpose it or you can put on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist or whatever you know and then get a new one that is going to make more sense for that space that might just be your best option you can't squeeze a couch that is too big for the room into a room that is just too small for it I'm sorry I'm just here I'm here to tell you that yes you want to try to move it around to make sure that you can make all your pieces work but this is one of the challenges with moving you need to consider when you're assessing a space so often when you go in you're thinking about moving into a new space you go in and you're like yes look how beautiful it is think of how your furniture is going to fit in that space because there could be a cost to moving more than just moving which is that you might have to rethink some of your furniture pieces when you get to the new space that's just reality but in the end it's a mistake to have furniture and decor that is just not scaled properly for the room that it's in okay next mistake that I see is going to be same size cheap matchy matchy pillows I squeezed a lot of things in that one so oftentimes what I see is that people choose a pretty boring couch which is fair I get it couches are expensive and so people don't want to go crazy they don't want to go weird and I get that and so they want to choose a couch that is deliriously boring and that's sort of where they sort of sit with these couches and they're boring and they go and they get a boring coach and then they go wait I need to show my personality I gotta Jazz this up this is a really boring old gray couch I know I'll go to Home Goods and I will buy the same cheap polyester filled where you know you like squish it and then it bounces back to the exact same shape cheap matchy matchy same color same size same pattern same everything and it's usually like in like a big bright teal color and then they just like pop it on that gray couch and go like hey look isn't this my funky and interesting it's really not it's really not funky and interesting I would rather invest in a couch that is beautiful and interesting if you are in the market for a new couch choose one that just has a little bit more of an interesting shape one that has a more interesting fabric maybe it's got more texture you know just a little bit more of an interesting couch that you're going to be happy with on its own and maybe it doesn't even need throw pillows maybe it doesn't even need teal throw pillows that's what I'm saying if you do want throw pillows that's awesome look for ways that you can choose throw pillows that are going to be cohesive without being the exact same this can mean choosing ones that are slightly different size so maybe you have a bigger one and then you have a slightly smaller one maybe you have ones that are different shape so maybe you have a square one and then you have like a lumbar one right that could be really interesting as well you might choose ones with a different color different pattern so really playing with those tints tones and shades of the different colors so instead of getting that same teal pillow maybe get some that are a little bit of a darker blue and then a lighter blue maybe there's one that's like a natural sort of cream color or something it's a little bit more in a beige and you're really taking into account the whole space and then coordinating your colors more effectively because you're sort of being building something really cohesive but playing with a lot of those different color choices that are in each primary Hue if that makes sense I have a whole color palette video if this does not make sense to you right and then you got fabric you've got interesting Fabrics that can choose different textures you can choose so they're all speaking the same design language but they're not necessarily the exact same so yes you can choose a boring old couch fine safe got it totally just be a little bit more creative with your pillow choices than just going with the cheap matchy-matchy ones that's what I'm saying okay next living room design mistake is going to be always creating the television as the primary focal point so focal points are really important because it really draws in the eye on like a primary spot in the room for you to focus your attention could be a fireplace could be a sofa it could be a piece of art could be whatever you want it to be oftentimes I get it the TV is oftentimes that primary focal point and that can sort of work but what tends to happen is is people then build the entire room specifically around the TV which is oftentimes hung too high but that's another story okay so what do I mean by that well let's go back to that furniture placement I talked about the beginning of the video right like make sure people are always able to see the television totally fine it's a multi-purpose space I get that but never lose sight of that primary focus of having the seating such that people are facing each other so if the TV is the primary focal point of the space it just isn't really a focal point that is really particularly interesting or dynamic now if it is your primary focal point you know there's ways that you consider things like the frame TV or some other ways that you can try to make your TV look a little bit more interesting I have a video on that by the way and I think you might find that to be a lot more engaging as opposed to just having that big black box in the center of the room and then having almost like a theater style sort of living room placement where everything faces that one space so if you have an opportunity it could be a Bright Beautiful window by the way like there's lots of options that what you can make your focal point design around that and not the big black box in the center of the room okay next living room design mistake that I see is going to be not taking into account your natural light or your views so if you are lucky to have a gorgeous view or you've got some windows in there we got some windows and you're not basically sitting in the cake cave but if you've got some natural light coming in first of all let's start there don't block that natural light so so often people put really heavy drapery panels or people put like kind of uh some case goods or something near there and it really starts to limit and block the natural light that is in the room and I think that is a mistake I think that if you are if you are lucky enough to have you know a lot of natural light then kind of embrace that natural light and really sort of build the space around it if you have a gorgeous view and you're lucky enough to have a gorgeous view that is amazing make sure that some of your seating is able to see the view right I know this seems really simple but you'll be amazed how many people just sort of like block views and make it so that it's really difficult for people to actually be able to enjoy that view so definitely it doesn't have to be all your seating again we're not putting all the seats so that everybody's looking out the side all day you want to make sure the primary function is conversation but take into account that some of the chairs some of the sofas whatever the case whatever your furniture should you know give a nod to The View and should maybe be a primary focal point even for the space so that you have that in your living room and people are able to see outside and enjoy the gorgeous view so if you're lucky enough to have those definitely utilize them don't block them don't cover them up and make sure people are actually able to enjoy them okay next living room design mistake I see a lot of is just not considering considering I'm not saying you have to do it not considering colors other than white for your paint on your walls and I acknowledge that I am living in a room right now with all white paint so I see you in the comments section you're going to call me out for it I get it I'm a hypocrite that's fine but I used to have a Navy wall back there but I decided to paint it white because I'm going to be selling this place long story anyway it doesn't matter you don't care anyway so you've got the white paint on the walls and you know I'm just saying consider consider Navy consider green you know nice beautiful Olive maybe a forest green could be navy blue if you've got you know enough space with enough natural light or artificial light to pull that off some of these darker colors or even mid-tones even like a beige gray potentially right like still keeping it neutral is fine but sort of dipping your toe into some of those mid-tones can really make a space feel more comfortable a lot of people default to White and that's fine white is obviously a great neutral color love white it's an awesome color it's a very safe choice that a lot of people choose and that's fine I would just say it's it you can really level up a space and make it a lot more interesting if you choose another color besides white it just makes the space feel more custom it makes it feel more special so don't be afraid necessarily some of those darker colors or those mid-tones now if you are choosing white one thing I want you to take into account of is lrv and that stands for light reflectance value which is essentially you can find this on any of the paint color websites and really what it's doing is it's talking about the percentage of the light that is bouncing and reflected off of the wall so that's natural light and artificial light so if you have a really bright room with lots of big open Windows choosing a really high lrv like for example Chantilly Lace or even super white from Benjamin Moore they will reflect a ton of light that can make a space feel really overwhelming do you ever go into a space where they have like those white fluorescent bulbs they always do and then they've got this really really bright white paint on the walls and it just reflects all the white light back and there's no depth to the walls there's no depth to the color Choice there and it just makes a place feel like hospital and that's because of the lighting which I talked about in the last video but also it is because of the choice of the white paint by choosing white and choosing such a high lrv you're making a Space feel almost blindingly white choosing a mid-tone especially in those spaces that have a lot of natural light in there can make a space feel a lot softer than if you choose some of those really high lrv so the mistake is choosing or not even considering something other than white and if you do choose white choosing those really high lrv whites that are just going to make a space feel a little bit like a sanitarium that's what I'm saying okay next mistake that I see all the time is going to be too much art or hung incorrectly listen I love art so do you it's a great way to show your personality to take some of your pieces that you really love and you've cared for for years and showing them off sometimes people are a little bit heavy-handed especially we're going to talk about those Gallery walls sometimes they don't have enough breathing space and they just really feel really heavy on the walls and they feel overwhelming if you want the Hogwarts look and you just want to have the art all over the walls in your little home that's fine but I just think giving some breathing space choosing appropriately sized art is a really really good idea so if you are going to Cluster art in something like a gallery wall make sure there's enough white space in between all the art pieces don't have them hug too closely to each other and also that this white space literally around the art you know what I mean around that Gallery wall take into account the entire gallery wall when you're selecting the size and sort of scale of what you're going to be trying to do on that particular wall right so not necessarily filling out the entire space with art too much art can really overwhelm it can make a space feel cluttered just even without having clutter you know what I mean like it's cluttered almost before you started so consider maybe taking some of those art pieces off or choosing appropriately sized ones that are going to actually fit the space that it doesn't overwhelm okay next up on my living room design mistakes we are going to be talking about too much open shelving so this can be both floating shelves if you're choosing to use some floating shelves to put some art pieces that can totally be fine but having that plus an open Media Console plus an open coffee table plus some sort of other open storage unit you might have sit in the corner that it's got sort of old magazines and like a phone and like some books and whatever open bookcases like all this stuff being really open having everything fully on display not having any closed Cabinetry or any closed Furniture pieces can make a space feel really cluttered and it starts to feel in my opinion a little bit overwhelming to the eye so maybe start looking at how you can close in some of those units to create some space where everything doesn't feel so overwhelmingly crowded right so I personally love cabinet systems that have some closed doors because sometimes having too much open stuff can feel really visually cluttered it can mean that you still are able to hide some of those ugly pieces that we all have right like you know we all have like the video game controllers and the consoles and you've got the old DVDs of like no one wants to see your Shrek 2. you know what I mean like you you got all these pieces and they're functional and you need them you need the remote you need your glasses you need all this stuff but you don't necessarily need to display at all and I think that thing is that open shelving in my view is really wonderful for showing off a curated that's the key piece here a curated collection of things that you really like and enjoy it's not necessarily really great for those functional pieces that are not so visually attractive so just really taking a minute not saying you have to hide everything but just take a minute and think of what are the pieces that you want to display that you want to look at every day because they bring you Joy and you think they make your space look really great and what are those functional pieces that maybe don't look super awesome but you still need them all the time and how can you put them in a place where you can access them easily that you don't forget where they are but they're not necessarily visually on display for all to see all the time and some open shelving can be great so again if there's some pieces you use regularly and you want to make sure you don't forget about them find a spot for them that's fine but when everything is open again it's too visually stimulating and you're showing off pieces that honestly sometimes you might just want to hide and considering some close shelving is a great solution to that problem so that's it for me for today guys I hope you really enjoyed this video again link to my courses down below I talk a lot about all the color and the proportion and all that sort of stuff down in that course and of course you can link here to this video maybe it's this one I don't know I've been on YouTube for years and I still don't know where to point uh living room design mistakes part one go check out that video if you saw some stuff in here that you're like maybe there's other mistakes out there it's probably in that one so see you on that video talk to you later bye

Channel: Nick Lewis

Views: 338,558

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Id: cWH0zdJtqw0

Length: 17min 16sec (1036 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 16 2023