styling room by room: living room

When you think about styling each room, you first have to consider the purpose of the space, the furniture within the space and what the room is saying.

So a living room. It’s purpose is to be lived in. It’s usually a family room. A space of comfort and relaxation as well as somewhere to socialise and bring guests to.

It will have some kind of seating in it – usually a sofa and armchair or two. A coffee table perhaps. A mantelpiece. Shelving. Maybe some nesting tables. A fire surround…
While all of the things listed here aren’t necessarily furniture items, they are all surfaces ready to style.

So what do you do next?

Well, you have to look at the space. What is the style of the room? What is the positioning of the furniture saying? Is the seating arranged in such a way that it is easy to socialise and it looks like an inviting, family space? If not, that’s the first thing that needs changing. Place sofas facing into each other if possible, with a coffee table in the middle. Make the seating area the focus of the room, framing things like fireplaces as well to make it look more inviting, so that people can picture a family sat around together. Think about how the furniture arrangement looks and also how it would be used. If you can picture people using this room like it should be used, job number one is complete.

This is where the real fun begins. Accessorize your surfaces. Style the room.

If you have a fire place with a surround… put something on it. Log baskets full of logs, candles, ornaments, fire implements. Whatever the style of your house is – let it spill into this space. At Christmas? Fill it with greenery and baubles. Hang stockings. The same with mantelpieces.

Coffee tables… arrange books on it. Books that say something about you. Sometimes cookery books can be great additions to a space, or in my house, craft and interior books. Something that sparks an interest. A vase of flowers never goes amiss.

Sofas… fill them with texture. Make them inviting. Use these vast spaces to link in colours elsewhere in the room. Do this by adding cushions and throws and arranging these in appropriate ways depending again on the style of the décor.

Shelving… this is where you can be really creative. While the average bookshelf might be bursting with books and DVDs and recipes, it’s important to remember that when styling your home, you have to declutter. You can no longer have these shelves jam-packed, and instead, only half of a shelf should be full of books – maybe with a bookend next to it.
Jars used as simple storage solutions can also be placed here as well as perhaps some decorative boxes, candles and photo frames.

When it comes to styling, the world is your oyster. Use it as a time to express yourself and give your home a bit of TLC.

Just remember my five ‘rules’ on what to consider when styling for a photoshoot… you won’t go wrong!

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