Photo: Coats Interior

The living room is the room where the majority of us spend the most time when we are at home. It’s the place where we relax, entertain and eat. For many, adding a touch of luxury can enhance their enjoyment of the space, and there are several great options when it comes to the living room.

Chesterfield Sofas

These traditional sofas make a real statement in any room. Their bold style with distinctive deep buttoned design distinguish the Chesterfield Sofa from other sofas and mark them out as a luxury item. The 4th Earl of Chesterfield Lord Phillip Stanhope (1694-1773) is believed to have commissioned the first sofa with this design, hence the name. It has since become a staple of luxury hotels and gentlemen’s clubs for decades.

While having a piece of furniture that is so traditional in your home may be concerning to some, in reality, this is actually a very functional and easy to live with item. The sofa’s come in a range of colours so you can fit it in with your existing style and match any design trends. However, if you are looking to revamp your space, the Chesterfield couch is a statement piece of furniture and can be the centrepiece of any room. The high-quality leather used means these sofas will stand the test of time in the same way their style has.

Photo: James David Custom Homes

Accent Pieces

When it comes to adding a touch of luxury to any room the main items are essential. But often more important are the accent pieces which help fill out a room and make a room yours. These pieces, such as vases or paintings, help convey your sense of style to visitors and can help bring back memories relating to when or when you got the items.

In some ways, they are the most personal luxury items in regard to interior design. As mentioned items such as vases and paintings are great examples but the scope is vast. A beautiful lamp, for example, can be a fantastic item to add to a living room because it is not only stylish but can provide a source of light when needed.

Photo: Kirksey Homes

Dining Table

Depending on the space available, this could be a very significant addition to a living room. Adding a dining table opens up a massive variety of possibilities in everyday life along with adding sophistication to a living room. While the obvious place for a dining table is a dining room, not everyone has the option available. For this reason, if there is space in the living room this is the next best room.

Whether it’s everyday meals with your family or special occasions such as Christmas or birthdays, having the ability to seat multiple people around a table comfortably opens up a wide range of entertaining options. Furthermore, having the ability to dress a table provides opportunities to creates some very luxurious designs.

Photo: Picture Perfect House

Traditional Fireplace

If you have an older home, there is a chance that it houses a traditional open fireplace. These fireplaces could have been blocked up or just boarded up so bringing them back into the living room can really add a luxury feature to a living room. Not only do fireplaces add a feature to a room but can add a highly functional element to the room.

Taking into account regulations regarding wood and coal burning may inform your decision as to what route you go down with rejuvenating a traditional fireplace. If laws prevent you from using the fireplace as it was originally intended, there are still several options available to utilise the space. Popular examples include filling the fireplace with a selection of beautiful flowers or creating a candle feature to evoke the spirit of the original fireplace.

Photo: Jonathan Adler

Everyone wants big airy rooms — the kind which turn a plain room into Wimbledon. However, that sort of work comes with high prices and often, expensive extensions.

A few tricks of the eye are needed to accomplish that goal without sacrificing the wallet on the altar of appearance. Without resorting to contractors, a few changes to the layout and style will play tricks on the eye and the brain to see the space is better than it is. Here are some ways to accomplish this “Penn and Teller”-esque illusion.

Tall Furniture

Some call tall furniture ‘fashionable’, but while tall furniture can look the part, from a space perspective it’s not ideal. Taller furniture minimizes the space between the floor and ceiling, which makes your space look smaller.

Rearrange things and take the offending furniture out that ruins your home decorating — a furniture disposal service may be needed. But soon the ‘short look’ will provide the greater good, and can also add value to your home.

Photo: SDG Architects

Reflection

Reflect the extra space throughout the room. Using mirrors is one of the tactics to implement when you want to make an area appear larger. If mirrors are placed properly, they will enhance the interior space and trick the eye. Your local furniture store will have plenty of mirrors from which to choose.

Light Colors Rock

It’s not always about natural light. Light colors can be used to find the same effects. Even a color bordering on boring can be effective. While dark colors take in light and make an area seem smaller, lighter shades have the opposite effect. You don’t have to fall back on white, but the rule of thumb is the lighter, the better.

Various wavelengths carry different amounts of energy. For example, violet light has more energy than red. The amount of energy absorbed is also affected by how light or dark something is. A dark object of a certain color absorbs more photons than a light object in the same color.

The entire subject of how an object’s color appears has filled rooms with books and there isn’t ample room here for a thorough discussion. Suffice it to say if an object absorbs yellow light, for example, then it will reflect every other color and will look violet.

Photo: Mary Cook

Ceiling Shelves

The ceiling can have an impact and draw the eye upwards. To boost the effect, check out the latest styles of high shelves. By placing them as high as possible, the eyes are drawn higher and upwards. To get an idea of how they will look in your home, visit a local furniture store.

Since the shelves are a small item, don’t worry about reducing the amount of space as discussed earlier. The point is to make someone’s eyes circulate throughout the room, so they don’t become fixated on a small area.

Furniture Removal

If you don’t have a truck, it can be a pain to get the old furniture hauled off. Every major city has a furniture removal company to provide the service. A quality company’s services will include:

• Bedroom furniture clearance
• Garden furniture recycling
• Office furniture disposal
• Sofa disposal
• Fridge & freezer disposal

 Photo: Houzz

Photo: M. Barnes & Co

 Photo: Z Gallerie

Photo: A&S Sales, Inc. of Virginia

Photo: Brendan Wong Design

Photo: Brendan Wong Design

Photo: JWS Interiors

Photo: Interiors by BLP

Photo: Jay Jeffers

Photo: Airoom Architects