Your living room is often one of the most used spaces in your home. It is the place where you welcome visitors, entertain friends and capture your personality, all at the same time.

Small wonder why your living room receives so much attention. But choosing the right living room furniture can be a bit problematic, as you need to select pieces that are not only comfortable, but match your entertainment needs and personality.

It can be a difficult balance between comfort, style and personality. Even harder is finding a new piece to fit your existing grouping of living room furniture.

Most experts recommend that you stick with a neutral color for the largest pieces, such as a sectional, sofa or love seat. This way you can add color and accent with smaller pieces that are more easily replaced should you want to update or change your decor. This is a great strategy since the larger pieces are the biggest investment, allowing you to amortize the cost over many years before they need to be replaced.

While it may be tempting to chase trends, it’s best to keep with the classic in living room furniture. Nothing’s worse than getting the latest in styles, only to find that a year or two from now it’s yesterday’s news and your furniture looks seriously outdated. Who hasn’t walked into a home wondering what the owner was thinking when they bought the dark purple sofa or the swirly patterned chair-and-a-half.

With careful planning and a little forethought, you can create an attractive living room furniture arrangement that will stand the test of time while still allowing you to add your own creative touches.

The first living room furniture purchasing decision should always be the sofa, sectional or other major grouping. This is the anchor of the room and the first thing people really see. You want to invest in the best quality piece you can afford. It can be quite simple, yet still be elegant and most important, comfortable. It should also be easy to maintain. Pillow back sofas look great, but keeping the pillows all neatly arranged, especially if the sofa gets regular use, can be a maddening challenge. Think about your lifestyle when choosing the right sofa.

The next most important pieces of living room furniture are the accent chairs. These can be in a contrasting style and design, letting the type of wood, fabric or color tie them together with the sofa or sectional. Again, comfort is very important.

Finally, a basic living room furniture grouping should have tables. A coffee table can come in very handy, but you may also want to think about some end tables. These can help hold the grouping together visually while offering guests a place to set their drinks or plates when they visit.

From there you can fill in with lamps, smaller tables, bookcases and other accents that really make the room look finished.

As you select your living room furniture, remember to consider its scale. Don’t get pieces that are too large for the room. Taking measurements is important, as a visit to a cavernous showroom can give you a false sense of scale. Shopping online is actually easier, since the measurements of each piece can be easily discovered and you don’t have to worry about having tricks played on your eyes.

In fact, shopping for living room furniture online can actually be a pleasant alternative to visiting countless showrooms as there is a wider selection in the virtual showrooms and many online retailers not only offer great deals, but free shipping as well.

Author Bio: Jesse Akre owns Edenvale Shoppes and hosts numerous furniture and furnishings for any home whether it be console table or kitchen tables styles and designs.

Category: Home Management
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