The best sitting rooms are flexible, a relaxing spot to curl up alone with a book and a social space to entertain family and friends. Our design director, Fred Horlock, shares his expert tips for creating a harmonious and versatile space.
Our three top tips to create a relaxing sitting room:
NO. 1
LARGE, AIRY SITTING ROOM
In a large room, take the furniture away from the walls, and instead, use internal architecture like fireplaces and windows to set centre lines to base the layout around. While this might feel counter-intuitive, it actually makes the room feel more spacious and avoids leaving an empty space in the middle of the room. Introduce an expansive rug to
ground the seating area. Use the walls for bookshelves or to display art and fill corners with a small desk, like the Ardingly, balanced in the opposite corner with a large plant.
NO. 2
LONG, NARROW SITTING ROOM
If you don’t have architectural elements to design around, position a large piece of furniture, like a dresser or tv cabinet, to hold the scheme. Break the long space into two with a corner sofa and console behind, extending into the central space to create a low room divide. Then dress the console with tall lamps or flowers to add height but allow light through. A square shaped coffee table interrupts the linear lines of the room, making the space feel more visually interesting. An upholstered chair or love seat in the corner ‘rounds’ out the conversation area and use the other end of the long room to create a library or study area.
NO. 3
AWKWARDLY SHAPED SITTING ROOM
With unusually shaped rooms or those with lots of doors or even a staircase, it can be tempting to push all the furniture against the walls. However, there is a lot of architectural ‘noise’ in such spaces, so it is important to keep the room feeling smart, organised and uncluttered. Circulation is key to make the room feel comfortable, and we recommend leaving at least 80cm between furniture and wall for good flow. Keep walls clear and divide the floorplan into useable blocks to which you can assign areas. Here there is a compact sofa area – we used the slim lines of the George sofa – centred on a rug, and a reception area centred around a pedestal table like the Sheldrake round dining table, which encourages flow in both directions. A dark, unused corner under the stairs is utilised as a seating or reading area.
FRED’S DESIGN TIPS
- Mark out where furniture will sit with masking tape on the floor to get a sense of size and scale.
- Try to avoid positioning the sofa with its back to a doorway as it will feel a little exposed.
- Introduce a range of sofa sizes and shapes while maintaining a sense of symmetry. A sofa opposite two armchairs looks relaxed, two matching sofas facing each other will feel more formal.
- Ensure you have at least 50cms between the coffee table and sofa or chair for a comfortable flow.
- Ideally you should have a side table on either side of the sofa, or one next to a chair, but don’t introduce lots of different styles and materials for side tables as it can look chaotic.
- Select a neutral fabric (this can be a light or dark tone) for your sofa and add pattern and texture with an upholstered footstool, armchair or cushions.