How to Decorate a Large Living Room With 12 Simple Tips
Decorate your space with ease.
Large living rooms provide ample room to personalize with your decor, but all that space can be overwhelming. Decorating a large room involves choosing thoughtful and functional pieces that will balance and elevate the space. From oversized wall art to spacious seating arrangements, we've put together a list of twelve tips for decorating a large living room.
1. Add Plenty of Seating
As the focus of the living room, large seating arrangements can help you make the most of the space. Look for oversized sectionals to provide plenty of room where you can entertain or stretch out by yourself. These come in several different configurations to suit your living room, such as L-shaped or U-shaped designs. Place a pair of cozy accent chairs across from the sectional to add extra seating in case the sectional fills up.
Tip!
Need help designing your living room layout? Read our guide The Most Inviting Living Room Layouts to Try to find some inspiration.
2. Try Oversized Artwork
With so much wall space to cover, one of the best ways to decorate a large living area is to choose oversized wall art. These pieces are the perfect addition above the sofa or atop the mantel to add visual interest to the walls. Try hanging one or two pieces of oversized art to create a simple focal point, or design a gallery wall for a dramatic effect.
Ottomans are a stylish way to take up space in your living room while adding extra functionality to the space. In place of a traditional coffee table, choose a cocktail ottoman and some poufs to create a dimensional focal point in your seating area. When paired with a decorative tray, cocktail ottomans can double as a place to rest your beverages or prop your feet.
Furnishing a large living room means you can work with large pieces of furniture. Think of towering bookcases, large sculptures, and hanging light fixtures that can add floor-to-ceiling functionality and style to the space. These vertical pieces can add a grand feeling to your space and draw the eye up to emphasize tall ceilings.
Skip a bulky sectional and settle in with two sofas instead. Try placing two matching sofas across from each other to open up the space. Not only does this layout create a nice flow for a large room, it also makes this space excellent for entertaining. Plus, two sofas are much easier to rearrange than a sectional.
Area rugs are an excellent tool for defining your seating area – especially in large rooms. With cool patterns and soft textures, area rugs tie together the room while adding charm and comfort. If you plan on placing furniture in the center of the room rather than against the walls, we recommend choosing an area rug that's large enough to accommodate all four legs of your furniture. This allows you to create a unified seating area that feels cohesive and intentional.
Lighting is a key consideration in any space in your home. Specifically in large living rooms, it's important to layer different types of lighting so that you can illuminate all of the right places. Try combining overhead lighting with wall sconces, floor lamps, or table lamps to provide variation. With multiple lighting options, you can choose the one that best suits the task at hand – whether you’re reading, entertaining, or watching a movie.
Tip!
For more ideas on how to elevate your living room lighting, read our guide Glow-Up Your Space With These 18 Living Room Lighting Ideas.
8. Add a Touch of Nature
Consider incorporating foliage – either real or faux – into your living room to fill some empty space. Not only will houseplants purify the air and bring a natural element indoors, but – given proper care – they can continue to grow to fill out the room. You can always opt for a faux tree that will take up vertical space and doesn’t require the care of live houseplants.
Though over-the-top designs can often make a small space feel cluttered, they can work well in large living rooms. Pieces with interesting colors, shapes, or textures can add character to your space. Using the living room above as an example, bold choices (like the pink sofa or gold coffee table) feel stylish and well-balanced.
If you're an avid entertainer, an empty corner is a great place to add a home bar. Start with a bar or a bar cabinet to store your home mixology essentials. Add a pair of bar stools to perch on or a set of wall shelves for storage. Then, finish off the home bar with a table lamp for the right amount of illumination.
Oversized patterns are another way you can experiment with your living room decor. Using large pieces like area rugs or upholstery, you can incorporate bold patterns as statement pieces. Choose from a wide variety of large-scale patterns to find one that matches your home aesthetic.
An accent wall can be a welcome alternative (or addition) to wall art. Rather than just relying on art to fill your walls, an accent wall can bring ample texture to large living rooms. Wall paneling is a great way to incorporate subtle structure, while wallpaper can be a more whimsical option with endless patterns to choose from.
