Hosting Season: Is Your Living Room Ready?
Every week up until Christmas time, we will be posting a blog giving tips and advice on how to make your home “guest-ready'' for the entertaining and hosting season.
From dining table etiquette to a bedroom for your guests to rest their heads, we have it covered.
Next up on our list is the living room. Below we give our ideas on how to maximise your living area to accommodate your guests over the hosting season.
A place to sit
The living room is a crucial area in the home. It is important to make your space a cosy, relaxing and tranquil haven.
As many nights will be spent settled down on the sofa, a comfortable seating arrangement does not go a miss.
If you are looking to give your living room a restyle, we offer a range of sofas, chairs and corner groups.
With a selection of colours, designs and storage options, there is something to meet every preference. A comfy place to sit is a must-have for this season.
Whatever your preference, it is important to feel comfortable whilst enjoying your viewing.
Recliner sofas are perfect for sitting back and unwinding, providing somewhere for ultimate relaxation. Ideal for busy homes, with corner group sofas, you can stretch out, make use of an open plan space and squeeze lots of people onto the seating with comfort.
A chaise corner group combines a standard sofa with a chaise-longue, providing a versatile seating solution for more compact living spaces.
This design offers practicality as it is comfortable yet not overbearing in size. Standard chaise sofas are a compact version of a corner group when space is too limited to accommodate one.
Available in both left hand facing and right hand facing designs, chaise sofas are great for relaxing in front of a film.
Also perfect for fitting lots of people or pets on, this style can be paired with a footstool or accent chair to complete the look.
Sometimes, you may want something a little different.
A curved corner group is simply one with a curved corner section in the corner.
If you have an irregular shaped room or a slightly awkward corner space to fill, then a curved corner sofa could be suitable.
The Hurst range from G Plan offers eye-catching design and adds sophistication to any space. With clean lines and geometric detailing, Hurst embodies pure elegance.
Design it your way with modular options.
Hurst offers the opportunity to build your perfect combination creating a bespoke sofa for your space.
Recliner options are available across the range in manual and power, along with the choice of left or right-hand-facing modular units.
There is also the option of having a smart storage unit, where you can store all the essentials such as TV remotes, newspapers/magazines and even use it to rest food and drink when closed.
A more curved design will enable you to fill a large living room space or will provide you with a way to get the most seating out of a smaller room.
Store it away!
If you are expecting guests, the last thing you want them to walk into is a messy and cluttered living space.
Decluttering your home can have beneficial effects not only from a practical point of view but also for your state of mind. A little clearing of clutter can be quite therapeutic.
Having the living area clear of clutter will give the illusion of the space being bigger and leaves a nice impression on your guests.
There are so many stylish yet practical pieces of furniture that can be utilised to keep any living area neat and tidy.
Maybe try to invest in pieces that have built-in storage yet are elegant enough to uplift your décor. Display cabinets with adjustable shelving, sideboards and bookcases provide all the important storage that you will require to keep your living space clutter-free.
Console tables and coffee tables, particularly those that have extra under shelves, are useful everyday pieces to have in your lounge that can help to maintain cleanliness.
Many entertainment units now have cable ports that are excellent for keeping the cables tangle-free and out of sight.
Storage footstools serve a dual purpose that will allow you to tidy things away as well as provide extra seating.
The Entertainment Unit
The TV is nearly always the main focal point of any living room. With this in mind, having the right entertainment unit to suit your décor is advised.
Whether you need a piece to complement your dining furniture or something practical to stand your TV on, Cousins offer a large selection of choices.
The Apple TV unit is part of the Express Delivery range, offering next day delivery. This is a great option if you need your furniture quickly.
The Apple range will add a stylish and contemporary addition to your living room. The smooth rounded design with clean lines gives a minimalistic look.
If you’re after something a bit more classic but still contemporary, our Cotswold range offers a variety of occasional furniture in a smoked oak finish or a painted indigo blue.
TV Units come in various sizes, so there’s something to cater to all TV sizes.
At hand
Having everything in reach can be handy.
The rustic oak Triumph sofa table fits over the arm of a sofa and is perfect for holding your drink whilst watching the sport.
A timeless design, this piece will go with a range of interior decors.
As well as looking fashionable, the table is both useful and practical, meaning you never have far to reach for a drink.
When in need of somewhere to place your snacks at easy reach, you can’t go wrong with the Ascenseur lift coffee table.
Ideal for smaller living spaces, the table boasts an innovative lift-top system to give additional storage space, plus flexibility for living room dining.
A must-have for any sports fan.
Put your feet up
Often, you want somewhere to rest your feet whilst watching the TV or if it’s been a long day. As a very versatile option, the Viera storage footstool is the answer to many problems.
Put your feet up on one side and pop your drink on the other. This footstool provides invaluable extra space to store items to help keep an everyday living space uncluttered and can also double as a coffee table.
The two cushions on top are both removable. However, leaving the cushions on can also mean it can be an extra couple of seats for your guests.
Using round ottomans or footstools as extra seating when needed may also be an important consideration for those surprise guests.
With a footstool, you can be creative by coordinating your fabric with your sofa, or if you prefer, have a contrast by choosing something bold to make a statement.
The finishing touches
You don’t have to make big changes to enhance your surroundings.
Soft furnishings such as rugs, cushions and throws, help to create a relaxing atmosphere. Accessories and smaller pieces can update your look in a more delicate way.
You can add the finishing touches and immediately create a fresh, new look.
Soft furnishings can be an inexpensive and easy way to transform a space and changing up the colour scheme through accessories is a great way to do so.
Add a finishing touch to your home with our array of stunning accessories.
With something to suit each room in the house, you can easily upgrade your living area ready for the season.
We offer a large range of lighting, wall décor and soft furnishings.
Set the mood and complete the look with small but striking changes.
Wall art is another way to add a finishing touch to any room. It is a way to add personality, brightness and style whilst creating an area of interest and can be a variety of concepts.
These include canvases, framed pictures, digital prints or a collation of images together.
You can also look at hanging rugs, sculptures on floating shelves or hanging on the wall, lighting, illuminated pictures and signs, clocks and mirrors.
Wall pictures can be personal, focusing on something you like, a certain theme or a place you have visited. A group of pictures from a collection will create a story or conversation.
Abstract artwork can work well in your living space. Bright images look dramatic on dark walls, whilst lighter walls create a gallery style backdrop.
This allows you to drop accent colours into your room with coordinating accessories
Wall pictures can be personal, focusing on something you like, a certain theme or a place you have visited.
A group of pictures from a collection will create a story or conversation.
Abstract artwork can work well in your living space. Bright images look dramatic on dark walls, whilst lighter walls create a gallery-style backdrop.
This allows you to drop accent colours into your room with coordinating accessories
