Living rooms are the heart of many homes, and this is particularly true when you share your life with children. After all, the family living room is the place where everyone comes together at the end of the day, to swap stories, share tasty snacks, watch favourite movies, and strengthen that all-important family bond.
But what if your lounge isn’t currently making you feel that warm and cosy family-time glow? Perhaps the furnishings aren’t child-friendly enough, or the decor doesn’t quite give off that snuggly atmosphere that you’d like your kids to feel as soon as they pile in from school. If this sounds like your living room, you’re in the right place.
Whether you’ve recently moved into a new property, or you simply want some helpful advice to transform your lounge into a family living room that will bring you and your loved ones even closer together, at furniture.co.uk we have some top tips to help you out. Not to mention an array of stunning handcrafted wooden furnishings to add to the mix!
We know how important family is, especially in these unprecedented times, and creating a beautiful and functional living space where you and your kids can unwind is something we’d definitely like to assist you with.
So, let’s get started. Read on for our best advice for choosing furniture that will create the perfect kid-friendly family living room that you and your children deserve.
Choosing the right furniture to suit your space
The first thing to do before you start to redecorate or reshuffle your lounge is to stand back and take a good look at the space. This will help you judge what will work and what won’t. For instance, if your lounge is a little on the small side, choosing large pieces of furniture that crowd the space and leave less room for your little ones to play, is not going to create the fun-filled family atmosphere you’re craving.
On the other hand, if your lounge is large and airy, then you’ll need to choose furnishings appropriate to the size of the room. Alternatively, you can balance out large areas of empty space by filling them with toy baskets, playmats, bean bags, cushions and more.
When it comes to laying out the perfect family living room design, it’s best to create a room that has something for everyone. The goal is to create a cosy and inclusive atmosphere, while still providing different spaces that each family member can use.
For example, while it’s definitely a great idea to have a large, comfortable sofa as the focal point of the room, consider creating a few smaller spaces around it that are just for your kids. They will relish having their own dedicated places to play in, while still being able to spend time with you.
Creating immersive play areas for your children
When it comes to creating those adorable kid-centred spaces in your family living room, there are so many ideas you can choose from, depending on your children’s particular interests.
For example, if you have little ones who love reading, how about making a cosy reading nook for them in one corner of the room? You could fill a bookcase with their favourite stories, just perfect for curling up on a rainy day!
At furniture.co.uk, we have several low bookcases in our best-selling Florence range which would be the perfect height for a miniature children’s library! These simple but stylish white, truffle, grey and navy bookcases come with three fully adjustable shelves to easily accommodate books of different sizes and shapes. Add a lamp and some comfy bean bags around the bookcase and you’ll have created an adorable reading nook that no bookish child will be able to resist!
Of course, if you have a new baby or a toddler, then creating a play area can become as simple as laying down a padded play mat with a mobile and some age-appropriate toys for them to play with or chew on. Alternatively, you can select a brightly coloured rug with a playful design, and use that for your little ones to play on.
Playing is hungry work, but toddlers can find it hard to reach their snacks and drinks if they are placed on regular-sized tables. Make life easier for your little tots by investing in a handy nest of tables for your lounge. These tables are the ideal height for tiny hands to reach, and they also add some charm and practicality to your family living room. Available in an array of shades and styles, you can choose the set of nesting tables that best suits your decor and colour scheme.
The best living room furniture for families
Besides a snuggly couch for you and your loved ones to cuddle up on and watch films together, one of the most useful pieces of furniture for your family living room is a sideboard.
Sideboards are both attractive and highly practical, catering to all of your storage needs. They can be used to store your children’s favourite toys, board games, DVDs and video games. Sideboards are also useful for creating family-centred displays of framed photos and cherished ornaments, which will act as a reminder of happy family memories.
Here at furniture.co.uk, we offer a wide variety of sideboards, cabinets and dressers for you to choose from, all of which can be used for both storage and display.
If you have space to play with, you may like one of our Scandi-inspired Edvard Olsen sideboards, available in two sizes. The 2-door sideboard in Light or Golden Oak is perfect for keeping board games and toys neatly out of sight. Or, if you want even more storage space, plump for the 3-door version, which features two spacious cabinets and three central drawers.
If your lounge isn’t particularly spacious, our Florence corner sideboards are the perfect solution. Available in different colours to suit your home, these stunning pine sideboards are a charming blend of the modern and the traditional, with Georgian feet and modern brushed acacia tops. They’re also finished in matt lacquer, which is both durable and very easy to clean, making them ideal for family living rooms.
For a slightly different feel, you can enhance your family living room’s storage space with one of our Florence display cabinets or dressers. Based on traditional, hand-crafted pieces, they have been given a stylish contemporary twist with attractive, scratch-proof and water-resistant acacia wood. You can use these gorgeous cabinet/dresser combos to store all of your children’s playthings and to display their school photos, treasured family snaps and ornaments.
Create a feature wall your family will love to look at
A particularly special way to decorate your family living room is by turning one of the walls into a magical gallery wall. Here you can display meaningful pictures, family photographs – and, of course, your children’s artwork! After all, the fridge is sure to become pretty crowded after a while, and it will make your kids feel really proud if you adorn a wall in your lounge with their creations.
Choose matching frames in a variety of sizes to create an overall unity, and enjoy sitting back on your sofa and admiring your children’s masterpieces. From macaroni collages to brightly coloured paintings and scrawling family portraits in crayon, displaying their artworks in this way will give you a charming timeline of their development. Plus, it’ll give your lounge a warm and homey feel that everyone will appreciate, including your guests.
Bright and cheerful family living room decor
Now that you have some good ideas for furnishings to enhance your family living room space, it’s time to think about decor! You may not realise it, but the way you choose to decorate a room – or not – can make all the difference between creating a cosy and welcoming atmosphere, or making your room feel uninspiring.
While you may prefer a more muted, elegant palette of greys, beige, white and creams, for the most part, it’s worth remembering that kids love vivid patterns and bright pops of colour. Making your family living room as colourful as possible will ensure that they want to spend plenty of time playing and socialising in there with you.
So, consider painting at least one wall a more kid-friendly colour, such as pastel pink or blue. Metallic hues like gold also work well and add interest. Alternatively, why not inject a splash of colour with your very own custom painted furniture? Simply tell us the shade or pattern you’d like and we’ll tailor your chosen item to suit you. We can even use stencils to create fun children’s designs! Learn more about our custom service on our blog.
When it comes to creating that perfect, nurturing family living room, you should also place plenty of emphasis on choosing cosy and snuggly soft furnishings. These will be extra comfortable for your children and will help enhance the space. For example, you can easily make your sofa more inviting and comfy by adding a super-soft throw. Your kids will love wrapping themselves up while they watch a film or read a book with you before bed.
We have a number of gorgeous throws just perfect for cuddling up on cold winter nights. Our Darcey cream faux fur throw is as soft as goose feathers and will make you and your little ones feel as if you are sitting on a cloud. Stylish as well as warm and cosy, this elegant throw is the perfect finishing touch for your couch or sofa bed.
On the other hand, you may prefer one of our Cashmere touch fleece throws, which are available in a stunning variety of colours. Choose from vivid Orchid Pink to mossy green and moody charcoal. Combining beautifully soft material with a pretty, braided edge, these throws will be a wonderful addition to your family living room decor.
Of course, no family sofa would be complete without some comfy cushions to give it that extra snuggle factor. We offer a colourful range of cushions, in different sizes, materials and patterns, so you’ll be sure to find some that chime with your lounge’s decor.
If your kids love having something particularly soft and fluffy to cuddle up with, we’d recommend our faux fur cushions, which come in a multitude of shades and styles – from Elk and Wolf to Wild Mink. However, if you’d prefer to have something a little more vibrant, how about our adorable scrapbook bumblebee cushion, or one of our floral-patterned cushions in shades like Moss Green, Petrol Blue and rich purple Plum.
Transform your living room into a kid-friendly haven with furniture.co.uk!
We hope our advice on family-friendly living room ideas will help you on your quest to create a magical and inviting space where all of your family can gather and enjoy precious quality time together.
Whether you’re working with a chic grey and navy living room theme or something entirely different, our stylish wooden furniture will make the perfect addition to your family lounge. Designed to last a lifetime, we hope the pieces you choose will give you plenty of enjoyment for years to come!
If you have further questions about any of the products we’ve mentioned, or if you want to find out more about the stunning and practical furniture ranges we offer, our friendly customer service team are on hand to help. Please don’t hesitate to call us on 01989 763343, or send an email to [email protected].
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