Image Source: Design Inside’s Modern Chicago Living Room (with views of Lake Michigan!)
There are a few ways that interior designers approach furnishing a space differently than most people might expect. When we talk to clients, we usually hear tales like these…
Maybe they bought a sofa and it didn’t really work in their space, but it was such an investment that they lived with the monstrosity (their words!) for 5 miserable years. Or maybe their room didn’t feel cohesive, but no matter how many pillow permutations they added to the sofa, it wouldn’t come together harmoniously.
As designers, our special skill lies in our ability to create spaces that feel exactly how you want them to feel. Spaces that soothe, relax, enhance, or even create connection and ease in your life. Half of our secret sauce is talent… but the other half lies in our strategy.
Today, we’re showing you the 5 steps we use to furnish a living room. You can try it yourself, or get to know our method below and then call us in to do the heavy lifting. ;)
Image Source: Design Inside’s Transitional Chicago Living Room
Step 1: Create a Vision for Your Space
The first step to furnishing a living room is having a vision for the space. In other words, to get from A to B, we have to define what “B” is. The best way to do that is to deep dive into how you use the space and how you would like to use the space.
Here are just some of the many questions we will ask you regarding the style and function of your living room. Keep them in mind as you use your space and take note of your answers:
What are you currently using this space for? What would you like to use it for?
What really bothers you? What could be improved? Stylistically? Functionally?
What would you dream of having in the space?
What do you envy when you visit family or friends’ living rooms?
What makes you stop in your tracks when browsing Pinterest and why?
Using your answers, we will also create a to-scale space plan for your living room at this step. This helps us create the best furniture arrangement for your lifestyle, identify which pieces will fit comfortably in the space, and understand the best dimensions for those pieces. This is the vision for the space!
Once you have a vision for your space, you (or we) will create a list of all the furnishings you need to achieve these goals. Don’t be concerned about whether you already own them or not. We’ll get to that in a bit...
Image Source: From Design Inside’s Rustic Modern Loft
Step 2: Fine-Tune Your Aesthetic
The next step is fine-tuning your style and aesthetic. A great place to start is with our fun Interior Design Style Quiz. It will give you a general direction for what speaks to you and which words to use when defining your style.
We suggest paying particular attention to the color palettes you’re drawn to, the types of fabrics or furnishings you like best, and the overall feeling of the space. (Bright and open? Moody and cozy? Etc.) If we’re working together, we’ll also look at any Pinterest boards, magazine clippings, or other inspirational images you might want to share.
Once you know what you like and don’t like, you can refer back to the list of furnishings you compiled in Step 1. Of the items on your list, which existing furnishings do you own in the style you like? Which will you want or need to procure?
We’ll then create a new list that consists only of the furnishings that will need to be sourced for your living room. This is the beginning of your shopping list!
From Design Inside’s Mid-Century Modern Living Room
Step 3: Create Your Furnishings Budget
Before we go shopping, we have to consider your budget. The goal is to spread funds to get everything on your list and prioritize quality where needed. It’s true that you can find furnishings at pretty much any price point, but higher-cost, better-made items are far more likely to last longer in your home. This may be less important for a table lamp but is critical for weight-bearing items like sofas, coffee tables, chairs, and even rugs… especially if you have two active little kids like we do!
Note: Although we firmly believe in working within the budget you are comfortable with, we do have some project minimums in place. These minimums give us enough room to maintain a quality level we can confidently stand behind!
So, how do you decide which price points are right? Where should you save vs. splurge? If we’re working with you, smart budgeting is something we will discuss together, and we’ll help you stretch your investment in the best possible way. If you’re doing this on your own (or wondering what a furnishings investment looks like), download our Budgeting Guide here!
Step 4: Select Your Living Room Furnishings
Now that we have a rough idea of which items you’ll need, their best dimensions, and what each item will cost, we can start browsing! This is the part of the process that we take entirely off your hands, sifting through thousands of products to find the best ones for you, your style, your budget, and your home. (More on our design process here.)
We usually start with a “stand out” piece or two that will be the focus of the design. This could be a great rug, sofa, light fixture, or even a piece of art we know you will love. Then, we search for the rest of the items on our list, building up the design, iterating again and again, until we have a full selection of items that we are confident work well together and will delight you. We’ll throw some lovable decor and accessories in there, as well. Accessories are the finishing touches that make a house feel like home!
If you’re doing this step on your own, you can follow the same strategy. Save images of the items and use a program like Powerpoint, Google Presentation or even Canva to arrange items together on the page to see how they look. Sounds like extra work, but it is important! Having a comprehensive design plan BEFORE purchasing anything is one of the best ways to make sure you get a beautiful, cohesive space that you love.
Last but not least, we will record the price of these items, get quotes for anything custom (from our vendors or designer-only showrooms), and present our design concept to you for approval.
Image Source: Design Inside’s Transitional Lake View Living Room
Step 5: Order, Procure & Install Your New Furnishings
If you’re working with us, this is the step where you won’t see much progress happening… because it’s all happening behind the scenes! “Don’t you just click ‘buy’ and wait for shipments?” Oh, if it were so easy.
Ordering and procuring furnishings is a process rife with details, time, communication, tracking, quality control, and orchestrating various moving pieces (and people, haha). I could probably write an entire post about what this process looks like, the purchase orders we will be swimming in, etc. — but let’s face it, you pay us so you don’t have to see it! ;)
Once we’ve received all of your items and confirmed that they are in pristine condition, we will arrange your final Installation Day (for us) and Reveal Day (for you!). This is when we bring everything to your home, arrange it in your space, and do the final styling for that incredible photo-finish.
Note: If you’re doing this stage on your own, my advice for you is to have patience (items will not arrive at the same time), triple-check your orders before placing them, and don’t let the delivery folks leave until you’re confident you’ve received your order damage-free. Oh — and don’t forget to style the space with accessories. It makes a HUGE difference!
Image Source: Design Inside’s Rustic Modern Living Room Loft
There you have it — our five tried-and-true steps for furnishing a living room. If you work with us, we will make it fun, easy, and beyond anything you can imagine!
Ready to start furnishing a living room that brings ease to your daily routine and joy to your lifestyle? Let’s chat.
Yours,
Kathryn & Bill Cherne