Living Room Built In Storage

The living room should be a place for relaxing as well as housing everything from DVDs and games to books and magazines. Therefore it needs to have plenty of the right storage. Prevent overcrowding by looking for dual-purpose furniture: coffee tables with extra draws, shelving to hold books and accessories and large lidded baskets, which are perfect for storing throws and will double up as a side table.

Window Seat

All you need to create a window seat is a bench with drawers or, even simpler, boxes or baskets, lined up beneath the window sill. Go for cushions or seat pads to make it comfortable. With the additional seating and storage that a window seat provides you may even find you can lose an armchair or cabinet and create more floor space.

Back to Back Shelving

A narrow shelving unit or console table positioned against the back of a sofa won't intrude into the room and will hide away the back of your seating.

Side Storage

Store cushions and accessories in large boxes to make a seasonal swap around the speediest of jobs. Place one next to your sofa and it will double up as a small side table. Use a smaller lidded box on top to tidy away accessories such as coasters and remote controls, too.

Display Cabinet

Give your room character by storing your best glassware or crockery in a glass-fronted cabinet, where the pieces can be seen. If your room is compact, a narrow design is best. Buy one with lots of individual doors to make taking your items in and out of the cabinet easier.

If you have children, put breakables at the top and more robust pieces lower down.

More than any other room, there are no fixed rules when it comes to designing the living room. A living room includes a bit of everything. It's where you relax, watch television and socialize, so it can take on any shape depending on what you choose to focus on. Here're some tips and suggestions on planning your living room.

After deciding on your objectives for the living room, plan the crucial features that you want to work your design around. For example, if the television set is the focus, its size and shape will also determine the design of the room. A regular set may require just a console, while a plasma set may need a false wall to hide the cables. Seating in the room will also revolve around the television. By keeping the focal points in mind, the other furnishings will fall into place more easily.

Layout is an important part of planning the living room. Work out the placement of the furnishings by observing how the traffic will flow, and work with the space accordingly.

Plan special features such as a water fountain or feature wall in areas of heavy traffic for maximum impact, but move the chill-out areas to quieter parts of the room.

Storage is another essential factor in the home. Unless you're blessed with huge storeroom or have few possessions, you'll need to work cabinets and other nifty clutter-busters into your living room too.

Hiring a carpenter is the most popular option. Chic design-integrated, built-in cupboards are the storage area of choice these days. The big bonus is that they are perfect for dead space in awkward or irregular corners of the room. If built-in cupboards are too permanent for your liking, there are also modular options from furniture retailers that you can mix, match and change around whenever you like.

One tip when planning the living room for a big family, is to focus on storage, so something for everyone will be available when needed. This might mean a row of floor-to-ceiling cabinets with built-in niche, and a custom-built coffee table with hidden storage panels to help display as well as keep away the family's belongings.

For a retro-themed living room of a young couple, the sofa set can be made redundant with padded half-walls and building booth seats for the dining area. Framed vintage fabric panels wrap up the theme, and add interest to the plain walls.