The living room carries a lot of expectations, serving as the first impression for anyone who steps inside your home. But beyond that, it is also where the residents unwind after a long day, making it one of the most important and personal spaces in the home.
So, a space that sets the mood for your entire home cannot be an afterthought in the design process, right? It deserves meaningful planning to ensure it feels both welcoming and stylish.
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We reached out to Sanaa Ruia, creative director at Maia Estates, who shared how one can mould their living room to make it look more appealing.
But before we dive into the trends and styles, let’s go through how the concept of the living room came to be.
History of living room
The concept of a casual, everyday-use living room did not always exist. The current layout is shaped by recent changes in lifestyle. It was not really a long-standing tradition.“The living room, as we know it today, is a relatively modern idea,” Sanaa added. She further explained that earlier, in Western homes, the spaces were displayed for formality and social display, not comfort. ”The equivalent space was once the parlour or drawing room, a formal area reserved for receiving guests rather than everyday life,” she described.
You may have heard about drawing room, Sanaa noted, it comes from the word ‘withdrawing’, where hosts and visitors would retreat after a meal. The layout was deeply influenced by etiquette and interactions.
Sanaa further mentioned how the shift occurred, “It was only in the early twentieth century that the phrase ‘living room’ began to gain popularity, signalling a shift toward spaces that reflected daily life rather than ceremony.” Homes began to prioritise real life over staged social interactions. In contrast to Western designs, Eastern homes had flexibility and were more multipurpose in nature. And modern living rooms blend Western structure with Eastern flexibility. She suggested that contemporary design is a hybrid that takes the best from both worlds.
Tips for perfecting living room
Sanaa observed that the biggest problem was how living rooms had outdated layouts for a long time. “For a long time, the television quietly became the focal point of the room, often dictating how furniture was arranged and how people gathered,” she said.
Now, however, the focus is shifting back to the layout. Highlighting the biggest change, she shared, “Sofas, lounge chairs and smaller movable pieces are arranged in ways that allow people to gather naturally rather than simply face a single point in the room.”
Here are some of the tips she recommended:
1. Natural lights
- Natural light and proportion are also becoming central to how living rooms are experienced.
- Large windows, open views and generous volumes allow daylight to shape the character of the space.
- When a room has a sense of scale and openness, it immediately becomes easier to inhabit.
2. Materiality
- Go for finishes that feel warm and tactile, such as timber, stone, linen and woven textiles.
- When the materials are layered thoughtfully, they bring quiet depth to a room without relying on excessive decoration.
- The result is a living room that feels calm and balanced rather than overly styled.
3. Lighting
- Layer your lighting. Move beyond a single central fixture and use multiple light sources.
- Incorporate varied lighting types. Add table lamps, floor lamps, and wall lights for a softer, more balanced glow.
- Create a dynamic ambience. Different light sources can help shift the mood of the room.
- Softer lighting makes the space feel warmer and more intimate at night.
In the end, living room styling is becoming more genuine. “What feels refreshing about living rooms today is that they are becoming less performative. The focus is shifting toward spaces that feel calm, personal and effortless,” Sanaa mentioned. Interiors are focusing on prioritising comfort, functionality and individuality. No longer is it just about style, but to evoke a sense of ‘lived-in’ energy too.
