The living room is always going to be the center of the home whether for relaxation or entertainment. It’s the first place you often bring guests into, and the couch is always going to be the first place they will set their sights on. Choosing a color that is perfect for your living room space will surely make first impressions last.
The right couch color can be a little hard to pick because there are so many choices out there. Most of the time, a lot of buyers do stick on the safe side and pick neutral-colored couches. Other times, they make the mistake of buying a couch whose colors clash terribly in their space. To prevent this from happening, we’ve rounded up the best tips for making that couch color choice.
Make a Match
One of the things one should consider when picking a couch for your living room is matching it with your lifestyle choice. Oftentimes, your choice of couch color is hugely dependent on how it will affect your day-to-day living.
With this in mind, here are a few considerations you should keep when choosing a couch color for your living room:
- Do you have kids (or are planning to have kids in the near future?) How old are they?
- Do you have pets? Do they shed on furniture?
- Are you going to entertain friends and family? How much entertaining are you planning to do?
- Are other members of the household neat and tidy? Or is meticulous cleaning not something of a priority to the household?
- What are your plans for this space? Will you be using this space to watch television and eat snacks? Or will it be simply for entertaining?
With these questions in mind, you may find that your couch color choices will be limited to the kind and level of activity you have in mind. For those who have kids and pets, it would be wise to stay away from light-colored couches because this would mean too much cleaning from all the spills and shedding fur.
If you plan on entertaining a lot, make sure that the couch isn’t on the lighter side as well—it cuts down the time on having to clean the couch when a new guest comes.
Choosing the right couch color for your lifestyle will also affect the way you will pick the right material for it. Make sure that the color you will choose will look good on the material you’re eyeing—otherwise, it may drastically change the look of your space.
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Set a Theme
A lot of the time, homeowners already have a theme that they have decided on for their living room design. It often comes from the design aesthetics they have set for the house, the amount of natural and ambient light in the room, or sometimes the color palette they have decided on.
Either way, if you already have a theme in mind, choosing a couch color for your living room will be a breeze. Your couch can be the starting point of your living room’s theme.
Oftentimes, a designer can build their palettes on the room’s key furniture, namely the couch and all other seating options. When choosing a couch color, make sure that this is something that your intended theme can be built upon with contrasting or complementary colors.
Accentuate It!
Sometimes the couch is the last item a homeowner can pick for their living room. This isn’t a problem though, because more often than not, a neutral color for your living room couch will work for any theme or palette you have going.
In order to tie everything together, you can choose a neutral color for your couch and accentuate it with colors surrounding the room. It’s a simple, no-frills way of making a key piece of furniture blend in your space.
The best ways to accentuate your neutral-colored couch are throw pillows, blankets, or other cushions. These items come in many colors and textures, making them easy to mix and match for any room.
Choose these accents well to match the couch you have chosen for your living room to ensure that the design of your room works together seamlessly.
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Make a Statement – Or Not
The couch can either make a statement or be understated. Picking the color of your living room couch is the fastest, easiest way to do this. This key piece of furniture will be the center of attention in your living room, and surely all eyes will be drawn to it every time someone enters the room.
If you do decide to choose a couch color to make a statement, you can do this by going big and bold. Bright, bold colors are popular choices in an otherwise muted room. For example, a big red couch can be a statement piece that will surely have everyone drawing their eyes to it in no time.
You can pick your couch color from a number of colorful pieces that would work around your current design template.
However, some homeowners would prefer having their couches a little bit understated than the rest of the room. Maybe they want all eyes to focus on that fabulous art piece they have on the accent wall, or that custom table is something that should be admired.
If this is the case, you may choose your couch color to blend in more with the rest of the space so that the star of the room will truly shine. Most of the time, couch colors that are understated are closer to the neutral shades—but it will still ultimately depend on your design.
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Pick From The Décor
On some occasions, choosing the couch color can come from the existing décor you already have in the living room. These are best for living room spaces that are looking to be spruced up a little bit from their original design.
A lot of designers often suggest that you choose the couch color from the existing palette of your room’s décor—maybe from that wooden antique table or the pastel shades of the walls.
If you plan on doing this, make sure that the color of your couch is not going to clash with the current décor you already have in the room. It should seamlessly blend in the room to prevent it from sticking out like a sore thumb.
A good idea would be to take a photo of your current space and ask for help from a professional as they would be more than willing to offer you some help.
The Theory and Psychology of Color
One of the most commonly asked questions about this is whether or not couch colors should simply match the design of the room. For some homeowners, this is the easiest choice. After all, the color palette has been chosen and there is already a theme going.
It’s a pretty simplistic idea, but with design, there is also the option of having other choices.
When choosing the colors for your living room, including your couch color, it is a good idea to ask yourself: “What do I want to feel in this space?” This question can impact your color choices as colors are not simply there for design.
They also change the way you feel when you are staying in that space, and they can also trigger your mind to react accordingly.
If you’d like to try out this method, try imagining yourself seated in the color of the couch you are looking into. Would you like to feel calm and relaxed while seated in this space? Maybe a calming pastel or neutral tone will evoke this feeling in you.
Or do you prefer to have excitement and bubbliness while sitting and talking around with your friends? That bright red or sunshine yellow couch surely can inject that buzz while you entertain guests.
To make it easier, many professionals suggest that you should pick a couch color that can reflect your preferred mood. Your couch color can be the communicator of your feelings and you should be able to use it as your anchor when designing your living room space.
Final Thoughts
Your living room is a space to gather or to rest—it really depends on what you’d like to do with that space. With this thought in mind, choosing the color of your couch is just as important as how you’d like to see the room in its completion.
There are many ways to pick a color for your couch. You can go by design aesthetics and choose based on a theme or palette. You can also choose based on your lifestyle or the feel of the living room space. Either way, with these tips, your couch color choice will surely be one of the easiest choices you’d have to make.