Focal Points and Flow Can Make or Break Your Tuscan Living Room
Posted By Mary Freeland on July 9, 2010
Perhaps one of the most common errors when it comes to Tuscan living room design is the layout of the space. Not only is the style of your furniture important, but how you place that furniture makes a huge difference in the overall success of your design. Today we’re going to look at a few common stumbling blocks when it comes to the flow and arrangement of Tuscan living rooms.
Focal Points
Tradition. History. Antiquity. These are all common themes throughout Tuscan style. Which is why hanging a TV on the wall as the focal point of your Tuscan living room can feel awkward, discordant, and just out of place! Living rooms in the U.S. are commonly laid out with the seating all facing the TV, focusing the room’s energy and attention on the screen. But that just doesn’t work with the traditional influences and atmosphere of the Mediterranean style. Instead, a large piece of artwork, fireplace, or window would form a more cohesive focal point with the overall design of the space.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you have to banish your television to the basement if you’re going to redecorate your living room in the Tuscan style! Simply make it a more discreet part of your décor. One fantastic option is placing your TV inside a large wardrobe or antique cupboard—open the doors when you want to watch your shows and hide the screen from view the rest of the time. Another high-tech option is a cutting-edge TV mirror: when your television is off, it looks like a beautiful decorative mirror; when the TV is on, you can see all of your favorite programs with perfect clarity!
Flow
In any décor, but especially in a design style as grounded in the natural world as Tuscan style is, the flow of a room is incredibly important. Different areas need to be well defined and people need to be able to move easily through the space without running to tables, chairs, and each other. When laying out your new Tuscan living room, you’ll want to keep use in mind: if you plan to entertain frequently, you’ll need plenty of end tables for guests to set their drinks. If you want to comfortably accommodate a crowd, you’ll need a number of seating options. Grouping chairs together in several different conversation areas can help break up a large space as well as create gathering places for friends and family. Rather than placing all of your furniture along the walls, all facing into the room, setting up your living room with several different areas can also help facilitate an easy flow throughout the space.
Using the right finishes and paint colors and finding the right furniture pieces can go a long way toward creating a fabulous Tuscan-villa feel for your living room, but attention to focal points and flow can help ensure the whole design comes together for décor that looks and feels authentically Italian!
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[...] our last post about Tuscan living rooms, we talked about focal points and flow, but not about the specifics of furnishings for your space. [...]