After much thought, debate, and consideration, you’re finally making the decision to remodel your home’s living room. Gutting it to the bare bones and starting from scratch. You’ll soon discover there are about 100 choices you need to make…which means you have 100 chances for your plans to get tangled if you’re not careful. Harris Home can help! They’ll handle every step of the design process, so you can create the living room of your dreams.

“There are so many details involved when you completely renovate a living room,” says Scott Junkins, president of Harris Home. “It’s a lot to manage, especially if you try to do on your own. We created Harris Home to provide you with a team of professionals who know how to balance all the essential elements, so you can avoid the stress of doing it yourself.” “With Harris Home, you’ll have a personal project manager to guide you through the entire process, from creating blueprints, to choosing design materials, to approving a 3-D computer rendering before the work begins,” says Junkins. Once you approve, we handle all the details.”

Here’s a list of living room dos and don’ts that Harris Home can help you navigate as you begin your exciting renovation:

Do start from the ground up. The flooring you choose should anchor all the other elements in the room, without competing with other designs or patterns. And it needs to be durable enough for your lifestyle.

Don’t rush into a decision! Your flooring shouldn’t visually clash with wallpaper, fabrics, or paint colors, so it’s important to be careful here. Your Harris Home designer will guide you on the smartest choices for style and function, whether you decide on wood, vinyl, tile, granite, or carpet.
And as you’re planning your renovation, do consider your home’s original architecture when deciding on a style. If you try to put an ultra-modern room in a traditional colonial house, it probably won’t look very logical.

Don’t stray too far from the design of the rest of the rooms in your house. Let your Harris Home expert ensure continuity from one room to the next.
Do consider how traffic will flow through your living room each day. Which way will people usually travel as they enter or exit, or access other rooms or stairs?

Don’t make your family or visitors navigate an obstacle course just to sit on the sofa. Also, do create inviting seating zones with your room’s sofa and chair layout. You might have a zone around a fireplace, or one around a television, or three separate zones within one sizable room. The goal is to have smaller areas that invite intimate conversations.

Don’t make your family or guests shout across an oversized furniture arrangement! Your Harris Home designer will show you detailed drawings and a computer rendering that lays out the best placement.
You may be renovating, but does that mean you should toss out everything that was in your old living room? Not necessarily! Do mix old and new furniture—if some of the existing pieces will work with what you decide to purchase. Some heirlooms are timeless, and can blend seamlessly with sofas, tables, or chairs you buy today. And don’t just settle for purchasing a generic furniture set. How can you be sure which combination will properly accommodate your renovated room? Your personal designer from Harris Home will completely evaluate your possibilities and help you find the ideal balance to fit in beautifully.

Of course, there’s more to furniture layout than just seating. Do have table space available for everyone in each seating area. After all, they need somewhere to place a plate, a drink, or a cell phone. Your combination of end tables and a coffee table should provide resting spaces within two feet of each guest. Don’t force someone to get up or reach too far to retrieve a beverage! That’s one of the important details your Harris Home designer will factor into your room’s plan.

And what will go on all the walls in your new living room? You may have some existing art pieces you wish to include in your renovation, and there may be some new pieces that will match beautifully. Yes, do plan for artwork on the walls…and be sure to choose the size of each piece carefully. Make sure paintings or photos fit the size of your wall spaces and are visible at eye level…and definitely include your personal photos in the mix. Don’t make someone crane their neck or take several steps just to see it. Proper wall decoration is part of the total design service included in a Harris Home renovation.

As you can see, it’s a long list…and this is nowhere near complete! Keeping all these guidelines in mind while you juggle paint colors, wallpaper patterns and fabric samples can be overwhelming. You can get so caught up in the details that you neglect the big picture…and your home deserves better than that.

Completely remodeling a living room can be a positive, exciting experience. It should be! But it doesn’t need to be a solo undertaking. Our team of experts will make it possible to have the look, feel, and functionality you’ve dreamed of. Let our design professionals elevate your home’s interior to the next level. Open the door to more, with a transformational living room renovation experience from Harris Home!