Beautifully designed living room. Courtesy photo

By SUZETTE FOX
Los Alamos

Believe it or not, there is a lot that goes into designing a living room. Since I haven’t written much about it, I thought it would be the perfect time to start the conversation. This column will be written in several sections in the coming weeks. I will discuss getting started, a budget, floor planning, architectural details, storage and organization, décor and design, and hiring professionals.

Get Started
Renovating your living room: It’s exciting, but it can be a bit overwhelming, too. Where should you start? How much can you afford to spend? How do you know whether that contractor with the impressive portfolio will really show up when he’s supposed to? And what if the sofa that looks so gorgeous on the showroom floor looks ridiculous in your house? Relax. I’m here to make it simpler for you. Follow this step-by-step guide to renovation, and understand how to design a new living room that suits your needs, your style and your budget.
Research and Plan
One of the keys to a successful renovation is plenty of forethought, knowledge and information — especially if you’re making structural changes, or working with several professionals and a big budget. Take your time to plan before you begin, so that you are less likely to have regrets when you are finished. Designing a room or a remodeling project is a process and it takes time to develop ideas and do things right. In other words, you need to know your destination and how you plan to get there.

Consider Your Lifestyle
Try to envision how you see yourself and your family getting the most use out of the space. Will the space be used for parties? Intimate gatherings? Do you want or need one large seating area or several different seating groups?

Think long-term. Remember to plan not only for this stage of your life, but for the next phases, as well. If you’re newlyweds planning to have children in a few years, take those future kids into account when planning your renovation, so that you don’t have to redo everything. Ask people who already have kids what works in real life and what doesn’t; what they wish they had in their living rooms; what has caused safety issues or got broken so many times it had to be thrown away.

On the other hand, if you have older parents (or are a senior yourself), be sure to design your space so that it is safe and comfortable for yourself and your guests as the years go by.

Consult the Pros
Once you have a sense of what functions you want your new living room to serve, gather lots of information. Depending on the scope of your living room renovation, you may be working with one professional or half-a-dozen, from architects and designers, to electricians and carpenters. Before you start gathering information about local service providers and interviewing them, think about which pros you will actually need to get your job done.

As you start interviewing any of these professionals, remember that the success of your project will depend on the professionals’ ability to work together. Homeowners need to realize that any construction project is a team effort and that the professionals involved should be working together and not pitted against one another.

Once you know which types of professionals you need for your job, you can start looking for the pros who will be best for your project. Where to find them? Crowd source – talk to real people. Ask your friends and neighbors to recommend local professionals, and be sure to inquire as to whether there are any local pros you should steer clear of. Find out what other people are glad they included in their renovations, and what wasn’t worth the money.

When you have a list of professionals to interview, be ready to ask them plenty of questions, including these.

What kind of insurance do you have?
If a contractor doesn’t have proper personal liability insurance, property-damage coverage and worker’s comp insurance for an employee working in your house, you could get stuck with the bill if something goes wrong or somebody is injured.

Have you done projects just like this?
The best kitchen contractor in the world may not be the right person for your living room renovation, and someone who has only done six-figure renovations may not be able to bring your more modest project in affordably. Look for someone with a good track record of completed projects just like the one you have in mind.

What do you see as the biggest challenge of this project?
Every remodeling project has its challenges. A contractor who promises you that yours will be completed without a single hitch is either inexperienced or trying too hard to sell the job. Be wary of people who are over-sure. There are always questions and unknowns in construction.

Can I speak to some of your past clients?
Any good professional should have positive references and will be willing to share those; anyone who seems vague or sketchy about putting you in touch with satisfied customers may not have any – a major red flag.

Once you’ve asked the pro the above questions, you may want to ask his past clients a bunch of questions, too. Ask the references questions about how the relationship worked. How comfortable did the past client feel talking about changes or speaking up if she didn’t understand something? It’s one thing to like design outcomes of a project and another to have it be a pleasant experience.

In other words, remember that in addition to living with the professional’s work in the long run, you are going to have to spend an awful lot of time with the professional in the short-term, too. And if he is temperamental, unprofessional, or just not someone you can relate to comfortably, those few months are going to be much more stressful than they need to be.

What is my gut telling me about this person?
How comfortable do I feel with him or her? Are they professional? Do they listen to me and understand what I want? Trust your gut. Basically, if they don’t seem detail oriented and well put together, neither will your project.

Determine Your Living Room Needs

• What are your ultimate goal(s)?
• Are you renovating to enlarge the room?
• Are you remodeling to update it?
• Are you renovating to sell your home down the line?
• How do you plan to enjoy your living room day in and day out, year after year?

The best way to identify what is going to work best for your family is to think about how you really live. Are you the type of people who like to spend a lot of time together watching movies around a TV? In that case, make sure it’s comfortable to watch. On the other hand, if you spend most of your time reading, you might want to find a way to hide the TV when it’s not in use.

If you are going to use your living room for entertaining, think about what types of gatherings you usually host. Do you like to invite one or two other couples for a quiet night of wine and cheese in front of the fireplace? Or throw big stand-up fetes where everyone mixes and mingles? For seated events, pick large, cushy upholstery; for stand-up shindigs, keep the chairs and couches smaller-scale to leave as much room as possible for moving around. If you entertain formally, be sure you have storage space for less-fancy items such as your kids’ toys and your stacks of magazines, so that you can stash them when company comes. And if your events tend to be boisterous and messy, you’re going to want couches and carpets that are stain resistant.

Identify Your Style
Do you consider a sleek, modern living room sexy or do you think minimalism looks cold and forbidding? Does an eclectic assemblage of treasures from around the world feel exotic and exciting to you or is it just a jumbled mess? There’s no right answer to these questions, but finding the answers (and the styles) that are right for you is one of the most important things you’ll do when planning your living room renovation.

Take some time to look around you — at your own home, at your friends’ homes, at the rooms design pros put together — and find the style that resonates. Then you can put your own twists on that style to create a living room that reflects your personality and individuality. Here’s how.

Look At Your Home
If you’re embarking on a renovation, you clearly want to change some things about your current space, but there are probably elements that you do like. What are they? Think about which room in the house is your favorite, and why: Is it the bedroom, because you love its romantic floral wallpaper? Do you love the kitchen you redid last year, because it’s sleek and industrial? When you’ve identified the elements that make you feel most at home, you can incorporate them into your new living room.

Do Some Design Research
Gather an armload of decorating magazines and rip out any pages that make you linger. Then analyze: What do the pictures have in common? Is it a minimalist sensibility? A rustic, farmhouse vibe? Bold color choices? A monochromatic palette? When you can identify the elements you are drawn to, be sure to make note of what unites them. That consistent element is probably the key to your personal style.

Get Out of the House
Open your eyes to the details around you. Not just on the Internet and TV, but in real life. Go to new restaurants. Visit museums you’ve never been to. Go to Builder Association home tours like the Parade of Homes. All of these places have design elements that you might want to incorporate into your living room redesign. Notice the details, perhaps the super-cool lighting fixture you noticed at once of these places would look great in your house.

What Stays, What Goes
Do you want to get rid of everything you own and start from scratch? Or do you want to incorporate some favorite pieces from your current living room into your new one? Or, perhaps, you wish you could have a clean design slate, but have to retain as much as you can in the interest of your budget. Whatever the answer, here are some smart ways to triage your current living room belongings.

Does It Work in the Space?
First consider existing pieces as a source in your shopping. But look at what you have with the same critical eye as when looking for new items. Is it the right shape and size, and, is it the right style? You have to be fairly tough and non-emotional in saying goodbye to pieces that really won’t work in your design. But if you feel you must use a piece for sentimental reasons, then at least be sure to consider it when purchasing your other selections as to ensure the piece will feel relevant rather than left over.

Is It Valuable?
If something is valuable, and you like it well enough, think twice about swapping it out just for the sake of having something new. A practical way to decide whether to keep something based on value is to research it to the best of your ability — see what it would sell for on eBay or Craigslist. If the value of the object or furniture is low, then get rid of it and upgrade.

Do You Love It?
That chair you fell in love with at a chic furniture store. The rug you shipped back from your Moroccan vacation. The throw pillow that always makes you smile. If there’s something in your living room that you absolutely adore, hold on to it. Incorporating things that are meaningful to you is what will make your new living room feel like home.

Can You Tweak It?
If you love the shape of your almost-new sofa but hate the color, consider having it reupholstered. If the milk-paint finish on your rustic coffee table won’t work with your more sophisticated design plans, maybe you can have it sanded and refinished in a glossy cherry or mahogany. Older tables, chests or any case good can be brought back to life with new lamps, mirrors or a coat of paint. And upholstered pieces can easily be updated with a new fabric.

Ultimately, these changes are worthwhile only if you love the shape of the piece, or if it’s in otherwise-excellent condition. If you were never that crazy about that coffee table, or if the springs on the couch are shot, it may be better (easier, snazzier and more economical) to shop for something new. Next time, I’ll discuss budget and floor planning.

Feel free to contact Los Alamos/White Rock Interior Designer Suzette Fox to suggest specific design topics or for help with your home. For more information, find her on Facebook at facebook.com/SuzetteFoxInteriorDesign and on her website www.suzettefoxinteriors.com.