Traditional doesn’t mean boring – as these beautiful ideas for traditional living room schemes prove. Find your perfect look and learn how to put the scheme together with our pick of the best traditional living room designs. Fancy something a little bit different? We have lots of ideas for country living rooms and modern living rooms. If you’re still undecided on your style, we have 100s of living room pictures covering all trends to help you out.
Creating an authentic coastal scheme couldn’t be easier. Teamed with white walls, even the deepest blues won’t overwhelm, creating a calm but colourful and characterful seating area. Use pure white paint on the storage. With blue, this fresh tone works better than creamy shades, which can look dirty and dated.
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Buy now: Iggy armchair in brushed linen cotton, £890, Sofa.com
Buy now: Lucas rug, £140, Habitat
If you’ve already used white, grey or natural tones in your home, adding denim blue is the easiest next step. Use it to add gentle colour, a calm mood and timeless style. These blues are your go-to colours if you love relaxed country style or a smart, Hamptons-inspired look. Soft orange accessories look beautifully vibrant against the saturated blues.
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Buy now: Iggy sofa in Amalfi, £1,880, Sofa.com
Buy now: Joules Harbour Coastal stripe armchair, £1089, DFS
Stick strictly to two colours (we love the classic boho combination of dusky purples and olive green) and you can mix furniture styles and wood tones without the overall effect being messy. This isn’t a ‘playing it safe’ kind of look, so upholstery in a non-neutral colour is essential, while traditional brass accessories fit better than trendy copper or rose gold.
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Buy now: Walls painted in Dulux Heart Wood matt emulsion, £16 for 2.5ltrs
Buy now: Grace three-seater sofa in Aubergine velvet, from £749, Ideal Home range at Very
A combination of luxurious textures come together to create a cosy living room. Start with a slouchy lilac sofa and add woollen blankets and cute woodland animal cushions. Introduce a woven rug and a cream trunk coffee table, and complete the look with fresh flowers to bring the floral wallpaper to life.
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Buy now: Cream trunk, £147, Wayfair
Buy now: Similar bunny cushion, £11, B&Q
The pale grey of the side table and soft blue-grey the sofa echo the colour of the print on the wall above brings a sense of harmony and interest to this traditional sitting room. The eclectic mix of antique pieces and decorative shapes creates a relaxed yet refined style.
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Buy now: Similar Antique Georgian style wall mirror, £465, Selling Antiques
Buy now: Similar Freddie sofa in mineral grey clever linen, £1665, Loaf
This earthy, orange-tinted pink is only a shade away from being a neutral, making it really easy to use. Try it in a room that needs a little warmth and softness. This look lends itself well to natural textures, so accessorise with linens, weaves, velvets and rough artisan ceramics.
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Buy now: Fabienne Plain in Russet wallpaper, £50 per roll, Sanderson at Wallpaper Direct
Buy now: curtains made in Keaton Spice, £38 per m, Clarke & Clarrke
In a property with wooden beams like this, you might say that you don’t need very much else to make it special. That could well be true, but there’s no reason to let a striking focal point put you off using colour. The bright chair and rug here, plus all the artworks, work a treat.
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Buy now: vintage table, The Peanut Vendor
Buy now: rug, Plantation Rug Company
Create the perfect mix of traditional and modern in your living room. Despite the period features and classic room layout, this space is full of contemporary touches, from the white walls to the swing-arm floor lamp and triangle rug. Luxurious textured fabrics add a high level of comfort and sophistication, too.
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Buy now: similar floor lamp, Houseology
A mix of vintage pieces give this living room an eclectic retro vibe. There are a lot of classics here, such as the tulip table and the wooden sideboard, but what really stands out is the giant star floor lamp, which arches dramatically into the middle of the room.
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Buy now: Dandelion Clocks wallpaper in Slate, £46 per roll, John Lewis
Buy now: similar round tulip table, from £130, Swivel UK
Modern homes don’t have to be furnished in modern styles. Clean white walls make a fantastic backdrop to the ornate furniture in this room, letting it be the focal point of the space. Colourful cushions in contemporary prints give a nod to the age of the property.
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Buy now: similar furniture, Nicky Cornell
Buy now: Spike cushion, £40, Scion at John Lewis
Create a grand-looking scheme with ornate French-style furniture. Against white walls, the furniture takes on a modern look, while retaining its traditional properties. Sumptuous fabrics, such as the blue velvet on the armchair, add a beautiful finishing touch.
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Buy now: furniture, Nicky Cornell
Perfect placement is the key to success. Here, sculptural table lamps set at either end of a sideboard not only offer a pleasing sense of balance, but draw the eye to this striking artwork to create a dramatic focal point.
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Buy now: Lear sideboard, £3,650, Daniel Schofield at Benchmark
Buy now: Desire & Longing 19 by Sue Williams A’Court, £7,500, Boo.lee Gallery
A neutral palette doesn’t have to be white or cream. Here, accents of terracotta and duck-egg blue combine to create a beautiful scheme that’s neutral at its heart. A mix of pattern and textural fabrics provides plenty of interest.
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Buy now: Curtains in Perseus in Stone viscose mix, £65 per m, Colefax and Fowler
Buy now: Sofa in Romany in Latte viscose/cotton mix, £59 per m, Zoffany
Create a stylish corner where you can curl up with a good book. Here, incorporating accessories in a variety of materials, including glass, ceramic and wood, creates a modern look, which is softened by plush upholstery fabrics. Understated luxury is the key to this room’s appeal.
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Buy now: Benton cabinet, £2,900, Paolo Moschino for Nicholas Haslam
Buy now: Onslow chair with additional buttoning, £2,140, David Seyfreid
Rich pattern and texture are key to this appealing scheme, providing layers of interest that invite closer inspection. Embroidered linen, velvet and sisal, all drawn from a palette of blues, unite the look, making for a harmonious whole.
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Buy now: Brighton Midi sofa, from £1,461, plus 8.5m fabric, Sofas & Stuff
Buy now: curtains in Pasha Embroidery in Duck Egg linen mix, £125 per m, Ian Sanderson
Don’t be afraid to mix up your furniture styles when designing a room scheme. Here, a vintage trunk creates a characterful coffee table in this relaxed blue living room, while a truly contemporary pendant hangs directly above.
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Buy now: PH 5 pendant lamp, from £475, Louis Poulsen at Skandium
Buy now: Thala sofa, from €2,680, plus 14m of fabric, Caravane
Go for a traditional window treatment if you want to stay true to the look of a period property. Rather than one pair of curtains, this window has a second set in the middle so that every frame in the bay window is defined. A curtain pelmet in a matching fabric also creates a look of times gone by.
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Buy now: chair upholstered in Iberis, £79.20 per m, Casamance
Known for her exquisite natural wallpaper motifs, Marthe Armitage is the grande dame of hand-produced prints and this design is no exception. Here, heavy milky white linen upholstery and an artisan wool rug keep the look textural and fresh.
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Buy now: Wild Pear hand block printed wallpaper in Sage, £276 per roll, Marthe Armitage at Hamilton Weston
Buy now: Domino 176293 linen (on cushion), £163 per m, Schumacher at Turnell & Gigon
It’s simple to make a reading corner – all you need is a great armchair. Pick one that complements your wall colour and you’re good to go. Ideally, position your chair near a window so it benefits from plenty of natural light. A built-in shelving unit here offers plenty of space for trinkets and books, without intruding on the floor space.
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Buy now: similar armchair, Atkin & Thyme
