Neutral living room with cosy sofa and coffee table

The hero piece of this room has to be a super-squashy sofa in a versatile colour. Put a warmer neutral on the walls for a cocooning feel and add a big, jigsaw-friendly coffee table that everyone can reach, rather than cluttering the space with side tables.

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Buy now: Walls painted in London Stone No 6 matt estate emulsion, £45 for 2.5L, Farrow & Ball at B&Q
Buy now: Portland Stone carpet, £39.99sq m, Brintons
Buy now: Rug Guru Union Ivory rug, from £469, Modern Rugs

Coastal living room with built-in storage and blue soft furnishings

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

Denim blue living room with orange accents and striped armchair

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

Modern Bohemian living room in dusky purple and olive green

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

Woodland-inspired living room with lilac sofa, floral feature wall and cosy textures

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

Traditional living room with decorative mahogany furniture

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.

Traditional living room with mid century furniture

Earthy coral living room with neutral sofa

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

Traditional seating area with wooden beams

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

Sophisticated living room full of rich textures

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

Retro living room with giant star floor lamp

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

Bright white living room with ornate French-style furniture

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

French-style living room corner with blue-velvet armchair

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

Neutral living room with perfectly placed sideboard

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

Pretty living room with flowing patterned curtains

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

Relaxed reading corner with sumptuous grey velvet armchair

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

Glamorous grey living room filled with patterned fabrics

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

Blue living room with vintage trunk coffee table

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

Grey living room with bay window and floor-length curtains

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

Country living room with leafy green print wallpaper

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