Living Room Furniture To Add Extra Space In Your Home

Space saving furniture has always been popular in the living room, especially furniture that doubles as decoration & storage, even if it's just a small drawer in a side table. Now, as we have more clutter (Sky boxes, playstations etc) living room furniture that was once consigned to history is making a comeback, & new techniques in furniture manufacturing mean that living room furniture can be extremely decorative yet very practical instead of having to compromise one to get the other. It is also possible to add extra space by working with the living room furniture you already have, making the most of wall space.

One of the most popular items of living room furniture making a comeback is the sideboard. Once suitable only for the dining room, sideboards are fantastic for living room storage, as they don't take up too much room, & they have a large, stable top which can be used to put your television, hi fi & DVD player on top of.

This new breed of sideboards are often very well designed too, in lacquer, wood or glass, in either traditional or modern styles, plain or patterned, as a stand alone piece or something that blends in with your other living room furniture. If you have the wall space but not the floor space then consider a wall hung sideboard. A fairly new development, these are available from any retailer of quality Italian furniture, who should also be able to mount it for you.

If you want to add even more storage why not use the area above the sideboard to put matching floating shelves on. Allow plenty of room above the tallest item on your sideboard so it doesn't look too busy, & then choose shelves as close to the width & finish of the sideboard as you can. Don't put too much on the shelves though or else they will look cluttered, a few attractive books, vases or figurines, or even a treasured collection that will benefit from being well out of harms way.

Another useful piece to consider is an ottoman (footstool) with a lift up cushion & a storage space in it. These are available in both traditional & modern designs, & in everything from wallet friendly to Italian luxury. If you can get it covered in a fabric similar to your sofa fabric so it blends in. These can be very useful in several ways. If it is the right size & height it can also double up as an extra seat, & the easy to lift up top means it's a great place to store day to day things like TV guides, remote controls, magazines & books, reading glasses etc. If it is fairly large it can also be used as a coffee table, by buying a decorative tray for the top of it. A tray ensures that cups & glasses are stable & your ottoman doesn't get liquids spilled on it, as well as being useful to use when bring items in & out of the kitchen.

Or perhaps a trunk could do double duty as a coffee table & storage box perfect for the things you need to keep but not use everyday. Vintage trunks can look fabulous in the right house, or you could always buy a new unpainted one (try children's shops) & paint it a neutral colour to blend in, or get a steel one for industrial chic.

If you are buying a TV unit don't buy a TV stand without storage (like the ones that you see the TVs displayed on it shops). The TV stands designed to go with the TVs don't have room to put anything away, yet still take up the same amount of floor space as something much more practical (and beautiful too). Think about getting a decent TV unit or cabinet to match or complement your other furniture, & make sure it has cupboards &/or drawers, or at the very least room to store boxes or baskets that can be used to hold every day items. If room (or your budget) is tight why not use floating shelves for your TV & then put attractive storage boxes underneath?

Another fantastic way to create extra storage in your living room is with the use of wall hung cupboards & shelving. Once the preserve of upmarket Italian manufacturers wall units are starting to come through on the high street now (although you will need to be a skilled DIYer to fit them properly). A bit more work & expense, nonetheless the right design of wall unit, with a good combination of open shelving & closed shelving will be a real investment, so take time to think about the design, looking at wall units in brochures for inspiration.

Wall units don't have to be wall hung though, if you have got a wall, or part of a wall then think about having a wall unit across the whole wall (or part of wall). It might even be possible to use it for majority of your living room storage needs, as well as for your TV & audio equipment, & in the higher end Italian models it is even possible to have special channels for wires so you never see them. You could also have a large sliding glass door, which can hide the TV & slide back when needed, an elegant solution if you are a person who doesn't want their TV on display all the time!

Finally, don't forget the space under your sofa. If your sofa is on legs then under bed boxes with wheels are a quick, easy & inexpensive way to store toys, magazines & papers, & they are easy to get to when you want. If you have children this is a great way of keeping your living room tidy, a quick sweep through the room, toss everything in the boxes, slide back under the sofa & you now have a tidy living room.

So, there are several different types of living room furniture you can use to add extra storage, & once all the clutter is tucked away in it's respective homes you can get on with the serious business of relaxing in your tidy, junk free living room!

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