An oversized living room or family room can be very good for a large family or for those who like to entertain and need space for all their friends, but it can be a challenge to decorate such a room. Furniture that's too small can seem out of proportion, whereas too many oversized furniture pieces can crowd even the biggest room. Note a few tips for decorating an oversized room so you know that the space looks inviting while still allowing for plenty of seating and easy foot traffic.
Choose just a few large pieces
To ensure the pieces you have in an oversized room aren't too big or too small, choose just a few main pieces that will be large enough to fit the space, and then complement them with pieces that are more average in size. You might start with a modular sofa that covers most of one wall, and then an entertainment centre across from it. Your other pieces in the room should then be a bit smaller in scale; a long but narrow coffee table allows everyone on the sofa to access it, but by keeping it narrow, you won't cut off foot traffic in the room. If you still need side tables, keep those at a small scale as well.
Drapery
An oversized room probably has oversized windows, and window treatments can then be a challenge; shutters and blinds may seem too compact for such a space, so opt for drapery instead. However, oversized, billowy drapes can actually look too large and take up too much attention in the space. Look for soft panels, which are flat square curtains, and then layer them, one set of panels behind another, to add volume. This will keep the window treatments from looking too voluminous for those big windows.
Artwork
Oversized artwork can actually seem too large in any room, so group together smaller pictures, to create the volume that is needed for the space. For example, rather than hanging one large piece of art behind the sofa, create a gallery wall, which is a grouping of several smaller pieces. The contrast between the large sofa and smaller pieces of art can add more visual interest, and the artwork isn't competing with the sofa for attention. Do the same if you want to hang artwork next to the entertainment centre; rather than using a large picture, create a grouping of smaller photos, paintings, and the like, for more visual interest and to break up the look of larger furniture pieces.
