Before and after: a living room for we-time, work, and play

We are starting the sixth season of “Home idea with IKEA” at the home of Rita from Vilnius and her three little daughters. While dad was away for work, the girls decided to start some makeovers. A team of our interior designers came to help them rearrange the room, bring more order, and create enough space for everyone (including two dogs, a turtle, and a hamster) to spend time together.

Before the renovation

Although the living room belongs to the whole family, it is now crowded and dominated by the smallest of sisters and her toys. During the day, this room turns into a playground. Later in the evenings and on weekends, it should serve for the rest of the family, but the clutter of toys, clothes and other stuff interferes with relaxation and quality we-time. The living room lacks order and cosiness. It would also be great to find a safer place for both the TV and terrarium, and to set up a working spot for Rita. Actually, there is one already, but… Can you even guess where it is?

What have we changed?

The main challenge for our interior designers was to make this room cosier, more organised, and functional. They decided to divide the living room into several functional areas:

Lounge area for the whole family to spend time together, watch TV, and socialize.
Storage area with closed cabinets and wall shelves.
Play corner.
Flexible workspace.

The colours of the walls and furniture have also changed. Soothing tones help to feel better at home and relax, so the interior designer decided to borrow the colour palette from the forest visible through the window. “I wanted to bring the feeling of nature into the room. It goes well with the furniture in my favourite Scandinavian style, which the family turned out to like as well”.

“Don’t be afraid to change the room layout and block your usual passages. By pulling the sofa from the wall to the middle of the living room, you will have enough space to move around, and this will create more room for other furniture and activities such as working, playing, or storage.”

Eglė Čyvė, IKEA interior designer

Let there be order

Placing the sofa in the middle of the room left more space for cabinets and shelves along the walls. We chose furniture in light colours to maintain a sense of cleanliness and order in the room. BESTÅ cabinets with doors now serve as a solid base for the turtle's terrarium, while the boxes inside them make sorting and organising all family belongings much easier.

For busy days and lazy evenings

Remember the working spot you have been looking for in the pictures of the old living room? It is now perfectly visible, although it takes up far less space than the previous one. The versatile BJÖRKÅSEN laptop stand is perfect for a variety of activities, from working to reading. And there is even a cup holder, so you can always have coffee and other beverages nearby.

Some things cannot be hidden

With most of the items hidden inside the cabinets, there are some that we decided to put on display. Open shelves with books, family photos, and other cute little things work as interior decorations. They are mounted on the height that is easy for adults to reach, but still saves the items from the curious little fingers.

A playground for now, but not forever

Now, there is a safe play corner in the living room with enough space for both storage and imagination. It features a round table, a chair, and some closed cabinets for clothes and toys. Below the cabinets, there is even some space left for the dog beds, extra storage boxes, or a play mat. When the little girl grows up, her toys in the cabinets will be able to give up space for other items, and no one will even suspect that there was once a playground here.

More than just a chest of drawers

NORDLI chests of drawers are just perfect to store children's clothes and other items, but this is not their only mission in this living room. Padded with cushions, they can turn into a bench for reading or admiring the views (in case there is no room left on the sofa).