A NORU guide

How to give a living room character

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(Guide)A living room gets its character from a few deliberate details, not from more furniture. Light it with low, warm lamps around the edges instead of one ceiling light; give it one chair with a story; choose materials that improve with age; keep one lamp that can move; and add pieces slowly. Everything else can be ordinary.

In brief

  • Switch off the ceiling light and build the evening light from two or three lamps at different heights, in a warm 2,700–3,000 K.
  • Give the room one chair worth looking at, set against a quieter sofa.
  • Choose leather, solid wood, and brass, which look better after ten years than on the first day.
  • Keep one cordless lamp that can move from the coffee table to a shelf to the floor.
  • Add pieces slowly, so the room looks collected rather than bought in one go.

1. Switch off the big light

Nothing flattens a living room faster than a single fitting in the middle of the ceiling. It lights the route through the room, leaves the corners dark, and throws hard shadows across faces. The New York designer Andrew Suvalsky makes the point simply: a few low, warm sources give a room the depth one overhead light cannot. The lighting consultancy Lighting by Plum goes further and lights the edges of a room rather than the middle, because that is where the walls, shelves, and pictures are.

In practice, that means two or three lamps at different heights: a floor lamp beside a chair, something at table height, and a low light on a shelf or the floor. The TMM, designed by Miguel Milá in 1961, stands 166 cm high, and its parchment shade slides up and down the stem, so its light can sit at shoulder height beside a sofa or higher in a corner. Cesta, 57 cm high, works on the floor or a low table, and its hand dimmer takes it down to a glow as the evening goes on.
TMM floor lamp in a living room with white armchairs

TMM

Miguel Milá, 1961

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Cesta lamp switched on beside a sofa

Cesta

Miguel Milá, 1962

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2. Give the room one chair with a story

Most living rooms are furnished in sets: a sofa, a matching armchair, a coffee table from the same range. The rooms people remember tend to break that pattern with a single chair that has a history of its own, set against a quieter sofa so that it carries the room.

The chair does not need to be loud. It needs to be good. The Bonet BKF®, designed in 1938 and made today by Isist Atelier under licence from the Bonet family, is one of the best-known chairs of the 20th century, yet in a room it reads as a simple leather sling on a steel frame. Cubica (1955) is Antoni Bonet's take on the safari chair, in ash, brass, and leather. Orma (2023) is André Ricard's answer to the same question: a single leather cover over a stainless steel frame, with no upholstery at all.
Bonet BKF® in natural leather, front view in a room

Bonet BKF®

Antoni Bonet, Juan Kurchan, and Jorge Ferrari-Hardoy, 1938

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Two Cubica armchairs in black leather in a living room

Cubica

Antoni Bonet, 1955

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Orma armchair in natural leather, front view

Orma

André Ricard, 2023

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3. Choose materials that get better with age

A new room often looks new for the wrong reason: every surface is the same age and has the same finish. Materials that change with use break that uniformity. Vegetable-tanned leather darkens and softens where it is touched, solid wood mellows in colour, and brass dulls to a warm sheen. Within a few years the room looks lived in rather than delivered.

The London designer Siobhan Kelly counts hardware that develops a patina among the details that make a room feel tailored, and the same logic applies to furniture. The brass screws, axles, and buckles of Cubica are made to measure, and its vegetable-tanned leather will darken at the armrests first. Delta, Jordi Vilanova's 1964 piece in solid pine, works as a side table, a stool, or a plinth, and gains colour with the years.
Detail of the leather armrest and brass buckle on the Cubica armchair

Brass and leather

Cubica, Antoni Bonet, 1955

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Delta pieces in a bright room

Delta

Jordi Vilanova, 1964

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4. Keep one light that moves

The best-lit rooms change through the evening. A cordless lamp makes that easy: it can sit on the coffee table while people talk, move to a shelf when the film starts, and end the night beside the bed. It also puts light where no socket reaches, which is often exactly where a room needs it.

Sylvestrina, designed by Enric Sòria and Jordi Garcés in 1974, is a slim glass tube on a metal base, 35.5 cm high, with a warm 2,200 K glow that lasts about 7 hours on a charge. Cestita Batería, Miguel Milá's small lantern with a rechargeable battery, is brighter, runs for about 5 hours on its highest setting and up to 24 on the lowest, and has a cherry wood handle to carry it by.
Sylvestrina portable lamp on a table beside a lounge chair and spiral staircase

Sylvestrina

Enric Sòria and Jordi Garcés, 1974

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Cestita Batería portable lamp in a living room with a blue sofa and round table

Cestita Batería

Miguel Milá, 2017

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5. Let it look collected, not bought

The last detail is time. Rooms that look stylish rarely arrive in a single delivery. They mix a piece from a parent's flat, something found on a trip, a design classic, and a few new things, and that mix of periods and textures is what keeps a room from looking dated. Buy the pieces you are sure of first, live with them, and leave a gap or two for the things you have not found yet. A living room with an empty corner and a good chair has more character than one finished in a weekend.

Everything in this guide

TMM floor lamp by Miguel Milá for Santa & Cole in natural oak with a white parchment shade

TMM Floor Lamp

TMM Floor Lamp
From €878,00

Key facts

TMM Miguel Milá, 1961. Solid wood floor lamp, 166 cm high, sliding parchment shade, 11 W LED, 1,521 lm, 2,700 K.
Cesta Miguel Milá, 1962. Cherry wood and opal glass, 57 cm high, for floor or table, with hand dimmer.
Bonet BKF® Antoni Bonet, Juan Kurchan, and Jorge Ferrari-Hardoy, 1938. Leather or cotton canvas sling on a 12 mm steel rod frame. W 74 × D 56 × H 90 cm.
Cubica Antoni Bonet, 1955. Solid ash, brass fittings, and vegetable-tanned leather. W 61 × D 60 × H 70 cm.
Orma André Ricard, 2023. 3 mm vegetable-tanned leather cover on a solid stainless steel frame. W 56.5 × D 64.5 × H 76 cm.
Delta Jordi Vilanova, 1964. Solid pine, 32 × 32 × 32 cm. Side table, stool, or plinth.
Sylvestrina Enric Sòria and Jordi Garcés, 1974. Cordless, 35.5 cm high, 2,200 K, about 7 h on high and 14 h on low.
Cestita Batería Miguel Milá, 2017. Cordless, 36 cm high, 2,700 K, about 5 h on high and 24 h on low.

 

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Frequently asked questions
How do you make a living room look stylish?

Focus on a few details rather than more furniture. Light the room with two or three warm lamps at different heights instead of a ceiling light, add one chair with character, choose materials that age well, such as leather, solid wood, and brass, and add pieces gradually.
How many lamps does a living room need?

A good starting point is three light sources besides the ceiling light, at different heights: a floor lamp, a lamp at table height, and a low light on a shelf or the floor. A warm 2,700–3,000 K suits the evening.
What is a statement chair?

A statement chair is a single armchair chosen for its design rather than to match the sofa, so it gives the room a focal point. A design classic such as the Bonet BKF® or Cubica works well, because its shape is recognisable without being loud.
Why does vegetable-tanned leather look better with age?

Vegetable-tanned leather darkens and softens with light, touch, and use, so each piece develops its own patina. Natural leather changes the most; darker leathers change more subtly.
Do you need a socket for every lamp?

No. Cordless, rechargeable lamps such as Sylvestrina and Cestita Batería can go where there is no socket, such as a coffee table, a shelf, or a sideboard, and can move around the room during the evening.