Forget The Sofa; Just Put Chairs In Your Living Room

If you are the type of person that must have symmetry and balance in every room, then using on chairs is a perfect option for you. Once you decide your color scheme and basic fabric preferences, head out to your local furniture store. With a sample of the paint color in one hand and the swatch of fabric in the other, begin looking for chairs that will complement them. On the other hand, you could choose chairs that do not match at all. Some of the greatest looks come from sharp contrasts.

If you are more like me, you like the idea of an eclectic look. I have eight chairs in my living room and only two really match. They are a pair of light wood rocking chairs. After that, anything goes. I choose furniture based on one thing and one thing alone: comfort. I will walk into a second-hand store or a yard sale and be on the lookout for a special find. I figure if it is sturdy and comfortable enough, I can always recover or paint it later.

One of the greatest reasons to use only chairs for your living room seating in for entertaining friends and family. If you have large, overstuffed pieces, they need to stay put while you have guests over. With my chairs, when people come over, I can rearrange the furniture in less than five minutes to suit the needs of that particular evening.

Another good thing about my chair idea is that I can turn my living room into a game room or dining room or even a performance hall. We have had fun game tournaments with our chairs and card tables. Using those same tables and covering them with a pretty cloth, we can use them for intimate dinner parties or baby showers. As for the performance hall, we have daughters. They love to sing and dance. They love it the most when many people are watching. So, one day our youngest decided to rearrange the chairs in rows similar to stadium seating and she and her sister gave us an hour-long presentation of their many talents.

I have nothing against tradition. I have great-grandma's handmade lace tablecloth. I keep a collection of my great, great grandfather's bow ties. I own wonderful pictures of generations of my family sitting together on all of the major holidays. Nothing but great memories comes from reviewing those things from the past.

It is just that while I appreciate it, it does not have to mean that my house has to look just the same as the rooms looked in those photos.

No, I am breaking the mold. Why don't you join me? Stop investing in huge pieces of furniture that may start getting old to look at fairly soon. Buy chairs instead because they are cheaper and much easier to haul away when you are ready to move on to something else.