Do you often find yourself evaluating the purpose of certain rooms in your home and brainstorming the best ways to make them feel their most functional? That's totally normal. Sometimes the lines of home layouts and floorplans can get blurred. Dwellers are often faced with the questions, is this a mudroom or a foyer? Is this a powder room or a half bathroom? Is this a family room or a living room?
While there are technically no hard and fast rules, the difference between living room and family rooms could be the most confusing of all. Knowing the design distinctions between a living room and family room will make the difference between a room that thoroughly serves its purpose and one that just works.
To help you distinguish whether your central gathering space is, in fact, a family room or a living room, we tapped Manuel Munoz, production designer at Living Spaces, a furniture company, for the insight we need to make the most of these areas. Ahead, the differences between the two, how to tell the difference, and why knowing matters.
Meet the Expert
Manuel Munoz is a production designer atLiving Spaces.Previously a visual manager, Munoz has been with Living Spaces for 7 years and has 20 years of experience in the visual styling field.
As the name suggests, a family room is a place you spend time with family members, roommates, and friends. Often situated off the kitchen, it's much more of a casual and comfortable setting that encourages all to kick their feet up, relax, and binge the latest Netflix series. This can also be called a TV room or game room, depending on your interests.
What Is a Family Room?
A family room is a more casual sitting area that you can use to gather with friends and family to watch TV, relax, and eat.
"The family room layout is all about comfort," Munoz tells us. "Sectional sofas are often more useful in family rooms because they provide enough space for the entire family to spend time together."
When furnishing a family room, comfort and utility come first.
"Sleeper sofas can create a useful space for overnight guests and slumber parties while reclining chairs might be used to facilitate television viewing, napping, play, and informal snacking," Munoz says.
Contrary to its name, the living room is a space you typically do the least actual 'living' in. It's the space usually placed at the front of a home, specifically reserved to welcome and entertain guests. As it is a more formal setting, a living room is an opportunity to use less-family friendly fabrics and plenty of accessories, like antiques or breakables, as you won't have to worry about it getting ruined by high traffic.
What is a Living Room?
A living room is a more formal sitting area used to entertain guests rather than an everyday living area, with a greater emphasis placed on décor and accessories over comfort and utility.
"A living room layout typically facilitates conversation, so think about arranging sofas to face each other and removing the TV," Munoz says. "The living room is a good place to showcase your style with the use of art and accessories."
What's the Difference Between a Family Room and Living Room?
If you have both of these spaces in your home, here's how to tell the difference between the two.
"The family room is typically in the back of the house and connected to the kitchen, while the living room is in the front of the house and creates the first impression for guests," Munoz explains.
The living room is usually the area you spend the least amount of time in, which allows for fancier décor and furniture ready to impress guests.
"As family rooms typically are used heavily by children and pets, and are often situated next to the kitchen, you need fabrics and furniture that hold up to heavy use," Munoz adds. "If you do not have a family room, you can make your living room into a family room with more casual, relaxed furniture."
At the end of the day, these two space serve very different purposes but you certainly don't need both. If you only have one, get the best of both worlds by make it a comfortable space perfect for tuning into your favorite shows and playing games, and don't forget to display your best décor for when guests stop by.
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"Living rooms have served as a place for formal entertaining, or special occasions," she explains. "Family rooms are spaces designed for the everyday; they're family-friendly, accessible, and comfortable."
A family room is an informal, all-purpose room in a house. The family room is designed to be a place where family and guests gather for group recreation like talking, reading, watching TV, and other family activities.
The living room is more proper than the family room, though this isn't always the case. It's probably reserved for guests or conversation, sometimes without a TV in sight. The family room is a more relaxed, designated spot to kick your feet up and enjoy a movie.
While plenty of people use the terms "living room" and "family room" more or less interchangeably, they actually aren't the same thing — larger homes sometimes even have both — and it all comes down to how you use the space.
A den is very similar to a living room, but it is a smaller, more intimate room. Just like living rooms, homeowners use dens to socialize and relax. In many cases, you may hear people consider it or call it the family or media room. Some people even use this extra space as an office, second bedroom or gym.
It serves multiple purposes and is the central gathering place for family and friends. This is where people spend time together, have conversations, and make memories. Whether it's watching a movie, playing a game, or just hanging out, the living room is the place where people come together to relax and socialize.
The family room, often known as the den, is a more relaxed variant of the living room seen exclusively in big homes. This area also sometimes called the sitting room, which is usually smaller than the main living room, might be on the second or even the basem*nt floor.
In fact, many people now refer to the great room as the “family room,” which more clearly denotes its purpose—the room for the family and close friends—while referring to the living room as a sitting room or a front room, as already mentioned.
As the name hints, the family room is where you spend most of your time with family. Whether it's watching TV, playing board games, or just hanging out, the family room is a casual space to do everyday activities.
But a lot of windows can pose a problem for art placement and the placement of your tv. Some things to consider when choosing where to put a tv in a room with lots of windows is picking a spot that doesn't create glare on the screen. Putting the tv's back to a south-facing wall, if possible, will help reduce glare.
A place to put down drinks or snacks, like side tables or a coffee table, is a must. If you have the depth for it, an ottoman or coffee table where people can prop their feet up is always a welcome addition, but skip out on this if the living room is on the narrow side and go for a deeper sofa instead.
A living room is a room in a home that's used for entertaining friends, talking, reading, or watching television. If you're a couch potato, you most likely spend lots of time in your living room. You can also call a living room a lounge, a sitting room, a front room, or a parlor.
“The family room is a more casual, day-to-day place to go watch television, hang out, and spend time with your family,” says Carrie Long, principal of Carrie Long Interiors. “The living room is a more formal place, usually for entertaining guests or for extended family time.”
Given today's more casual lifestyle, certain rooms — such as the formal living and dining room — are only rarely used. In contrast, the kitchen has become the central gathering area for a majority of activities.
This area also sometimes called the sitting room, which is usually smaller than the main living room, might be on the second or even the basem*nt floor.
A Family Room can often mean a Standard Room with space for a sofa bed or camp bed. It does not always allow space for a sofa bed and a travel cot at the same time so make sure to check with the hotel directly if travelling with a baby and a toddler or child.
Keeping rooms are always adjacent to the kitchen and feature seating areas that can be utilized for a range of activities, while family rooms are in the back of the home and are more casual in nature, being a place to curl up for movie nights, she says.
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Introduction: My name is Virgilio Hermann JD, I am a fine, gifted, beautiful, encouraging, kind, talented, zealous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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