4 Alternative Ideas for a Formal Living Room

Think a formal living room is just a waste of space? There are plenty of things that you can do with it that don’t require investing in a bunch of fancy furniture that’s just going to sit there and gather dust, which is good news if you favor functionality over formality.

Long gone are the days when the formal living room was seen as a mainstay of the American home. Despite the fact that today’s home are larger than ever before (2,687 square feet on average—an increase of about 1,000 square feet over the past four decades), homeowners and buyers are often way more interested in getting utility out of every inch. Separate dining rooms, dens, and yes, formal living rooms, are often perceived as a poor use of space instead of a must-have, with walls being knocked down in favor of a more fluid and open concept interior.

Of course, you don’t always have the option to re-configure your home’s entire footprint just to suit your preferences. Nor is it necessarily wise to completely capitulate to modern home trends, considering that these can (and do) change rapidly.

So what’s the solution if you have a formal living room but aren’t keen on the idea of roping it off for occasional use? Below, we’re sharing four formal living room ideas that can help you make this a more inspiring, and more practical, space in your home—no slipcovers required.

What is a formal living room anyway?

Before we talk solutions, let’s consider what purpose this room is (traditionally) supposed to serve in your home.

In an interesting “chicken or the egg?” type of scenario, it’s actually the informal family room—and not the formal living room—that’s most representative of the evolution of ideals and economics in the home. Prior to World War II, most middle class homes had only a formal living room, which was a place to receive guests and show off that fancy embroidered couch that no one was actually allowed to sit on.

Post WWII, however, economic prosperity and changing notions of what families wanted from their homes called for a second living space devoted to leisure, relaxation, and family togetherness. And with the birth of the family room came the more pronounced designation of the formal living room as a showroom instead of a space for TV and playtime.

If the formal living room was already becoming a bit of a relic by the mid-20th century, it’s easy to see how it’s fallen so much out of favor in the years since. Yet, out of habit or expectation, many homes continued to be built with a formal living room in place. And if you’re living in one of them, it makes sense that you’d be on the hunt for something else to do with it.

4 creative formal living room ideas

Many people do choose to keep this space intact and use it as intended, even if they’ve ditched the plastic on the cushions. But if you’d like more utility out of your formal living room, you’re not out of luck. Here are some ideas for turning it into a room that your family can use and enjoy.

Turn it into a home office

Use it as a playroom

Make it a more practical (and more fun) entertaining space

Put in an extra bedroom

Tips to keep a formal living space from looking dated

If you want to keep your formal living room as is, that’s perfectly fine too. You may find that you actually like having a general relaxation space that’s separate from the chaos of everyday living, and it can definitely still come in handy as a place for entertaining and receiving visitors.

As for how to keep your formal living space from looking like something you’d find in your grandparents’ house, we’ve got some tips for that:

    • Keep it cozy. The furniture in your formal living room should still be usable, even if it isn’t actually getting used all of the time. Ditch the stiff and ornamental fabrics in favor of a comfortable interior for a room that’s a lot more welcoming.
    • Resist the urge to make everything match. An overly matchy space screams “showroom.” Play around with textures, colors, and patterns to create a space that’s more accurately aligned with modern styles.
    • Add in a few functional details. You can still adopt some of the more functional ideas above without going all-in. For example, devote a corner of the room to a desk and chair for use as an office when and if you need it, or put in a small corner bar for enhanced entertaining next time you have people over.
    • Include a few glamorous touches. You don’t need to go fully utilitarian in your efforts to resist the formality of the space. A few glamorous but tasteful elements can celebrate the origins of what this room is all about, such as a velvet sofa, some gold or brass décor, or a pop of jewel tones.

    However you end up using your formal living space, make sure that it’s practical for how your family lives and that it serves some sort of function for your home. That way, even if you don’t use it every single day it’s still not wasted space.

    Aim for versatility, and continue the interior style that you maintain throughout the rest of your house. If you do it right, your formal living room will be a space that you love—instead of just one that you’re not sure what to do with.