Live Large! Luxury Interior Design for Grand Spaces  

There is absolutely no question that large spaces like living rooms and great rooms are GREAT. They’re GRAND, in fact. But here’s the honest truth: More square footage doesn’t mean it’s all smooth sailing and that the design is going to be a breeze.

Big spaces require JUST as much thought and intention to make them sing as the perennial challenge of small rooms.

After all, rarely is there a time — especially when we’re working with an existing floor plan or renovation— where the Goldilocks “perfect” size room exists. So, my charge is to MAKE it seem like the perfect size through luxury interior design magic.

Here are my top five tricks to make those XXL spaces impeccable and right-sized for both comfort and elegance.

1. Indulge in Intimacy

One of the biggest complaints of jumbo-sized rooms is that they feel cold. Or cavernous. Or empty. That’s often because the interior design plan hasn’t driven a feeling of intimacy.  

Making large spaces feel intimate is important — and you can make it happen in myriad ways.

At IDH, we recently designed a stunning, two-story great room and our first order of business was to create intimacy by bringing the ceiling and floor a little closer to each other – visually. Broadcasting a large-scale pattern in the rug had the effect of raising the floor. Then, we cast a series of light fixtures overhead, suspended from stained beams, to lower the soaring ceiling “just a smidge”.

With this intentional slight of hand, we created a coziness within the grand gesture of the room’s scale.

2. Make Bold Moves

When you’re working with a large space, like a living room interior design or dining room interior design, it’s not the time to be shy or reserved. Go big! Lean into large gestures — always in balance, of course — to fill space. These are the rooms that can handle it.

Expansive sofas and sectionals. Generous coffee tables. Large-scale artwork. It’s all on the menu! In addition to the substantial furnishings in this great room, the book-matched stone fireplace is bold and beautiful. As such, it moves the room forward with its strong pattern. It almost becomes a piece of art in the space, which brings me to our next point.

3. Pick a Focal Point (or Two)

No matter how much square footage a room boasts, there still must be attention paid to a focal point — and sometimes the architecture pushes for a split focal point. Having a centralized source of attention is another way to create a sense of closeness and spatial awareness that puts comfortable boundaries around its expanse.

We love having large-scale artwork take center stage. Here, Audrey is the focal point — and the fireplace a willing supporting actress. We let Audrey play out her charms, spilling out polka-dot shapes that jump onto the console table and dot the floor with poufs.

We intentionally made Audrey the color story, too, in addition to the hues afforded by the incredible view of the grass and sky and mountains beyond. That is to say, the rest of the space gave up a strong color palette for two natural beauties — both Audrey and Mother Nature. Using any other color in this great room would have been a travesty, competing for attention in all the wrong ways.

4. Lean into Layers

When you’re designing a large space — frankly, any space — the layering of multiple textures is essential for that bespoke, elevated effect that looks both impeccable and personal. And a large room can manage lots of layers!

From smooth stones and glossy acrylics to high-polish metals, glass, lush velvets, nubby wools, cottons, and more, the pairing of multiple complementary yet diverse textures is an art form that requires an expert eye. When done well, it creates a gorgeous story.

5. Go Custom

Luxury Interior design always hugely benefits from custom furnishings, but most especially when the space is notably large (or small). That’s because you can truly create your own footprint by virtue of each furniture piece and have it perfectly sized to the space.

Sofas and sectionals along with area rugs are some of the obvious major players that can benefit from a custom approach in an expansive living room interior design or great room, where it can be next to impossible to find ready-made pieces that fit the bill.

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To all things residential and luxury interior design, there is a solution — even those grand spaces that provide plenty of room to move and groove yet require an impeccable touch to make them feel balanced and welcoming instead of empty and uninspired.

If you have a challenging interior room design dilemma, then give our full-service interior design firm a call.