Written by Sophie Clemson

Your living room will have alcoves because it most likely has a central chimney breast. This creates pockets of space that we call alcoves. Living room alcoves can feel tricky when you are trying to plan the layout of your room. It can be hard to figure out what to do with your alcoves and how to make them work. At first, it may seem that they take up a lot of usable space, and you have less space to play with in the room. When you get your living room alcoves right, they can be very functional and look fabulous too!

We’ve shared with you our interior expert tips to nail your alcoves and how to make them work in your living room.

1 . Built-in shelving units with cupboards 

2. Reading corner nook 

3. Kids toy storage

4. Furnish your alcoves with freestanding furniture

5. TV media wall 

6. Log storage

7. Working from home alcove desk 

8. Bookcases

9. Bar cabinet 

1 . Built-in shelving units with cupboards 

Built-in shelving units with cupboards are a very popular choice. You can customise your built-ins to be exactly how you want them. You can have a mix of open shelving to display accessories and closed cupboards to hide away anything you don’t want to show. You can never have enough storage! Built-in shelving units work particularly well in older properties, as they can add character to your living room. You can add detailed trim around the edges to reflect the traditional period of your home. To enhance your shelving units, you could add wallpaper behind the shelving or tongue and groove panelling. These will create a lovely backdrop and add interest. If you’re looking for a simple but effective idea, paint the shelving units the same colour as the walls. The units will blend into the room, making your accessories on the shelves pop. 

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2. Reading corner nook 

An alcove can be the perfect spot for a cosy corner reading nook. A corner of your living room to escape and unwind with a good book and a cuppa (or a large glass of wine!) Place a comfy accent armchair in an alcove, but make sure you measure correctly and don’t go too big that it looks squished and doesn’t quite fit. An armchair will help to soften the alcove and bring a cosy feel to the corner of the room. An armchair is also a great opportunity to add a pop of pattern or colour to your living room. Don’t stop with the armchair; you will need to frame the alcove to create a cosy nook. Place a floor lamp next to the armchair to add a layer of softer lighting. To build it up, and if you have the space, add a small side table beside the chair. Hang artwork above to complete your cosy corner reading nook.

3. Kids toy storage 

Even if you’re fortunate enough to have a playroom, toys often sneak their way into the living room, as it is most likely the room you all enjoy as a family. At the end of the day, it’s great to have a place to hide them all away and feel organised. Alcoves work very well to incorporate into toy storage. It doesn’t have to look like a playroom either; you can still make the children's toy area look stylish and work with your living room style. You could pick up a Kallax unit from IKEA and place it in the alcove. There are some great IKEA hacks out there now where you can make it look built-in. They have some lovely woven cube baskets, and you could paint the unit the same colour as the walls to blend. Place a cushioned seat pad on top of the unit in a fabric that coordinates with your living room, and you have a cute reading space for your little ones. Another option, which can be more costly, is built-in toy storage. Similar to a window seat where it lifts up like a toy chest or with drawers. As your living room is your family space, adding in toy storage that still works with the look and style you're trying to achieve can work brilliantly for your family home.

Do you struggle to visualise how your room could look? We can help you, click here.

4. Furnish your alcoves with freestanding furniture

If you don’t want to invest in a built-in solution, then placing sideboards in your living room alcoves is a great alternative. A tip we recommend is using the same sideboard in each alcove, this will create balance and symmetry. Dress your sideboards with table lamps to layer up the lighting and create a cosy atmosphere. The sideboard will add in some closed storage with cupboards and drawers, which is always a bonus. Alternatively you could have a cosy corner reading nook in one alcove and a sideboard for your TV in the other alcove.

5. TV media wall

Let's face it, most of our living rooms are to chill, get cosy, and watch some TV. Alcoves are a brilliant place to house your TV, but it doesn’t need to be on a TV stand, you can opt for a built-in media wall design. 

1. Leave enough height in your built-in shelving with cupboards for your TV to sit on top. Doing this means the TV isn’t taking centre stage in the room. The TV will blend into the room, and you can display all your accessories on the shelves above. A trailing plant works particularly well to draw your eye up and away from focusing on the TV.

2. Install your TV on the chimney breast wall and use the alcoves for shelving to create a more aesthetically pleasing media wall. A Samsung frame TV works particularly well for media walls because you can display your favourite artwork rather than a large black screen as the focal point. You could even add in some simple LED lighting to light up the shelves; we recommend opting for a soft, warm glow light to keep it feeling cosy. 

6. Log storage

If you have an open fire or log burner in your living room, you could probably do with some log storage. This is where your alcoves will come in handy! If you have a rustic living room or perhaps a beautiful cottage, logs on display can add a warm, cosy, and homely look. There are lots of different ways to incorporate log storage that are both practical and stylish. You could create a low shelf with log storage underneath to stack them, or you could place some baskets underneath to fill with logs. If you’re creating built-in storage, think about how a section of the lower cupboard could be used for log storage; you could leave it as an open cupboard. You may want to use the full height of the alcove and stack the logs all the way up (just make sure you don’t pull one from the bottom unless you want a game of log jenga!).

7. Working from home alcove desk 

With so many of us working from home now, our living rooms need to work harder than ever before and become a multifunctional space. Instead of folding away your desk at the end of the day or taking up lots of space where you once had an armchair, look at how you could multipurpose an alcove. An alcove is a great place to create a working from home nook. There are lots of compact and stylish desks available now that don't look like they belong in a corporate office! Depending on how long you have to sit at your desk, you could even use a dining chair that you can move back and forth between rooms. A desk chair can even become another seat in your living room for when you have guests. There are so many beautiful yet practical desk chairs now that they can look like they belong in your living room. 

8. Bookcases

If you’re a reader and have a large collection of books that you would love to display, then this is an obvious choice for your living room alcoves. Bookcases will draw your eye up and add height to the room. You don’t have to only display books, mix it up with vases, candles, ornaments, photo frames, and plants to break it up. For extra detail, add some wall lights to the top of the bookcases. Depending on the style of your living room, opt for brass wall lights on the bookcases for a timeless and sophisticated look. 

9.  Bar cabinet 

If you would love a drinks cabinet in your living room, alcoves are perfect for this. Place a drinks cabinet in the alcove for your very own bar! This can also be a great place to store your fancy glasses if you lack storage in your kitchen. You could go all out and opt for a glam gold cabinet (Swoon is your place for these), or if you want something a little more subtle, you could incorporate it into built-in shelving units. If you want to embrace and make a feature of your mini bar area, then opt for some quirky prints above or shelves on the wall to display your favourite beverage.

If you want to avoid costly design mistakes, take a look at our affordable online interior design packages to give you all the help you need. Whether you’re considering a full redesign or a spruce up, we can take the stress away, and give you the confidence to move forward. Our online interior design packages are a flat fee and we can work to any budget large or small, saving you money along the way and ensuring you get the results you want and expect!

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