You may have already broken some of your New Year’s resolutions but it’s not too late to make the most of your living room in 2020.
Resolutions don’t just have to be about giving things up or taking on a punishing new health regime, they can also be about improving your home and lifestyle. Here are some pledges for the coming year which your living room will thank you for making.
Whether you call it a sofa, settee or couch, make sure you include it in your regular cleaning routine. Your sofa may look spotless but a study carried out in 2013 found the average one in a family home harbours more germs than a toilet seat. Vacuuming your sofa and armchairs on a weekly basis can help keep the dirt at bay and if you have a fabric sofa, go over the upholstery with a soft brush. If you have a leather sofa, you can wipe off any marks using a damp cloth, just be sure to dry it immediately with a soft cloth.
Your sofa may be built for comfort but too much slouching is bad for your health. Sitting with bad posture can cause pain in your joints and back as well as tension in your muscles. Make a commitment to spend more time thinking about your posture, even when you’re relaxing. Using a recline or foot stool can help as it will keep your knees level with your hips. If you haven’t got your feet up, try to keep them flat on the ground as much as possible. Another way of avoiding sitting with your shoulders hunched is to cut down on the amount of time you spend looking at your phone or tablet and avoid eating with your plate on your knee.
Mess and clutter make it hard to relax and can make your living room a source of stress rather than an oasis of calm. Remove all the extra things you don’t need in your living room and invest in some clever storage to keep your bits and pieces out of sight. Keep your surfaces tidy and opt for a few simple pieces to put out on display rather than a mixed hotchpotch of personal items.
Think about what you want your living room to say about you. Use the start of a new year as an excuse to embrace a new theme or adopt a different colour scheme. Look at your living room as if you were seeing it for the first time and work out which features you love and which areas could use some work. You don’t necessarily need to undertake a major makeover, even just adding one or two statement pieces can change the look of a room and give it a new lease of life.
Life can be busy so make some time every day to rest, unwind and use your living room as a place for relaxation. Comfortable cushions, cosy blankets and warm rugs will all help turn your living room into somewhere you want to spend time.
We know snoozing on your sofa is tempting but try not to use it for anything more than a quick catnap. Make a conscious effort to head up to bed when you start to feel tired rather than staying on your sofa and then waking up hours later. It is more difficult to achieve a good sleeping position on a sofa and you are more likely to drop off with the lights on and the television blaring, which can compromise the quality of your sleep. Sleeping regularly on your sofa is also not good for the health of your furniture as it can cause the upholstery to become soiled and put too much pressure on the frame.
Designed and Manufactured in Britain
The Made in Britain campaign is a movement designed to bring together the manufacturing community in the UK, awarding companies who manufacture their products in Britain a collective mark we can use on our products and communications.
The mark proudly demonstrates La-Z-Boy’s commitment to supporting the local economy and community.
You can identify our UK manufactured products by the Made in Britain flag on the product’s photos.
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