In Defense of the Formal Living Room
Somewhere along the way, the formal living room became the punchline of home design.
We opened our floor plans, mounted TVs over fireplaces, and turned what used to be elegant sitting rooms into home offices, playrooms, or “flex spaces.” Then COVID arrived, and suddenly every room became a workspace, a gym, or a Zoom background. But something interesting has been happening lately: formal living rooms are making a comeback.
I’m finding more and more clients asking for: A screen-free space for hosting and conversation, a room that feels intentional and finished, not multipurpose and chaotic, a “grown-up” entertaining zone separate from toys, laptops, and sports broadcasts. Essentially the modern version of our formal living rooms.
And honestly? I love it.
The Return of the Formal Living Room:
A Screen Free Space is a Luxury
Our modern lives revolve around screens. We stare at screens all day for work, have at least one in our pocket and sometimes another on our wrist, and multiple TVs and computers throughout our homes. Think about it, most living rooms are designed around a TV and the ever ubiquitous open-concept layouts in modern homes mean the kitchen, dining, and lounging areas all bleed into one another. It’s casual, easy…and constantly overstimulating.
Screens used to be a luxury, but today an escape from screen time is the real luxury. Enter the formal living room.
Historically, the formal living room was intended for as a space to receive guests, entertain and present the households best face. It was a space more about presentation, manners and civility and typically was not a space for food, lounging, or media of any kind. Over time as gatherings became more casual formal living rooms got repurposed into home offices or playrooms since we wanted our guests to feel at home at gatherings and rejected the stuffy-ness associated with formal living rooms and parlors.
But that’s starting to change, but the modern formal living room is less about presentation and more about connection.
What Should Today’s Formal Living Room Look Like?
The modern formal living room isn’t meant to give a false sense of perfection, it’s a space that’s meant to create margin in your home and your mind. In a world where every square inch is expected to “do more,” a room designed simply for connection feels quite radical and very luxurious.
Today’s formal living room should still be flexible, though, within those bounds. It should be able to hold a cocktail hour before dinner with friends, a quiet morning coffee before the house wakes up, a place to sit with a book instead of scrolling, or a tidy space to welcome an unexpected neighbor who dropped in to say “hi.”
A few tips when designing your own formal living room:
1. Ditch the TV (completely)
If there’s a television, it becomes a family room not a formal living room. Let this room be free from digital noise.
2. Conversation-first layouts
Think about a beautiful hotel lobby. When designing formal living rooms I love to switch up the types of seating. Maybe one seating group has two sofas facing each other for deep conversation and another has a few chairs around a cocktail table for drinks and chatting.
3. Layered, Sculptural Lighting Over Task Lighting
This is not the space for just one “big light,” and lighting is key for great conversation. When designing your formal living room layer in a statement chandelier or pendant light, accent lamps, picture lights and wall sconces over beautiful artwork for depth.
4. Elevate the Materials
This is the space for beutiful textiles and showing off your prized pieces. If any room in the home is the place for that dream art piece, mohair sofa, or vintage rug it's the formal living room.
Its seems as if after years of open, casual living we’re learning that not every moment in life needs to be casual. Some gatherings deserve ceremony, even if the ceremony is simply sitting together and talking. Creating a beautiful formal living room in 2025 isn’t about creating a stuffy space full of items too precious to touch but to create a space that invites memories and previous moments between those closest to us to be made.
If you’re thinking of elevating your formal living room or curious whether your floor plan can support one, we’d love to chat. We design homes across DFW that balance beauty, functionality, and create spaces where memories are made.
Start by booking a complimentary project planning call directly with Courtney.
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