What Is The Most Popular Living Room Focal Point? House Digest Survey

As any interior design enthusiast will know, a focal point is an essential element of any room. As MHM Professional Staging explains, they help to create a flow in the room and give it a necessary anchor for the eye to fall on. A focal point can be a built-in feature your space already has, but something you add in can be just as effective — the options are limitless, depending on what you want to highlight.

As per My Move, what you first want to do when deciding on the focal point in a particular space is to examine what's already there. It's often easier to find ways to accentuate a particular element, such as adding seating around a fireplace and art above it to emphasize it, than to create a focal point from scratch. However, if you're working with a space with no stand-out features, you can let your imagination run wild and create something that draws the eye, such as an accent wall covered in stunning wallpaper. In a space like the living room, which typically has seating options, a focal point might be a couch upholstered in a bold fabric that stands out from the neutral tones on the other pieces in the space.

In an exclusive survey, House Digest asked 606 individuals what the focal point in their own living room was — read on to learn what the majority stage this frequently-used space around.

It seems that functionality and accessible entertainment takes precedence over aesthetics for many homeowners, as a staggering 61.22% of survey respondents — 371 individuals in total — mentioned that the television was the focal point of their living room. Given many people's viewing habits, this makes sense — according to BBC, 91% of adults in the United Kingdom watch television at least once a week, likely the one in a living room area.

Often, a television becomes the focal point because the furniture is positioned so everyone can view the screen well. And larger televisions take up a fair amount of wall space, automatically drawing the eye. If you're an entertainment lover who wants your television to be the focal point, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. However, there are also many interior design lovers looking to disguise the television so they can pick a focal point of their choosing.

Some simple tricks from Best Pick Reports include painting the wall behind the television a darker hue so the large black rectangle blends in more seamlessly or surrounding it with a gallery wall, so the television doesn't stand out as much. Or, as per Ideal Home, consider arranging your furniture so that not every single piece is pointing at the television. Finally, if you're looking to buy a new television, a smart TV could be a great option, as it can display artwork when you're not actively watching something.

Coming in at a close second was the fireplace, which 123 individuals — 20.30% of the respondents — flagged as the focal point in their living room. A fireplace is a great example of a built-in focal point that simply requires a bit of furniture arranging to truly capitalize on.

For those who perhaps don't want to emphasize their television or don't have a fireplace, decorative elements such as artwork and photographs received 8.75% and 4.95% of the vote, with 53 and 30 individuals respectively selecting those items as the focal point in their living room. As Pella Windows & Doors of Philadelphia advises, those deciding to use artwork and photographs as the focal point may want to consider things like feature lighting to further highlight these elements of the room. They also recommend incorporating some of the colors from the artwork as accent shades throughout the room, further underscoring their status as the space's focal point.

While lighting is a crucial element in any space, an eye-catching chandelier was selected by just 15 people — 2.48% of respondents — as their living room focal point. Coming in last was shelving, chosen by 2.31% of the survey respondents, or 14 people in total. Shelving can often help emphasize common focal points such as fireplaces or televisions by flanking them, but they often don't make enough of an impact to serve as the room's primary focal point.