Guides
Renovating a living room
The living room is used for more things than any other room. The renovation starts with listing them.
A living room might be where the family watches television, where guests are received, where children play and where someone works in the evening. The furniture layout follows from those uses, and the hidden work follows from the layout: sockets where lamps and chargers will be, a TV wall with cables hidden, and lighting that can be bright for cleaning and soft for an evening.
Room guides follow one space from how it should work when finished back to the hidden work that makes that possible.
Living rooms in many Dubai villas and apartments also connect to a dining area or kitchen. Floors, ceilings and lighting are often renovated across the whole open space rather than one room, so the living room design is drawn together with the areas around it.
What matters most on this page
Layout before finishes
Fix where the sofa, TV and dining table go; sockets and lights follow.
Hide the cables
A TV wall with conduit for HDMI, power and data keeps the room tidy.
Light in layers
Ceiling light, lamps on switched sockets and accent light give the room several moods.
What a living room renovation includes
TV wall
Backing for the bracket, a recessed socket and data point behind the screen, and a cable route to equipment.
Lighting
Downlights or a central fitting, plus switched sockets for lamps, so the room can be lit softly.
Flooring
Usually continued from adjoining spaces, with rugs to soften sound and define seating areas.
Before planning the living room
List how the room is used
Television, guests, play, work or reading. Each adds a requirement.
Measure your furniture
Especially if you are keeping the sofa. It fixes the layout.
Decide where the TV goes
It decides the cabling and often the focal wall.
Questions we are often asked
Should the TV be on the wall or a unit?
Either works. Wall-mounting needs solid backing and hidden cables; a unit is more flexible if you may move the TV.
How many sockets does a living room need?
More than most have. Allow for lamps, chargers, the TV equipment and anything seasonal like heaters or fans.
Can the living room stay usable during works?
It is often the last room renovated so the household has somewhere to sit while the rest of the house is done.
Related guides
- Master bedroom renovationAnother room that is often planned at the same time.
- Walk in wardrobe dressing roomAnother room that is often planned at the same time.
- Home office conversionAnother room that is often planned at the same time.
- Matt vs polished floor tilesA choice you will face while specifying this room.
browse the guides, or see all renovation and fit-out services. We work on homes and commercial premises across Dubai.
Tell us about the property
Tell us the room, how it is used today and what you want it to become. A few photographs and rough measurements are enough to start.
Phone
+971 58 846 4007Good for talking a job through and arranging a visit.
WhatsApp
Send a messageUseful for photographs, floor plans and measurements.
Next step
Plan the living room around how you use it
Send a sketch or photographs and tell us how the room is used. We will plan the layout, lighting and hidden work together.