What this means is that decide what you are going to be doing in your living room and then select what fits that purpose best. If you have young children then you should bear that in mind when you are making your furniture selections.
Create a conversation area
If you are going to be using your living room for many different things then you might consider sectioning off an area for a conversation zone. Also, if children are going to be using the room you might consider confining their play area to a far side of the living room.
High quality furniture last longer and keeps it value longer. If you are on a limited budget then you may consider purchasing a nice leather sofa and then adding onto the ensemble at a further date. It is better to buy a small amount of good furniture then a lot of low quality furniture that is doomed to slowly fall apart.
Use your lighting creatively
Always remember that lighting plays a large part in an over all decorating scheme. Try to avoid having direct lighting when it can best be focused on a wall. The paint color that you use for your walls can also have a great overall effect on your design scheme as well.