Starting from scratch in living room - what dream look would you choose?

[linspins]

We've been working liked crazy on a house renovation since last March it's been stressful to say the least. But there's nice bits coming up now, like planning a new living room. However, the possibilities are so many, I don't know what to start with, or what to focus on:
So far, there are white walls, and a warm honey toned oak engineered floor. Should I pick a sofa, and base the look of the room around that? Or a rug? Or curtains? Or a colour? Or a period of time, e.g mid Century?
Do you have a look that you love, or one you'd go for if you were starting from scratch? Inspiration needed!

I would think of a look I liked e.g. MC and do lots of pinteresting. Then go and sit on sofas and find a sofa that you like. THEN go for rugs/ TV bench . side tables / curtains that fit in with the sofa.

I would find a colourful rug in a design you like and start from there :-) I've done it several times and the room comes together nicely.

Start with what ever leaves the least options. The one thing you absolutely want. It narrows dow the field hugely. I tried all the possible sofas, only 1 was really comfortable and only 1 fabric and pattern made sense. The rest had to follow.

Good advice ladies. I'm tempted to choose a bolder colour then we ever had before, teal or pomegranate or mustard yellow. So far we've always had lots of neutrals, with pale sage green or dusky blue. But this room might be able to take something stronger. It's a bit scary though. Quebec, you're probably right starting with a sofa. It's so hard to find one that looks nice AND is comfy too.
I've been pondering getting an old sideboard and adding an accent colour to it to match the room....
I tried googling 'smart living rooms' but the selection was a bit bland and corporate. I'm going to try ' cosy living rooms'.

I went for something different when we moved to our current house which has one more reception room than we had before. We had nothing to put in it, so we were starting from scratch.

I knew that we would keep the dark stained wood floor and fireplace. It's a Victorian house and very cold, so it needed warmth. And we would use it as a grown up sitting room when the DC were in bed, so pretty much evenings only. We also wanted dark wood furniture as we wanted a change. Everything we owned was light oak throughout the rest of the house.

I went for bright scarlet, taupe and chocolate brown. It's a big room so the fabrics have lots of texture to make it feel cosy and we have two big lamps. I really like it. But if I was starting again, I might do mid grey, heather and some blues. Only because I'd like a change but cannot justify the cost.

Finding a rug is a good idea.

I love our sofas by the way. They're m and s, abbey. We have two of the massive ones and a love seat. The love seat is in a contrasting fabric. They're really comfy and look nice. We held out for a 40 per cent off day.

Try apartment therapy.