Each room in the house has its own unique decorative style with furniture that fits into that particular décor. It makes sense that each of these rooms will also require their own type of lighting that will differ to the rest of the house.
The living room is usually set as a more formal room than the rest of the home as this is where you are likely to entertain guests. Before you select your lighting, try to pick out fixtures within the living room that you can accentuate. If choosing free standing lamps, make sure that the lamp is not in the way of people walking around the living room. It does not make sense to have the lamp in the middle of the room so that you can focus the light on a specific object. The lamp needs to be placed against the wall, in a corner or next to another item of furniture.
When focusing the lamp on a fixture such as a wall painting, you also need to make sure that the lamp is not blocking the view of the painting. Otherwise this becomes a pointless exercise of focusing light on an object that no one can see properly. Certain lamps can be bought with a very long stem which could make the lamp very top heavy. The lamp shade will also play a role in how top heavy the lamp will become. If you do decide to buy a long lamp, make sure that the base is of an adequate weight that the lamp will not fall over.
When looking for lighting in the living room, try to match the lamp shade to existing colors and materials within the room. This will help the lighting to blend in with the rest of the room. If you do a lot of reading in the room, try to buy a lamp that will provide sufficient lighting. A swing arm lamp is a good way of moving light around the room when required. You can easily focus light on your book, and afterward back onto the wall painting.