Make a plan of your room
Arranging your living room furniture needs planning. Get a pen and paper and draw a plan of your room. Cut out pieces of paper to represent your living room furniture (to scale) and experiment with them in different positions on your plan. (Or you can do this on your computer if you know how to use a simple drawing program.)
Be sure to arrange the furniture around your focal point. For example, if your focal point is a fireplace, you could have two sofas facing one another at right angles to the fireplace. Then try placing a couple of chairs facing towards the fireplace but offset from the main group.
See your ideas take shape
Whenever you're doing any designs for your home, take a look at a product called Plan3D. You can use it to visualize new layouts and designs, and see how your home will look before you go ahead with your plans. It's a
An easy way to help you plan your living room is to use a great resource from furniture.com. You can select different items of furniture and move them around on a plan of your room. Design your room online with the Furniture.com Room Planner (the link opens in a new window).
Base your furniture on people's needs
When you come to decide where you should place your living room furniture, think first about the positioning of sofas and chairs. Ask yourself how you can arrange the seating so that people will feel relaxed and comfortable.
A simple arrangement meets all the requirements of a living area. It's easy to get to the seating, and the central tables are within reach for book, drinks and remote controls. (There's a TV around somewhere!)
It helps to think in terms of groups
Sometimes a chair may need to be on its own in a corner, but usually sofas and chairs should form groups. If you have half a dozen people sitting down, does your seating aid conversation or hinder it? Does one person end up sitting sideways to the main group?
This is a classic way to arrange two sofas in relation to a focal point (fire place).
The furniture on its own may look wonderful in the room, but remember that the furniture is there for the benefit of people, not the other way round.
Once you have good seating arrangements, other practicalities come into play.
Adequate table surfaces for drinks, books and table lamps. You can use many different types of tables - coffee tables, end tables, even upholstered ottomans. (If you want a softer effect, make a floor-length tablecloth to cover a table. These are particularly effective on round tables, which can be made of inexpensive wood such as MDF.)
A large and elegant room provides plenty of opportunity to set out this living room area. The rug suggests the area as being separate from the rest of the room. The chairs, couch and table are are arranged with other items of occasional furniture in a pleasing way.
This small living room arrangement makes good use of the bay window area.
Ideas for arranging your furniture
When you're arranging furniture, remember the following points.
- Always leave enough space around furniture for people to move freely.
- Don't place all your seating against the walls or your room will look like an institution.
- Keep furniture clear of windows and doors.
- If you want to encourage conversation, don't place chairs and sofas too far away from one another.
- Whatever you do, don't clutter the room by trying to force too much furniture into it.
- If you have a large room or a long room, you could try placing your furniture so you have two distinct areas. One area could be for conversations or listening to music, while another area could be for watching TV or playing card or board games.
You don't have to wait to buy your living room furniture
From recliners to bean bags, ottomans to living room sets, you'll find all your furniture here.
Save on Living Room Furniture at Furniture.com (link opens in a new window). There's a wide range of styles to suit every taste.
Living room furniture with contrasting colors makes for an interesting setting.
