Furniture Arrangement Ideas

So you have found the living room design you have always wanted but aren’t so sure of how to put it all together? Here are some helpful tips on how to arrange your living room furniture to encourage conversation, maximize seating, and create a nice room flow.

1. Decide on a focal point. Be it a fireplace, flat screen TV, or a beautiful bay window – decided on a focal point that you want for the room. The focal point should be anchored by a wall. Then arrange the seating for the maximum seating facing your focal point.

2. Keep away from the walls. Especially with smaller rooms, it’s tempting to want to push all the furniture against the walls. Leaving a bit of space between the walls and furniture allows for more intimate groupings and creates airflow in the room. Worried about seeing the back of a sofa or sectional – consider using a sofa table along the back.

3. Create traffic lanes. Make it easy for folks to walk in/out of the room by creating spaces in between seating/tables for people to pass through.

4. Have a table near each seating area. This isn’t always easy to do, but try and keep a table within reach of each seating area. If you choose to use an over-sized ottoman for extra seating, consider placing a rimmed tray on top for drinks, magazines, and remotes.Living Room Furniture Arrangement Ideas

5. Lighting. If possible keep a lamp near every seating area. Arch floor lamps are great behind sectionals where end tables may not work.

Encourage conversation, maximize seating, and create a good flow…

6. Encourage conversation. Place chairs no more than 8 feet apart to encourage conversation.

7. Consider the room’s purpose. If you tend to have a lot of guests, you want to consider how to include traffic flow, but also offer maximum seating. Consider ottomans which can be easily arranged and moved, or single dining chairs or accent chairs. Sectionals are a great way to maximize seating as well. Maybe your goal is a more peaceful retreat; consider a chair and ottoman or recliner to relax in, with a nice reading floor lamp near by.

8. Bring out the sketch pad. It’s always a good idea to measure your space and your furniture when planning to see what arrangement works the best.

9. Consider an area rug. An area rug is a great way to pull seating area together and create a space. For most living room arrangements, a 5×7 rug is plenty when placed at front of each of the pieces legs to really make a room come together.

10. Enlarge a room with diagonals. Setting up a sofa, coffee table and some seating diagonal can add some spice to a smaller space while allowing space for traffic to flow.

11. Consider chairs instead of sofas. Using chairs instead of sofas can offer lots of seating as well as flexibility in arrangement and allow movement throughout room. Still stumped??

Try the ‘Arrange-A-Room’ App on the BHG website for more furniture arrangement ideas for your living room.

Happy Designing!