Before you plop down that 200 pound couch just anywhere, you need to have a plan. Trust me, you don’t want to be moving that thing around more than you have to. There are various layouts and groupings to consider when arranging your living room space. Check out these tips and tricks to help make your living room layout both comfortable and functional for the whole family.
Function and Focal Point
First, determine the function of your space. In other words, what are you going to use the space for? Are you a dinner on the couch in front of the tv kind of family? Do you need space to play (and store) your extensive board game collection? Is this the spot for reading and homework after school? No matter how you plan to utilize your living room, you want to the function of the space before you start the heavy lifting.
Then, look around the room and pick out the focal point. The natural focal point could be architectural like a fireplace or set of windows. If not architectural, the focal point is most likely the tv. Once you’ve found it, you are going to keep the focal point in mind when it comes to arranging your furniture.
Traditional Layout
Perhaps the most common and functional living room layout places the sofa across from the focal point and angles all other furniture pieces angled to face the same direction. Often this forms a semi-circle shape. This arrangement allows everyone to see the fireplace or tv while maintaining easy conversation. In the case that you need additional seating for guests, you can easily make extra room by adding chairs, an ottoman, or pillows to complete the circle arrangement.
Open Floor Plan
As HGTV continues to knock down walls to get more space with that beautiful open floor plan, so do we. Now the trick is, what do we do with that space? Your furniture layout just became even more important. Use your furniture and focal point to section off your living space so it is visually delineated from the other areas of your home. Archways, columns, or changes in ceiling height can also help separate one space from another.
Large Space
Although many of us are tempted to create openness in a space by sliding all of the furniture against the wall, this doesn’t always create the appeal we’re going for. Instead, allow your furniture to gravitate toward your focal point. In a larger space, you want to create a primary seating area with other conversation groupings placed around the room. Make sure you allow ample space for traffic to flow through the natural walkways and find a way to provide a comfortable drink rest for every seat around the room.
Multiple Entry Points
Whether you have a nice open floor plan or a space with more than one doorway, creating space for comfortable walkways is key. Visualize an imaginary line from one entry point to another. Keep these lines clear of furniture and decor as these are your natural walkways.
Edith Sitwell
“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.”
Sectional seating
You’ll be tempted to shove this in the corner to maximize free space, but that can be claustrophobic for your guests. Especially that deepest corner seat. Pull it away from the wall so air and light can pass behind it. Can brighten the back of the sofa with a lamp or utilize that space with a functional side table.
*Design Tip – Measure the dimensions of your living room and furniture so you can sketch out various layouts before you start moving the furniture around. You can do this using graph paper or online programs like Room Sketcher to come up with a scale floor plan.
Looking for more tips on how to arrange the furniture in your home? Click here to contact on of our MOHFL team members!