No matter your room size, I’m a layout expert here to help you solve your furniture arrangement problems! If you’re wondering how to arrange living room furniture with a TV or a fireplace (or bothm or neither!) you’re in the perfect place! 🙂
No two living rooms are ever the same–so you need answers on how to arrange your furniture for you (and you alone)!🙌
You’d like your furnishings to work for your room, fit your budget, and—if it’s not too much to ask—look and feel good! And all at the same time! 😉
The internet is massive, so congrats on finding us! My name is Jess, and my Engineering Expert husband and I (Design Architect & Layout Nerd) run this business to help you make life easier.
I love teaching how to get your perfect living room furniture arrangement set up in three ways:
- I show visuals,
- I explain in clear, organized words, and
- I use real-life examples to illustrate and make your own life easier! 👇
I’ll also discuss living room items like
- Incorporating TVs and fireplaces
- Bookshelves (and hidden storage)
- Rugs, artwork and other furnishings you may have forgotten about!
We’ll also answer popular questions such as,
- “How do I layout my living room furniture?”
- “Can you show me how to arrange living room furniture with TV and fireplace?”
- “What is the 2 3 rule for living rooms and do you agree?”
- “What are the four rules in furniture arrangement and are they true?”
- “Is a 20×20 living room big?”
- “What size is considered a large living room?“
- “Why should or shouldn’t I use a free furniture arrangement app?”
- “How to arrange a large living room?”
- “How to arrange living room furniture in small space?”
- “What about large living room rugs?”
…and everything else you need to know!
PS: Since you’re already thinking about your living room, you’ll want to bookmark these essential 3 living room-related posts to read next!
- COLOR: 7 Smart Strategies for Choosing Interior Colors!
- WALL DECOR: Wall Decor Ideas: The 10 Types You (Actually) Need to Consider!
- AREA RUGS: Living Room Area Rug Size: The Only 7 Rules to Know!
Let’s solve this for you right now!💪
how to best arrange LIVING ROOM FURNITURE
The #1 Question You Need To Ask Yourself!
Before you start figuring out the arrangement of your living room furniture, you first need to ask yourself
“What exact activities do I want happening in this living room?”
Yes, this absolutely needs to be your first step, and 98% of people don’t actually know how to do this correctly (although they believe they do). That’s why I made THIS to help those of you who aren’t quite sure if you need a full consult with us, and you can get answers at your leisure (even in your pajamas if you want 😉 ).
The below clients had a semi-awkward living room space that was just a bit too long, with so many entry and exit points that they struggled with how to keep flow going without traipsing through their living room every time they wanted to pass through to the rest of the house. I share more about how we created the below layout in this post on particularly awkward or long living room layouts.
If you’re looking to save your money, time and energy, you’ll appreciate our Expert Room Layout & Design Guide (which I’d encourage you to grab right now, as I designed it to make your life easier)!
If you were chatting with me for 1:1 help, some intro questions I might start you out with are
- Do you want it to be a TV-free conversation area, or is the primary purpose for entertainment? (Or do you want a mix of both? If so, what’s your percentage of time for each?)
- If you have a fireplace, is it centered on the wall, off-centered, or in a corner? What type of fireplace? What are your hearth dimensions? (And more!)
- Where are your entry and exit points? Have you outlined your room flow?
- How tall are your ceilings? Are any of them angled?
- How many windows do you have? Where are they located? And almost most importantly, do you ever like to open your windows–and if so, how often? Seasonally? Daily during that season? We need to talk actual movements and space!
- What kind of window treatments do you have?
- What rooms flow into your living room? What are the dimensions of not only your living room area but your surrounding spaces, hallways, walkways, doorways, etc!
If you’ve read my post about the 7 Strategies for Choosing Interior Colors, you’ll see
just how many factors people forget
that influence these daily-use-room decisions!
We aren’t just throwing standard layouts together…
- YOU are unique,
- YOUR HOME is unique, and
- YOUR LIFESTYLE AND NEEDS are unique!
So let’s get you a 100% uniquely strategized living room furniture arrangement! 🤗
how to arrange LIVING ROOM FURNITURE
The Problem: A Non-Standard Living Room Size!
I’ll give you an example story of a living room furniture arrangement problem we just solved…and it wasn’t for a client but for ourselves this time! 😉
We recently bought a small house at the beach, and yet (oddly enough!) the living room is juuuuust-slightly-too-large!
(And the thing is, many of YOU have a “weirdly-too-large” living room as well…but don’t realize it yet!)
- “What do you mean by that, Jess?” Answer: I’ll show you in the layouts and floor plans below!
- “Why is that a problem?” Answer: Weirdly-sized living rooms are not only a waste of space but are keeping you from fully utilizing the space properly without some analysis and strategic thought.
HOW TO ARRANGE LIVING ROOM
Step #1: Save Yourself…Pause to Think First!
Save yourself years of wasted money and wasted energy, and gain confidence by knowing that your living room furniture arrangement will satisfy you completely and NEVER need to be redone!
How?
This is the #1 Step that all our clients do and rave about. I’ve laid it all out for you to make it easy for you (and it’s the best way to save yourself money).
I MYSELF go through this to avoid making foolish decisions, so even I am not immune.😅 None of us are above this! We have to follow these strategic, thoughtful steps and be reminded not to skip or rush ahead.
In the above client project, we carefully analyzed a number of different seating arrangements before landing on this one that gave the clients their max seating as well as good flow between the surrounding rooms AND kept perfect symmetry, which they loved the final designs for best!
(A sectional will ruin your symmetry…😂…but sometimes a sectional truly is best for the flow and practicality of the room. We still use sectionals after doing our design analysis for clients and their lifestyle, priorities and life goals!🥰)
So start with this essential step right now. You should be able to click and open in a new tab so you won’t lose your place, so I’ll wait for you. Honestly, you’d be foolish not to, as it also includes e-mail access to me if you have ANY questions on it. (Or you can grab a 1:1 consult if you’d rather not use the DIY guide!)
It’s faster and smarter to use THIS! Otherwise it’s like trying to do your own plumbing with no instructions.😅 You know that’ll be more costly and frustrating in the long run. I’m trying to save you!
OK, now onto Step #2!
HOW TO ARRANGE LIVING ROOM
Step #2: Look at the Living Room Dimensions!
Now we can move onto the steps made infinitely easier by using The Essential #1 Step for Home Design.
A standard living room size is often around 12’x16′ for rectangular, and 15’x15′ for square living rooms (although there is no universal standard, as smaller homes can have a 125 sq ft living room and larger homes could have over 400 sq ft)!
By contrast, this beach house living room is about 14’x18′. So it’s not quite long enough to constitute a true extended, long living room layout, but it has just a smidgen of extra space in one direction above the average.
Why is that a problem?
LIVING ROOM FURNITURE ARRANGEMENT
Step #3: Know What NOT To Do!
I remind people that often, knowing what NOT to do is just as important as knowing what TO do!
So in the case of our “what not to do” living room furniture arrangement for “just-slightly-longish” spaces, I can show you what the prior owners did:
If you’re someone who struggles with floor plans and layout drawings, in my next post I can show you actual photos of what this room looked like with their furniture, and you’ll quickly see what I mean.
- The room feels disjointed.
- There is no cohesion between furnishings.
- It’s not clear what the function or intentional activities are for this room.
- The ottomans have no real place.
- The rounded swivel chair not only feels alone but is placed too close to the sideboard table and interrupts a clear, open-feeling flow.
And that’s just the layout! Don’t get me started on the fireplace itself, the odd TV placement, the mess showing outside the window, or the living room rug placement! 😆
LIVING ROOM FURNITURE ARRANGEMENT EXAMPLES
#4: Thoughtful Analysis of Your Unique Needs!
You’re going to want to use the Made-For-You guide I showed you earlier.
And if you want to uplevel your skills even more on room layout and decor, I created The Expert Room Design & Layout Guide which you can read in detail HERE!
So you’ll want to start with #1: The Essential #1 Step for Your Home!
and #2: The Expert Room Design & Layout Guide!
I created these because I care, and you can do it in your sweatpants if you so desire. 😉
In the case of our own living room at this beach house, I had several options that came out of the process, and I’ll share 3 of them below with you.
HOW TO ARRANGE LIVING ROOM FURNITURE
Important Note from Jess: Focal Point or No?
Many standard advice-givers will first tell you to arrange your living room around a focal point.
This is ONLY good advice in certain situations!
Such as, you have a “showy” living room, such as a formal living room or sitting area you feel is highly visible.
If, however, you actually want to use this room,
you’re going to need to AVOID THE TEMPTATION to go with decor first and go with function first! 🤓
Trust me, this is what will make your living room so delightful that it will energize you and solve those problems you’re actually having in everyday life!
Such as,
- Awkward furniture layout.
- Bad lighting issues.
- Reducing clutter.
- Solving TV or Wifi connection issues in your living room, as well as hiding cables in a non-cheesy, non-cheapy looking way. 😉
- Feeling like your living room looks or feels small, or cramped, or “just not right no matter how much cool decor I buy!”
- TV mounting height and placement.
- Keeping your living room tidy and avoiding constant mess!
THESE are just a few examples of the things that matter to your everyday life and comfort and energy levels.
After we solve the functional, we will 100% take care of the aesthetic and the beautiful. 🙂 Including focal points.
But not before. This is a rookie mistake! And I’m here to help you avoid those for the rest of your lifelong days. 😄💃🏽
how to arrange LIVING ROOM FURNITURE
Step #4: Analyze Your Top 3 Layout Options!
I show you the best (free!) ways to do this HERE!
Below, I’ll walk you through just three of the problem-solving layouts and furniture arrangement options for this particular living room (both with a fireplace and TV…and without)! (I had about 12 of them but have narrowed down to these 3 for you, for now.)
how to arrange LIVING ROOM FURNITURE WITH TV
Example Option #3: With a TV or Fireplace Only!
If your living room
- doesn’t have a fireplace but you want to have a TV
- has a fireplace but you don’t want a TV in there
…then this is what you’re focusing on.
In my #3 layout option for our own living room furniture arrangement, I considered really embracing the slightly-extended-and-over-large room.
How?
By
- Not breaking this living room into “zones.”
- Going with larger-scale furniture that would still feel cohesive and connected (as opposed to when the prior owners just tried filling the room with various seating spots).
- Using an extra-large custom coffee table in the middle (this could also be 2-3 coffee tables put together, but personally I just love the simplicity of one massive coffee table! Anyone can do 2-3 coffee tables…🤣)
What did I NOT like about this option?
- Because our house is smaller and I’m pulling out ALL the stops on maximizing every inch for a family of 4, I wanted to create an extra space within this space!
See below to learn how one can make this happen! 😉
how to arrange LIVING ROOM FURNITURE WITH TV AND FIREPLACE
Example Option #2: With a TV and Fireplace!
In my #2 layout option for our own living room furniture arrangement, I considered trying to fit both a TV-viewing area and a cozy fireplace-focused sitting area!
How?
By
- Treating this living room layout as two zones: one for cozy fireplace time and one for TV-viewing time. (Because this small beach house only has ONE living area, technically.)
- Backing up matching (or very similar) couches against each other to maximize space (no room for a console table between them but ideally I would have loved to be able to fit one in! if you can, do it!)
- Doing a full built-in floor-to-ceiling bookcase setup.
- Optionally hiding the TV in the bookcase wall.
What did I not love about this option?
- For me, it felt just a teensy bit cramped…
- …but most importantly: you know what, even all these years later I STILL don’t like the TV area being so front-and-center, especially when this is the first major wall you see when you walk in our house!
- Sure, I could have hidden the TV a creative way (and you know I came up with 7-10 ideas for that), but I fell in love with this next option so this was pushed down to my second-favorite option for our home.
how to arrange LIVING ROOM FURNITURE IN SMALL SPACE
Example Option #1: Getting Two for One (Unexpectedly)! 🙂
At its most basic, this is dividing your living room into zones. This option is kinda like the option I came up with above, but eliminates the issue of having two ever-so-slightly cramped-feeling spaces AND eliminates the TV issue I mentioned.
Now, there are endless possibilities for this (and I came up with at least 5-7 ideas for this which I’ll have to share in another post if you like this option 😉 ), so I’ll just focus on one.
Personally, one of my favorite things to do is go meet up with a friend at a “beautifully-ambianced” and “perfectly-flavored-offeringed” coffee shop with a friend. 🙂 So I started dreaming up a “home cafe” option (especially since this wasn’t a massive living room, it was just slightly oversized! So I just instinctively knew I needed to think slightly narrow for this second “zone”).
In addition to a “home cafe”, I knew my daughters would benefit from having a secondary area where they could do their schoolwork that wasn’t our dining room table (it’s super annoying having to clear and re-clear between food and tasks on your dining room table when you only have one!) or their room desks! Since we have them sharing a room right now (small house + hey, it’s good for their character development! 🙂 ), they have smaller desks in their room and those are usually filled with their artwork or engineering creations.
A vision started to build, and I’ll share it with you in more detail in another post! But here’s a quick overview:
In my #1 layout option for our own living room furniture arrangement, I started conceptualizing a home cafe area that would take up THIS area!
To truly get into the details of that, I’ll need to write a whole new post next. The above isn’t by any means my final design, but it gives you some tiny hints as to where it’s going. 😉
So here you can see how the prior owners (and the owners before them!) had this same living room set up compared to how I’ll be setting it up (roughly…stay tuned to see exactly how my design plans land)!
SMALL LIVING ROOM FURNITURE ARRANGEMENT EASY
“What about small living rooms?”
Small living rooms can look big when you pull them together well! (You won’t even notice the size!)
Whether your living room is large or small, the essential principles are the same.
If you do have a small living room, you’ll love seeing what we did in our
- Small living room with a fireplace only (a.k.a. “The Fireplace Room” because we had 4 living rooms)!
- Small awkward-shaped living room (next to dining room)!
- Our primary bedroom sitting area!
LIVING ROOM FURNITURE ARRANGEMENT IDEAS
“What living room furniture arrangement ‘rules’ do you agree or not agree with, Jess?”
When I do an internet search for living room layout help, it brings up things like the 2:3 rule and “four rules for furniture arrangement.”
If you’ve read my post on living room area rug sizes and placement (and you should if you’re living room minded right now!), you’ll know that I advise caution when following generic online “rules” in free magazine articles.
Why?
Because they are SO general and meant for the simplest, most basic homeowner requests–people who do NOT want to spend more than 7 minutes thinking about their furniture arrangement or lifestyle needs–that if you’ve made it this far I KNOW that you’re smarter than that. 🙂
So it’s clear that YOU, dear reader, are going to require so much more than what those generic rules have to offer you! 🤗
You’ll only be happy with
- hiring a designer who is truly on your team (and hopefully an architectural designer, NOT just an interior designer or decorator!), OR
- utilizing resources that such an architectural designer with layout expertise has created for you to use on your own.
FURNITURE ARRANGEMENT IDEAS
“Why should (or shouldn’t) I use a free furniture arrangement app?”
Ah, the word “free”!😆 So often we get what we pay for. Many of those programs are difficult to use, extremely limited, and are full of ads…
…but I do recommend my favorites (some are free and I’ve vetted them so you don’t have to go through the pain) in The Expert Room Design and Layout Guide.
There you’ll also get real-life client solutions, along with all my room layout and furniture arrangement tips and “tricks”, which is really just smart, well-planned strategy.
LIVING ROOM FURNITURE LAYOUT
“What about small or large living room rugs?”
I give you alllll my living room area rug size insights in THIS post!
LIVING ROOM FURNITURE IDEAS
“What if I need help selecting furniture?”
We help clients select furniture, rugs, artwork and decor (including plants!), but if you’re not ready for that step, you can see some recommendations in our “Shop Now!” page.
Next…
If you haven’t read it yet, you’ll love our “3 Fast Fixes for Awkward Living Room Layouts!” In there is included some real-life client before & after photos of her living space!
You’ll also find the follow living-room-related posts helpful:
- WALLS: Blank Wall Ideas: 5 Quick-n-Easy Solutions!
- FIREPLACES: Fireplace Ideas: The 15 Smartest Designs, Wall Style & Décor Tips (Start Here)!
- BOOKSHELVES: 12+ Modern & Timeless Floor-To-Ceiling Bookshelves (from Built-in To DIY)!
- DECOR: The ONLY 10 Types of Wall Decor Ideas You (Actually) Need!
- ART: By Room: 50 Unique Wall Art Ideas for Your Living Room & More!
- TVs: TV Bookshelf Wall: 15 Genius Hidden TV Ideas for a Living Room!
- FURNITURE: Avoid Ikea: Why You Should NEVER Buy These 5 Premade Items!
- LIGHTING: Choosing Lights: 3 Ways to Stop Choosing What Everyone Else Has!
- COLOR: 7 Smart Strategies for Choosing Interior Colors!
- RUGS: Living Room Area Rug Size: The (Only) 7 Rules You Need to Know!
To see all our posts organized by room, go HERE!
