How to Place Living Room Furniture

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

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Living room design is one of the easiest to master. Most of the furniture elements in the room will revolve around a focal point and will invite people to gather and stay awhile. Seating for many will play the starring role, while everything else will be secondary.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Step1

Draw a layout of the room that includes all doors, windows, outlets and radiators or air vents that cannot be covered.

Step2

Cut out miniatures of all of your furniture items and label with their measurements and names.

Step3

Find or create a focal point in the room around which all the other furniture will revolve. This could be a large piece of artwork, a fireplace, a mantle, a big-screen television or a large picture window with a fabulous view. Draw your focal point on the layout where it exists in the room. If it is moveable (like a painting) consider where else in the room it might be better off.

Step4

Move your miniature furniture pieces around the room layout and experiment with different ways to place the furniture in your living room design. Start with seating: Place sofas and chairs at right angles to each other so the seating forms a rectangle or square in front of the focal point. You'll want the seating items to face each other, not the focal point, to facilitate socializing in this spot.

Step5

Find a coffee table, two large ottomans or a trunk to place in the center of the seating arrangement to act as place to put drinks, or to use as a display surface for books and other collections.

Step6

Use the spaces in the corners between the seating (they should be square) to place useful end tables. If you have an extra chair that fits this seating group, you can widen the arrangement and place the chair diagonally into the corner and skip the table. A great floor lamp will fit in any of the corners left by the seating group.

Step7

Find empty walls or corners and put leftover pieces of your furniture collection where they fit. A long, slim credenza belongs along a wall or under a large mirror or piece of artwork. Some may look elegant as a sofa table behind a sofa if the credenza is low enough. Interesting floor vases and one-of-kind chairs and chests can find a home in an unused corner or by the front entryway.

Tips & Warnings

The entrance to the main group seating arrangement should not be blocked by the back of a sofa or chair. Experiment and switch it around on your paper layout until there is easy access and the room invites people to walk on in and sit down.
Don't block access to and from the adjoining rooms. If you notice a blocked doorway in your design, switch it around on paper first.
There are many beautifully photographed interior design books at the library to give you inspiration for your living room. Check one out for lots of great ideas.
Try to keep some of your furniture from being lined up along the walls, which can be a very boring way to design a living room. Bring the seating arrangement into the center of the room for a more inviting strategy.