Living Room Furniture Placement: How to Get the Perfect Layout?

Dola RC Dola RC
57 Paintbrush Park, Sonata Design Sonata Design Modern living room
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Modern homes are pressed for space, especially those that are parts of big cities. So, contemporary homeowners need furniture that is at once modish, lightweight and capable of giving the space an airy feel.  Furniture placement plays a key role in designing a comfortable home. Today, we are focusing on the living room furniture placement. The ideas that we will share with you in a short time will help you relieve some of the clutters of your living room.

You need your living room to look spectacular. Don’t you? This is the space that is frequented by your guests. The décor of your lounge area reveals a lot about your tastes as well as your housekeeping habits. A dingy living room never gives good impressions about your home. A well decorated space also gives security and comfort to those who come to meet you for the first time.

A dingy living room traps suspended dust particles easily. An uncluttered room is easier to maintain and is also more hygienic for those occupying it. Proper layout helps in easier flow of light. Consequently, it makes the room appear larger and more cheerful.

Living room furniture layout: What you should know beforehand?

Before you choose any particular living room furniture layout, you must make a thorough assessment of the available space. Use a measuring tape to avoid any mistakes. Note down the measurements on a piece of paper. Don’t forget about leaving sufficient white space in the room. This helps to make the space look and feel more comfortable and breezy. Besides, you or your guests don’t bump into the furniture every time you move around.

Use carpenter’s tape to mark the areas where you plan to have various pieces of furniture. This will tell you if you are leaving enough elbow room in your living room. Make layouts on paper before trying out in reality. You may use colored pencils to give your sketches the exact appearance you intend to have in reality. Make several experiments with the layout before settling for one.

Order furniture having precise dimensions of the space they are going to fill in. You may need to have custom built furniture if your requirements are too stringent. While ordering online, find out the details of the dimensions in the product description. If you are visiting a brick and mortar establishment, then carry your measuring tape with you with the piece of paper that has all the details of the layout of your living room. Mistakes in this regard could turn out to be costly. You may consider hiring an experienced interior designer to do all of these for you.

How to set up a living room?

While setting up a living room, try not to interrupt the flow of natural light. Don’t block the windows with furniture. Apart from the layout, keep in mind the color scheme of the room while going for furniture shopping. Keep in mind your lifestyle and habits while choosing an ideal layout for your living room. If you frequently host parties in this space, then your requirements will be slightly different from someone who uses it for family gatherings occasionally. 

Modern living rooms also double up as home offices at times. If you have any such requirements, make sure you have peaceful corner free for setting up a home office. If, on the other hand, you are planning to design a media room in the same area, then concentrate on making the space acoustically sound.

Rules for arranging living room furnitures do not exist per se. Keeping in mind your requirements helps. Try to be flexible and open for experimentations to strike the right balance between style and comfort.

Living room seating ideas

It is common to opt for traditional sofas with matching armchairs in living rooms. But that’s not the only option for you. You may consider having day beds, chaise lounges, divan beds or upholstered benches in this space as well. Owners of small apartments using this space as guest rooms can have trundle beds placed in the living room as well. Use stylish cushions to deck the sofas or the sofa alternatives you have in this room. This will make the décor more refreshing and comfortable for everyone.

Similarly, bulky armchairs can be replaced with trendy lightweight modern chairs. Ottomans and pouffes are some of the other alternatives you may consider exploring. Place a reclining chair in one of the empty corners of the room. You may loll on it with a book in hand when you have a bit of time you invest in yourself. Consider investing in iconic mid-century modern furniture like Charles and Ray Eames chairs, Eero Saarinen armchairs, Arne Jacobsen Egg chair or any of their modern versions. You living room will literally light up in their presence.

Living room furniture placement open concept

Open plan architecture combines living room, kitchen and dining area in the same space. It makes a home feel more spacious. It helps you to have an uninhibited social interaction with your guests even when you are busy in the kitchen. However, open plan architecture does not suit everybody. With this layout, it is impossible to maintain the privacy of the kitchen and dining room. For busy homeowners, it might be difficult to keep the dining area and kitchen scrupulously clean every day of the week. But open plan architecture exposes these parts of your home to the outsiders. So there remains no hiding place to tuck the previous day’s soiled plates in.

Living room furniture placement: Feng shui

Feng shui suggests decorating a brightly lit living room. Well lit rooms look cheery and feel comfortable for those inhabiting the rooms. Try not to make seating arrangements under heavy beams. Feng shui believes that this makes homeowners burdened with worries and anxieties. Ideally, your lounge area should have a regular square or rectangular shape. Don’t place the sofa in front of the doors. It makes you feel insecure and spoils your relationship with your guests.

Sofa arrangement ideas

There are plenty of ways of arranging sofas in your room. You may place it in the middle of the room to give it an expansive feel. Generally, people invest in one three seater sofa and complement it with two armchairs. The chairs could be placed on either side of the sofa or on one side of it. However, a large living room layout could be slightly different. You have the opportunity of investing in two sofas which you may place parallel to each other or in right angle to each other.

While planning a small living room set up, avoid investing in large sofas that may cause clutter in the room. The same applies for the coffee table. Coffee table with sufficient storage space would be ideal for a small home.

Living room furniture and décor

Your living room needs something more than sofas, coffee tables and armchairs. In a reasonably sized room, you have the opportunity of investing in stylish side tables. You can decorate the table tops with small works of art, flower vases with fresh flowers, table lamps etc. Side tables also increase the storage space of your home. Choose glass top table for a small room. This would prevent it from looking cramped. Don’t forget to buy a chic rug for this space. Choose rugs according to the décor of the room. Modern living rooms are best decorated with rugs having geometric motifs or the monochromatic ones. Classical rugs are suitable for a spacious room with a retro style or classical décor.

Check out these living rooms full of personality.

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