Living Room Layout Ideas: How to Arrange Your Furniture

The spacing numbers designers use

A good layout is mostly a few measurements. Print these or keep them on your phone.

How to arrange a living room in 5 steps

1. Pick the focal point. The TV, a fireplace, a big window or a large piece of art. If you have two (TV and fireplace), put them on the same wall or on walls next to each other.
2. Place the biggest piece first. The sofa faces the focal point or sits at a right angle to it. Everything else is arranged around the sofa.
3. Build a conversation group. Add chairs facing or angled toward the sofa. People should be able to talk without shouting or turning their heads all the way around.
4. Plan the walkways. Figure out how people get from the door to the other rooms, and keep that path clear — behind the sofa is better than through the middle of the seating.
5. Anchor and light it. A rug ties the group together, and a lamp near each seat makes it usable at night. See our rug size chart.

8 living room layouts that work

1. Sofa facing the TV, two chairs to the side

The most common American layout for a reason. The sofa faces the TV wall, two armchairs sit at the ends angled in, and the coffee table sits in the middle. Works in almost any rectangular room.

2. Two sofas facing each other

Great for conversation and for rooms where the focal point is a fireplace between them. Leave the TV out of this one, or put it on the fireplace wall.

3. L-shape with a sectional

A sectional in an L faces the TV with one long side and wraps a corner with the other. Fill the open side with an accent chair to close the group. Ideal for families who watch a lot of TV.

4. The fireplace and TV corner

If the fireplace and TV are on different walls, angle the sofa or sectional toward the corner between them so you can see both.

5. Floating layout for open-plan rooms

In an open living-dining-kitchen space, float the sofa in the middle of the room with its back to the kitchen. A console table behind it creates a soft wall and a landing spot for lamps. The rug marks where the living room starts.

6. Two zones for a long, narrow room

Don't line everything up along one wall like a bowling alley. Split the room into two zones: a TV seating area at one end and a reading nook or desk at the other. The narrow room suddenly has a purpose. More ideas in awkward living room layouts.

7. Symmetry around a window

Two matching chairs or a pair of loveseats facing each other in front of a big window. Calm and formal, good for living rooms where the TV lives in another room.

8. The small-room compact layout

A sofa, one chair and a round coffee table. Skip the second chair, use a wall-mounted TV, and choose furniture on legs. See 27 small living room ideas.

Where to put the TV

• Watch for glare. A TV directly across from a sunny window gets washed out. A wall beside the window is better.
• Above the fireplace is fine if it's not too high. If you have to tilt your head back, consider a pull-down mount or put the TV on another wall.
• Mount it, or use a low console. The center of the screen should be near seated eye level, about 42 inches up.
• Disguise it. A black frame on a dark wall, or a gallery wall around it, makes the TV feel less dominant.

Common layout mistakes

• Every piece against the walls. It leaves a dead middle and makes conversation hard. Pull pieces in.
• A walkway through the seating. People cutting between the sofa and TV ruins the room.
• Furniture too small for the room. A tiny loveseat in a big room looks lost. Scale matters — see what size sofa you need.
• Blocking the window. Tall furniture in front of windows steals light.
• No lamp near the seats. One ceiling light makes even a good layout feel flat.

Try a layout before you move anything

Dragging a sofa around three times to test layouts is how backs get hurt. A faster way: take a photo of your living room and upload it to DecorIn. You'll see a redesigned version of your room — same walls, same windows — with new furniture and a new arrangement. If you like one piece, you can keep the rest of the room and change only that. Then you only move the furniture once.

Frequently asked questions