So you’ve moved into a place that has a small living room. It’s not the end of the world. In fact, some say that a smaller living room will feel a lot more inviting and comfortable than a larger one so, you see, you might actually be lucky. But you still have to deal with one tiny problem. Arranging all the furniture in this small living room.

Before you start planning your space, there are some tips to keep in mind when considering how to arrange furniture in a small room.

How to arrange furniture in a small living room

Pick (or Create) a Focal Point

Every space – large or small—needs a focal point to pull the eye. It’s a dominant feature that captures the attention and pulls you in, no matter what your view of the room is. This can be a sofa, an accent wall, a big window or a stunning piece of art. This gives you a base from which to work when arranging your furniture.

Consider the Visual Weight of the Furniture

Visual weight is not necessarily related the size or literal heft of furniture. Instead, it refers to how you perceive the weight of a piece. For example, a sofa with legs that aren’t visible and that appears to sit fully on the floor has greater visual weight than an equal-sized or larger sofa that has tall legs or slim legs. The types of materials used to construct a piece also affect its visual weight: A solid wood coffee table has great visual weight than a glass-topped version.

Stick to a Neutral Palette

Neutral is the absolute best color palette for making a space feel larger than it actually is. One cohesive palette that blends well help a room feel more expansive because there’s nothing to divert attention as you view the area.

Use all the Tricks of the Trade

Designers use all kinds of strategies to make space feel larger and you can use them too. From letting In lots of natural light to using mirrors to extend the space visually and taking advantage of a tall ceiling to increase the open feeling, there are lots of options for making a room feel more open.

Scale Down the Furniture

A large sectional sofa is very comfortable for a number of people to snuggle in, but if it’s big and bulky it can overwhelm the space and make it feel smaller. Make sure you choose pieces that fit with the scale of the room and aren’t overstuffed. If you’re set on having a sectional, perhaps one with fewer parts or a lighter visual weight will work. It’s not just the sofa either: Any piece of furniture that looms too large in a room will actually make it feel smaller.

Skip the Sofa

There’s no rule that say you must have a sofa in the living room and many people may be happier with a couple of roomy armchairs and a daybed or chaise lounge. This can be a great choice if the small space is challenging for other reasons too, such as inconveniently located pipes or vents, or lots of odd corners that make furniture placement more difficult.

Consider the Traffic Pattern

Before you choose a living room layout, consider how people typically move through the space. If there’s a constant flow from one side to the other, it’s best to arrange furniture so that people go around, not through, the conversation area.

Make Full Use of Corners

If your living room is dominated by a corner setting, make the most of it. Choose a sofa that fits into the area, using the space instead of leaving it as a dead zone. A small sectional can work in a corner, but so do other styles, especially when paired with a corner table and armchair. This moves the largest piece to the corner out of the central area.

Choose multifunctional pieces

When space is tight, getting the most out of the pieces you have is a priority. Choose items that have hidden storage or can serv more than one function. A large ottoman can double as a coffee table as well as provide extra seating. Special space saving furniture can be a console all day and at night be extended into a dining table big enough to seat your friends for dinner. Make every furniture decision count.

Ready to plan your living room? Check out the bellow tips

There can be as many as 10 different layouts you can try in a space measuring only 100 square feet. Take this cozy seating area for example. All of these different configurations have a focal point around which everything else is organized and that can differ depending on the case. Several different combinations can be created using a series of furniture pieces such as a sofa, a couple of armchairs, a coffee table and, in some cases, a sectional.{found on apartmenttherapy}.

One option is to arrange all the seating units facing a focal point that can be pretty much anything. For example, it can be a bookcase, a fireplace, a TV, a fireplace or a painting. This way, no matter how you adapt the layout and rotate the chairs, everyone will be able to see the focal point you’ve provided.

Another option is to emphasize the conversation area. This means the furniture needs to be arranged in such a way to allow people to walk around and to face each other when sitting down. You can group sofas and chairs together to make interaction easier.

If you want the living room to be visually balanced and to feel harmonious, then take a different approach. When arranging the furniture, think of how it will impact the décor and what the relationship will be with the other pieces. For example, if you place a sofa on one side of the room, you can put two armchairs across from it to establish balance.

Families with kids find it difficult to establish boundaries between their play area and the adult’s space, especially if the room is small. This is a type of layout that allows you to use simple partitions to delineate these areas. You can use a coffee table or a sofa for that.

The first thing you need to do, before starting to plan a layout for your living room, is to determine which are the essential pieces of furniture, the ones you absolutely must include in your design. Once you know what you need to work with you can start developing a plan.{found on blulabelbungalow}.

Arrange all these essential pieces of furniture by starting with the largest one. This would usually be the sofa. Then build your design around that piece. The armchairs can go on the opposite side and in between you can place a coffee table. Or maybe you prefer to place all the seats on one side so everyone can see the TV.{found on homegrowninteriors}.

Experiment with different configurations. Sit down and analyze the situation. See whether or not everyone would feel comfortable in that particular configuration and, if not, make some changes. Usually the furniture is organized either around the TV or the fireplace so decide if you want one of these elements to be the focal point.{found on ctaylor}.

Once you’ve decided which element should be the focal point in your living room, highlight it by placing the seating units directly in front of it. This way, those sitting there can admire whatever it is you’ve chosen to highlight.{found on coddingtondesign}.

Usually, the coffee table, side table or whatever other kind of table you choose to use should be placed in the room at the very end. When you do that, make sure it doesn’t block the traffic and that everyone can sit comfortably without having to change their position because of the angle or shape of your table.

Don’t neglect the traffic in the area. People need to be able to move around freely. If you’ve created a conversation area, they should be able to move around it and not through it. Different configurations allow for different solutions to this issue.

Depending on the shape of your living room, you need to establish where the center point should be. This isn’t necessarily the center of the room. It’s usually where the coffee table is and you can easily change it according to your desires.

Balance is important so you need to get the size right for everything. Small living rooms can’t usually take large pieces of furniture. However, a large sofa can be a good addition to the space as long as the rest of the pieces don’t overwhelm the room.

Lighting is also really important. A small living room can seem even smaller if it’s dark and gloomy. So try to make it bright. If there are large windows you can use then you’re in luck. But you can also work with color to get the desired feeling.