Tips on Rearranging a Small Living Room

• The living room is the area of the home where families gather together. Jacobs Stock Photography/BananaStock/Getty Images

  Working with a small living room can be a challenge, but if you arrange your furnishings well, you can create an inviting and comfortable atmosphere. Before you begin to arrange the furniture, choose the colors and design elements you will use in the room. For example, lighter colors and sleek contemporary furnishings are elegant while creating an airy atmosphere of openness in the room.

Focal Point

• Every room has a focal point that you can use to arrange the furnishings in the room. In a living room, the focal point may be a fireplace or a television, which provides a convenient direction for the arrangement of the furniture. Establish the focal point in your living room before you begin planning your furniture arrangement. You can include a large bay window or some other element in the room as your focal point. In smaller rooms, it is usually easier to establish one focal point for the entire room. Larger rooms have the luxury of creating areas around different focal points in the room, but with a small living room, you should stick with one focal point and arrange around it.

Larger Pieces First

• Plan to place your larger pieces in the room first, such as the living room couch or sofa. In smaller rooms, you may decide to use smaller furnishings, such as chairs and recliners, in place of the sofa. You should place these pieces of furniture in the room first while using accessories around the furniture to enhance the appearance. Once you have your larger furniture in place, tables, such as coffee tables and end tables, can then be arranged around the seating area to provide a convenient place to rest cups, remote controls and other items you use in the room.

Movement

• The traffic patterns in your small living room are an important factor in your design plan. You must allow room around your furniture for people to walk and get to the seating area. Keep furnishings to a minimum in the room to allow plenty of space to walk to different areas of the small living room without dodging furniture. Before you place your furniture, determine how your family and guests will travel to get to a seat, the television or to exit the room.

Conversation Area

• Create a U-shaped pattern with your furniture to develop a conversation area in your small room. A smaller room provides a cozy atmosphere for conversation and sharing entertainment with family and friends. You can arrange a sofa and loveseat across from each other with a convenient table in the center that persons sitting on either piece of furniture can use. With the U-shaped design for the conversation area, guests have the ability to talk to each other without twisting or turning in their seat.