5 Really Great Reasons to Float The Furniture in Your Living Room

Are you struggling with how to fit your furniture in the living room, and can’t for the life of you come up with a good layout? You might need to “float” your furniture — or pull everything out from the wall and create an island of sorts comprising your sofa, chairs and tables — and anchor it all with an area rug. What decorating magic is this do you ask? And how will you know if this is the answer?

Here are the best five reasons to try out this kind of arrangement:

1. For Better Traffic Flow: Sometimes you have to tell the body where it needs to go. Floating a sofa can create corridors that make it obvious where foot traffic should flow. Vivian and Leonard’s set up (shown above) offers multiple obvious ways to move about the room.

2. To Divide a Room: Furniture provides a convenient way to partition off different zones within one room. Above, Monique’s sofa is a clear boundary between the living space and the kitchen.

3. Create Intimacy: When chatting with guests, you don’t want to be further apart than about eight feet. This makes it tough if all of your seating is pushed against the wall. Natural Curiosities offices demonstrate a place for conversation that feels close and cozy, especially when carved out from such a large space.

4. To Take Advantage of a Focal Point: Designers will always say to pick a focal point in a room and arrange furniture around that distinctive feature. When that focal point is in the middle of a long space, as in Christina’s living room above, seating needs to be brought in closer to accommodate.

5. When There’s No Wall Space: And sometimes there’s just no wall to be had anywhere, making it a necessity. Amy Butler’s living room is surrounded by glass, brick hearth, and step up to another level. Her center placement is really the only option.