6 Overlooked Living Room Layout Ideas You’ll Love, According to Designers

Creating Multiple Seating Areas

Think your living room needs just one sitting area? Think again, says designer Andrea Schumacher. She recommends creating two different zones so multiple focal points can shine, and different activities can happen in the same space simultaneously. For example, in one of her living room projects, she used a console table to divide up two sofas so that one faces the fireplace and the other faces the TV. This way, there’s a spot for everyone, whether you want to read in a quieter zone or binge your favorite show from a front-row seat. 

Designer Shannon McGough of Poppy McGough Design House is also a fan of creating multiple seating formations in a living room. In addition to positioning the sofa to face the television, she created another seating nook located between the main living area and the kitchen, as shown here. “This seating arrangement is ideal for entertaining and allows the hostess to move throughout the kitchen and living room with ease, never having to leave the group,” she says.

Keeping Seating Height Relatively Uniform

Do some of your living room chairs tower over others? This is something to be avoided when laying out the space, says designer Julia Newman, the founder of Julia Adele Design, who recommends that each chair or sofa is within an inch or two of the same height. “This makes sure the room looks balanced, and everyone seated is roughly within eye level of each other,” Newman explains. Sometimes it’s the little details that make the biggest impression in the appearance and functionality of a room.

Incorporating Ottomans into Your Furniture Plan

If you barely have enough space for one full-sized sofa, let alone two, you’re not alone. Instead, you can try this ottoman hack that’s popular with many decorating pros, including designer Stephanie Gamble. Purchase several small ottomans in a pattern that speaks to you, and place them throughout your living room — bonus points if the tops lift up for storage and can house blankets, pillows, and other items.

“They can be tucked under a console or sit against a wall when not in use,” says Gamble. “They are light and easy to move, so all of your guests can be part of the conversation, and they also can be pulled up to a coffee table for board games or puzzles.”

Choosing the Right Size Rug

Designers will be the first ones to tell you a living room with a rug that’s too small will just look off. “Ground your furnishings with a rug — not just any rug, a rug that, at the very least, gets the front edge of all furniture overlapping it by a solid 10 inches,” says designer Melissa Mahoney of Melissa Mahoney Design House. “If your furniture layout completely sits on the rug, all the better,” she adds. “There is nothing that shrinks the visual of a room more than an undersized rug.” 

Using Large Scale Artwork

Don’t let your wall space go to waste. Designer Cody Brown, the co-founder of Bridges Brown Interiors, is all for large scale artwork in the living room. “Often, people feel inclined to use small artwork in small spaces, but it can make the space feel unfinished or dull,” he says. Go big with a single statement piece above a sofa that’s set against a wall, or use an oversized diptych or triptych to make a major design move. 

Using Bench(es) to Your Benefit

Ottomans are just one example of multifunctional seating. If you’re looking to make a small living room layout do the most for you, benches are also an excellent choice. In this warm living room, designer Lauren Carranza, the founder of Seasons 4 Design, opted to place a bench in front of the living room sofa in lieu of a coffee table. (She also thought outside the box and placed two small stools beneath the piano.)

“Sometimes, the most overlooked layout trick is not confining your space to only one layout with heavy furniture but instead using pieces that are flexible to create an adaptive layout,” she says. “We selected furniture that could be moved around, allowing the seating arrangements to adapt to different uses — from teenage dance parties to cocktail parties.”