A Guide To Planning Living Room Layouts | Design Cafe (2024)

Living rooms are places where family and friends gather, and memories are made! So they deserve to be planned the right way. Our guide on living room layouts will give you an insight into planning a proper living room. Get ready to explore with us!

Why Is The Shape Of A Living Room Important?

Let’s start with the most common question. Why is the shape of a living room important? The shape of a living room layout plays a vital role and determines the arrangement of the interiors. The layout of fixed furniture is designed in accordance with the fluidity of space. The positioning of loose furniture like a coffee table, bookshelves, chairs, and accessories is done in a way where there is no restriction to the flow of light and ventilation into the living room.

How To Plan The Layout For Your Living Room?

You must start off by measuring the width and the length of your living room so you determine the kind of furniture that can be placed in the layout. In the case of large living rooms, the size of the sofa seating, as well as other loose furniture like the coffee table, can be chosen freely. But whereas in a small living room layout, the variety of loose and fixed furniture is limited due to space constraints.

A Small Living Room Layout

Things to keep in mind when you have a small living room layout:

1. You might want to think about oversized seating. Over-sized seating makes a small living room look even more petite. So choosing the right size sofa is important. If you don’t have space, you can opt for a seating plan that comprises four chairs as an alternate solution. This will serve the purpose of sofas just as well.
2. Avoid cluttering the place with too many pieces of furniture. The more furniture you add to a small living room, the more stuffy it is going to get.
3. Use minimal and sleekly designed pieces of furniture to make your space feel spacious.
4. Use light colour tones and shades as they add to giving your living room an illusion of space.
5. Do not use more than one wall as an accent wall.

A Living Room With Stairs As Part Of The Layout

A living room with stairs requires a different kind of planning. It is a wise idea to have storage space beneath your staircase. Designing a staircase in a way that it’s an eye-catcher is now trending. Stair storage can be used both with small and large living room layouts too. Stair storage can be used to store footwear, socks, raincoats and umbrellas. It can also be used to store toys or other items like umbrellas, shoes, books or more. Basically household stuff that is not often used but still important enough to have at easy reach.

A Rectangle Shaped Living Room Layout

Most common living room layout is the rectangle living room layout. This layout gives you the opportunity to experiment and work with various styles and designs of interiors for your living room. You can go for a sectional sofa if you have a large family or love seat will suit you just fine if it’s a small family. Make sure the right size coffee table is used. An oval or rectangle-shaped coffee table works well if you have a smaller living room layout. Round or square shaped coffee tables go well with large seating plans or sectional sofas have been used in the living room.

Lighting

Now when it comes to living room lighting here are things to consider as well. If you are choosing a particular kind of lighting for your living room, ask yourself, what would you want your living room light to do? Do you want it to act as a beautiful piece of art while hanging off the ceiling in style? Well, in that case, a chandelier will be a perfect fit. But if you want the light to be an ambient light or a light that brightens up your living room you might want to choose a different type of lighting.

Most Common Living Room Design Mistakes

Sometimes when you are setting your living room space, you tend to make mistakes that might seem quiet minute at that moment but actually end up making a huge difference. Take a look at the kind of mistakes you might be committing through this infographic.

Quick Tips For Your Living Room Layout

Here are some quick tips that will help you plan and arrange your living room.

1. Visualize how you want your living to look beforehand; a mental picture is important and a great starting point.
2. Make sure you maintain a required distance between your seating arrangements for comfortable conversations.
3. A fixed place for everything in the living room including furniture and decor is a must.

This is what we at Design Cafe think about living room layouts. We would love to know how you have designed your living room layout you have at home. Let us know! Send us an email. Can’t wait to hear from you!