Congratulations, you made it through college, you landed that great job, you have married that perfect someone, and now you are moving into your first home together! The papers are all signed and you are standing together holding hands looking at an empty living room. Your next major goal in life is to fill it with furniture, then sit down with a glass of wine, put your feet up, and take a break- you’ve earned it! The thing is, you need to put in some furniture first. It was easy back when you had a tiny dorm room, or that little off-campus apartment, but now you are facing a vast expanse of barren open space! What to do? Here are some of the most popular layouts depending on the size and shape of your new living room:
- Floating – If the room has more windows than walls, you have to adapt. Instead of sticking things up against the windows, bad form, you can let them float out in the middle like an island made of furniture. Place your 2 seater corner sofa on the bottom left side beside the comfy chairs. The sofa forms the right side of the square with a round coffee table in the centre. Put the TV at the top end, and leave the bottom open as a walkway.
- Symmetrical – Double your pleasure, double your fun, have two great big sofas instead of just one! Place them facing each other across a long coffee table. Chairs can flank the sofas, pick an end for the TV.
- L-shaped – This one is kind of tricky, who in the world designed an L-shaped living room anyway? Put the TV against the bottom of the L’s foot, then the sofas and chairs along the top and bottom walls. The long end of the L is wasted space unless you have a pool table!
- Long and Narrow – This may seem awkward, but you will get used to it. Pick a wall for the TV, then line up all the furniture on the wall opposite with coffee tables making a row in front of them.
- Irregular – Oddly shaped living rooms with various nooks and crannies happen sometimes, you should have thought of that before you signed the papers! There is no hard and fast rule here, you just have to make the best of a bad situation! Stick the TV in a nook where it’s still visible from at least one sofa.
Whatever happens, hopefully, there’s room for a coffee table so you have someplace to set those wine glasses! Enjoy!
