Are you wondering how you can arrange your living room furniture with a fireplace and TV that will open up the space and point to the main focal point of the room? Do you know that by simply rearranging your piece of furniture, it will make a big difference in creating a cozy living space?
Proper furniture placement is a quick and inexpensive living room update and there are different ways to do it, depending on the location of your fireplace and TV and the room entrance, room shape and living room size.
Below are some amazing and creative ideas both for large and small living rooms for furniture arrangement.
Furniture Layout Ideas For A Living Room With A Fireplace And TV
The living room furniture arrangement is done around the focal point of the room, front of the fireplace or the opposite wall once you enter into the room. If you have a large space you may need to have two sofas and you may also need to break up the space if you have an open living room layout. You can do this by creating separate areas such as a reading nook, seating area and dining room area.
TV Over Your Fireplace
If you like to have optimal visibility, hanging a television above your fireplace seems to be an obvious option for you as the TV can be viewed from most parts of the room. It also allows you to have an ideal arrangement of furniture because you will save a good amount of space as you no longer need to have a television console to place your TV on. Therefore, the television over your fireplace is ideal for both small spaces and for larger spaces.
However if you place a huge television above the fireplace mantel, your huge TV will stand out more than your fireplace and from other design features of your living room. But this can be avoided by choosing an appropriate television size that will not take away from the beauty of your fireplace.
Rectangular Shaped Living Room
The above picture is the living room of our first home. It was long and on a larger scale and in order to furnish the whole space, we bought two large sofas, two accent chairs and a pair of ottomans. We positioned the two large sofas against the perpendicular walls to the fireplace and television and facing the entrance to the living room. By doing this, it provided the most pleasing view of the sofa as well as causing guests to take notice of the main asset of the room which was the fireplace.
We used the two accent chairs and two ottomans as a way to fill-up the remaining space to keep the living room from looking empty as well as a way to add a pop of color. We also utilized two side tables to anchor the sofa and the accent chair on each side.
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If you have a long and narrow living room layout just like the picture above, you will not have enough room for two sofas but instead you can place two accent chairs opposite the sofa for balance. The sofa and two accent chairs should also be positioned perpendicular to the focal wall. The rug should be centered on the focal wall and with the sofa. Remember, the minimum size of the rug should be as wide as at least the two front legs of each piece of living room furniture.
A fireplace alone is sometimes not enough as a focal point especially if it is positioned in the center of the wall. Therefore, it is necessary to create a focal wall using a console table with a piece of art on top and a large mirror on both sides of the fireplace wall or by having a built-in cabinet on both sides.
Odd Shaped Room
For a fireplace located in the dreaded corner of the wall or commonly known as a corner fireplace, your living room is likely in the odd shaped room category. But the same rules in furniture placement apply here. That is by positioning your sofa perpendicular to the focal point. However by doing this, you may need to show the back of the sofa which is often not very attractive. But this can easily be remedied by placing a sofa table behind it.
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If placement of your sofa being perpendicular to the focal point is not possible, place your sofa parallel to the focal wall instead just like the picture above. Then place two club chairs opposite the sofa for balance and lay the area rug in the same direction of the sofa. Please also consider the distance between the sofa and the coffee table. According to interior designers, the distance between a coffee table and sofa should be 12 to 18 inches. To know more about rules when buying and positioning coffee tables, click here.
For Square Shaped Rooms
Square rooms are one of the most popular shaped rooms next to a rectangular room. If you have a square shaped room, your living room space is most likely on the smaller side and has a single purpose because of space limitations. You can arrange your living room furniture at a 90 degree angle which is commonly known as a right angle to the opposite walls of the fireplace and television.
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In the picture above, the sectional sofa is positioned to the opposite walls which make its right side perpendicular to the focal point while its left side is facing parallel to the focal point. The accent or club chair and the two small ottomans are positioned opposite the sectional sofa for balance. However, the living room in the picture looks crowded. However, if the distance between the coffee table and furniture is 12 to 18 inches or as long as the owner loves it, then this is a good design.
Small and Narrow Living Room
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If your living room space is really on the smaller side and you want to make use of all the space that you can get without making it look crowded, use furniture with a size proportionate to the room. The picture above is the perfect example which shows that having a small space is not a factor for not having a stylish space.
The size of the sofa, coffee table and chairs are proportionate to the size of the space as well as the distance between the sofa and coffee table allows one to move around with ease. The sofa is positioned parallel to the fireplace and TV which provide an optimal viewing distance and makes the space more open and airy. This is the type of seating arrangement that encourages conversations.
TV Beside The Fireplace
If you are not fond of mounting the television above your fireplace, the other option will be placing it on the walls next to the fireplace or the fireplace wall. By doing this, you are not just creating a focal point but a focal wall and therefore it’s necessary to choose a television console that matches the entire home decor. But the same rules apply when it comes to living room furniture arrangement.
Below are some of the examples on how to arrange your living room furniture with a fireplace and TV next to the fireplace.
Square Shaped Room
The picture above is our current home and this time, I decided not to place the TV above the fireplace although it makes more sense to do that because we do not have much space. But I still chose to place the television on top of the console table beside the fireplace to showcase the beauty of our fireplace.
I did not want the TV to be the center of attention. The two sofas are arranged at 90 degree angles to the fireplace and the opposite walls across from the television. I then placed one accent chair on the other side of the fireplace to create a sense of balance and to really make use of our existing furniture.
The size of our sofas is actually bigger than what our living room space can accommodate but we needed to make it work with what we had.
We also ended up placing one of our end tables and floor lamps at one side of each sofa to make it look even and balanced since we needed to allot a walkway from the main door to the living room.
Furthermore, we did not use an area rug so we could showcase the beauty of our floor. The general rules used by interior designers are only there to guide and give you an idea how to arrange your furniture. However, you can definitely make some changes to suit your needs and personal style.
Corner Fireplace Layout
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If you have a large living room with high ceilings and with a stone fireplace at the corner, a built-in cabinet with shelving that has dimensions proportional to the size of the room and size of the fireplace is definitely a must. You can also place your TV inside the built-in shelf.
You will want to properly spread out all of your furniture within the area you’re working with to create a sense of balance just like the picture above. The two sofas are both placed perpendicular to the focal wall where one sofa is facing the entrance of the living room while the second sofa’s back is facing the entrance. The two accent chairs are positioned parallel to the focal point to achieve a sense of balance and to make sure the living room does not look empty. Placement of a rug should always be in the center of the focal wall and in the same direction of the sofas.
Fireplace In The Middle Of The Room
If you have a fireplace positioned in the middle of the room, its design is to act as a barrier between your living room and other rooms or as an independent architectural feature.
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You can either leave the fireplace as it is and create conversation areas next to the fireplace just like the picture above or install the television above or beside the fireplace just like the pictures below.
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The rules on furniture still apply. Arrange your sofas around the focal point or focal wall and place them perpendicularly or parallel to the focal wall depending on the shape and size of your space. Whichever will open up your space and offer a pleasing view of the sofa is the best way to go.
If the back of your sofa is facing the entrance, conceal it with a sofa table. Always follow the curves of odd-shaped spaces and use furniture with sizes proportionate to your space. Use accent chairs, ottoman, end tables, or floor lamps to create a sense of balance in your space.
