I started my Design Mistakes series many years ago. It began as a way to showcase some of the mistakes I made around my own home while helping others to learn the do’s and don’ts when it comes to home design. Well, it quickly turned into my most popular series here on the blog!

Here are the top five posts from the series. Or, you can peruse them all right here.

• Matching Furniture – A Big No-No
• Hanging Wall Art Way Too High
• Buying the Wrong Size Rug
• My Rules for Lighting
• The Biggest Painting Mistakes

Design Mistake – Furniture Against a Wall

Furniture arranging is a tough part of the design process, especially when it comes to the living room. Where should you put the couch, the chairs, and your coffee table?

It can be tough to nail the perfect living room layout, and I often see people shoving all of their furniture against the perimeter of the room. I’m not a huge fan of this look, BUT this design mistake comes with a lot of gray area that I want to review here today.

The Gray Area

When figuring out where to place your couch or sectional, sometimes you don’t have any other choice but to place it against the wall. If you have a small room, that may be the only option to get the seating that you want to fit in the space. And I totally get that!

However, if you have a large room, or a huge open concept space, you likely don’t want to place all of your furniture against a wall. Instead, you’ll want to bring furniture pieces closer together to make things more intimate and use up the valuable real estate in the center of the room.

Before you start moving things around, I suggest that the first thing you do is decide how much seating you want to have. Do you host a lot? Do you want room for everyone in the family to be able to watch a Friday night movie? Another important factor is whether this living space will have a television, and what wall space that would require. These two factors will have a big influence on how you can situate your couch.

Today, I thought it might be helpful to showcase various examples of furniture layouts and discuss why they work. Hopefully, these visuals will help you figure out the best layout for your own home.

Don’t Be Afraid to Float Your Couch

When we purchased our home, we ended up removing a wall to make a much larger living room. Once that wall was out, I struggled to figure out the best layout for the space. Where the heck was I going to put the couch?

In the end, I decided to float the couch in the middle of the room and ground it with a rug. This left a walkway, behind, from the front door to the rest of the house. It also left enough room in front of the couch to create a cozy seating area with a chair opposite it.

I think people can get a little nervous floating a couch, but sometimes it’s the right call for a room. Because our couch is white and there’s a walkway right behind it, I was a little nervous that it might get dirty on the back.

I found this gorgeous throw and I have it folded neatly on the back of our couch. This adds some interest and keeps the back of our upholstered couch looking nice.

Create Zones

The furniture layout in a large, open space can also be used to create zones with various functions. For example, the sectional, from this reader home tour, floats in the middle of their living room, creating a cozy area around the fireplace.

It also separates the space from the dining area that is in the same room. A key point to notice is that she further defines these different areas with two complementary rugs. If the sectional was flipped around and faced the dining table, there would be a lot of dead space in the middle of the room.

Here’s another example…

Here’s Jan’s condo when she moved in and put her old furniture in while she waited to find some new items. She had the sectional pushed up against the wall and open to the kitchen. Here’s what we did instead…

We found a new sectional and flipped it so it opens the other way. Across from it, we have two accent chairs for additional seating. These chairs add more seating options, creating a nice focal point and a more inviting space. It’s also the best layout for this room because then the “bulkier”, or larger furniture pieces (the couch and table), aren’t pushed to one side of the room, creating the illusion of heaviness. The current setup has balance and breathing room.

Use a Console Table

Another thing we added to Jan’s living room was a console table behind her sectional. This helps divide the room and gives her another spot to store and display items. I love this idea for hiding the back of your couch if it is floating in the room.

If you are putting your couch against a wall, a behind-the-couch table or shelf is also a good idea. My friends, Kim and Scott, built a shelf for their living room and it’s so genius. It’s the perfect little spot to rest a drink or phone and their upholstered couch isn’t right up against the wall.

Don’t Forget a Large Area Rug

When you are creating these zones of seating, the best way to make them feel cohesive is with a large area rug. One of my biggest pet peeves is a too-small rug in a big space. Most living rooms will need at least an 8×10 or 9×12.

We have a 9×12 rug in our living room space and it makes it cozy and grounds the room. You can read more about finding the perfect rug over in this blog post.

Leave Room for Walkways

When figuring out your furniture arrangement, you’ll definitely want to make sure you have enough space to allow for better traffic flow across the room. The general rule of thumb is to have at least 16 to 18 inches between the sofa and coffee table.

Then, be sure to keep a clear path behind your sofa or seating if you are floating it in a room. I know it’s hard to sacrifice precious inches when you have limited space; but not doing this will make the room feel more cramped.

For example, in this reader’s home tour, she floats her gorgeous sofa away from their glass doors so they have room to walk behind the couch and get to the outside area. Plus, there is even space for a console table. This works wonderfully.

Should You Put Your Furniture Against a Wall?

So what’s my answer to this question? I would say, if possible, try not to put all of your furniture on the perimeter of the room. Even bringing your couch or sectional a foot or so off the wall will help create some breathing room. But, if the size of the room doesn’t allow for this, and having the couch against the wall is the best fit, don’t sweat it! You always have the final call on the design rules in your house and there are many different ways to make a gorgeous living room space!

Need more living room decorating tips? This blog post breaks down all of my do’s and don’ts, as well as answers some common questions when it comes to the living room.