How to Organize Your Furniture in the Living Room

Take measurements of your living room. Measure wall to wall, by width and length.

Sketch your room on a piece of graph paper. "Rental Decorating Digest" suggests a good conversion to use is a 1/4 inch on paper to every 12 inches in your living room. Add in everything that will affect your furniture arrangement, such as windows, doors, closets and electrical outlets.

Take stock of your furniture. What do you want to put in your living room? Measure each piece of furniture you want to include.

Cut out rough paper pieces to represent your furniture, using the same 1/4 inch scale outlined in Step 2.

Try different ways to organize your living room on paper first, using your paper furniture and your sketch. Once you have your plan, tape your furniture pieces onto your sketch so that you have a reference.

Decide what your focal point will be. "Dreams Alive" magazine says that in living rooms, the focal point is usually the TV, a picture window or a fireplace. However, it could be anything that people will want to look at when sitting in your living room.

Place your biggest piece of furniture across from the focal point. This will probably be your sofa. "Dreams Alive" magazine suggests putting an area rug under the front edge of your sofa and leaving some space between the area rug and your focal point.

Arrange the rest of your furniture around your sofa in a U shape. For example, put a chair on both sides of your sofa at an angle. Place your coffee table in front of your sofa so that it is within reach. "Dreams Alive" magazine says to try to make your U shape balanced. If you have a large piece of furniture on one side of your sofa, balance it out with maybe a smaller chair and an end table on the other side.