5 Ideas on How to Arrange Your Sofas and Armchairs in your Living Room

Arranging your sofas and seats in your living room sets the tone for the whole space, so it’s vital you get it right. If you have more than one sofa, choosing the best arrangement can be tricky. You don’t want it to look cramped and it needs to suit the flow of the room.

Here are our 5 top tips on how to arrange multiple sofas and armchairs in your living room to help give you some ideas and inspiration.

1. Sofas Facing Each Other

One of the most common ways to arrange two sofas is to have them facing each other. This will provide an open space that’s great for having friends and family round to socialise. It’ll also help the room to look symmetrical as the sofas will create a mirror image.

This type of arrangement looks best in living rooms that are square or rectangular, rather than a room with lots of angles. If you have a fireplace or a unique window, you’d like to accentuate, placing the sofas facing each other, with the focal point in the centre of an open-end, will help to draw attention to it.

Placing our Model 03 ottoman in the centre of the sofas will also provide a comfortable place for you or any guests to put their feet up or even a place to supply snacks or reading material and help to tie the whole area together.

2. Back to Back Sofas

If you have a large living room, then placing two sofas back to back will help separate the space. Positioning the two sofas in the centre of the room and then placing a coffee table in between them with some lamps, a plant, sculpture or other decorative items will create a classy, sophisticated looking area.

To make the space a bit more social, you could try placing a couple of armchairs in front of each sofa along with coffee tables to create two separate conversation areas. One sofa could face the TV or fireplace or another focal point, while the other could face a window and be used more as a cosy spot to read to socialise. This type of arrangement is ideal if you have a long, awkwardly shaped living room to work with.

3. L-Shaped Sofa Arrangements

For those who have a living room that isn’t square-shaped or who aren’t set on perfect symmetry, then an L-shaped sofa arrangement is a great choice. Not only will it help to create a light, open, airy space but it’s also ideal if you want to create an area where it’s easy and comfortable for everyone to watch TV without anyone having to crane their necks too far.

To create an L-shape layout, position the sofas adjacent to each other. To fill any dead space in the corner, you can place an end table or a plant or a lamp to create a cosy, well-lit area. If the shape and size of your living room allows, you could also look at getting a corner sofa so all the space is maximised and extra seating is provided.

4. Sofas in a Wide Angle

A slightly unusual arrangement which looks fantastic in large, irregular shaped rooms and is ideal if you’re wanting to do something a little out of the box, is setting your sofas in a wide-angle. With this positioning, the sofas are spaced far apart from each other and angled, creating a large open space in the centre that’s comfortable, airy and great for lounging around.

If you like the look of this particular style but have a square room, it’s not impossible to achieve but it will mean some of the corners of the room will be cut off and you’ll likely lose a lot of usable space. But, choosing this layout offers plenty of room in the middle to add a coffee table or provide extra seating options such as an armchair or ottoman.

5. Arranging Sofa and Armchairs

Having one sofa and an armchair is the most versatile option for smaller living rooms and gives you a chance to be a little more creative, adding interest and functionality to your space. You can arrange this setting in a multitude of ways, with the armchair in front of the sofa, or off to the side to create a right angle, or you could even get two armchairs to have one on either side of the sofa.

Choosing an armchair rather than a second sofa allows you to have more fun with daring patterns and textures and more vibrant colours to really make a statement piece. Plus, as armchairs are far easier to move, you can really play around with it and change the look of your room more frequently. For small rooms, having a sofa and either one or two armchairs will help the space look bigger and create a decent seating area.

Looking for ideas for adding accessories to your sofa? Take a look at our 6 styling tips on how to dress your sofa.