Decorating Your Home

3 Considerations For Arranging Furniture In A Living Room With A Fireplace

For the past couple of decades, many homes have been designed with fireplaces as focal points of the living or family room. And while having a gas or wood-burning fireplace is certainly a blessing for any homeowner, figuring out how to arrange furniture in a living room with a fireplace can be a bit challenging. By keeping a few important considerations in mind as you decide on your furniture arrangement, you'll ultimately be able to make the best decisions.

Keep a Safe Clearance

For starters, keep in mind that any and all furniture should be kept a safe distance from the fireplace itself. This is especially true if you have an open, wood-burning fireplace. A few feet of clearance will be enough to ensure that you can enjoy the warmth of the fireplace without creating a safety hazard. This also applies to any rugs you may place in your living room, so keep this in mind as you decide on rug sizes and placement.

Consider the Focus

Next, consider whether you want your fireplace to be the focal point of the room, or if you'd like another focal point, such as a TV. Avoid having competing focal points, which can take away from the overall flow of the space. If you want to have a TV in your living room, a good "middle ground" is to mount one above the fireplace. This way, all your furniture can be arranged around the same focal point so you can enjoy the fireplace at the same time as the TV.

Keep a Natural Flow

When choosing and placing furniture, always consider the natural flow of the space and avoid placing furniture (such as coffee tables or sofa chairs) in the way of a natural foot path. A little bit of planning goes a long way when it comes to maintaining open flow, especially when you're entertaining. And if you have a larger living room, get over the notion that all your furniture needs to be pushed up against a wall! Couches and sofas can be creatively arranged in the center of the room around the fireplace to create an intimate sitting space while freeing up standing space elsewhere that's great for entertaining.

By keeping these basic considerations in mind as you buy and arrange your living room furniture, you'll ultimately be able to decide on the configuration that works best for your lifestyle! For more information, contact companies like Modern Home 2 Go.


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