Whether you call it a living room, family room, gathering room or den, what we do most in this space in our homes is live. Our living room design ideas will help you make your living room more than just livable, but also an enjoyable and relaxing place for you and your family and friends to be.

Living rooms serve different purposes for different people. In some homes they serve as the main gathering area for family, while in others they're more of a show room, used only when company comes over. Either way, there are certain issues that always come up when trying to arrange living room furniture. Check out these tips for placing furniture in your living room.

The size of the room will dictate how far you can pull your furniture away from the walls, but even in a small space you’ll want to give pieces a little breathing room by allowing a few inches between the backs of furniture pieces and the walls. Despite popular belief, this little bit of space can actually make rooms feel bigger. Of course if you have a larger space feel free to arrange furniture in such a way that conversation areas are created in the middle of the room, leaving several feet between the walls and the furniture.

Balance is always important in decorating, and when it comes to arranging furniture and determining where to put items in your living room you’ll want to consider both size and placement of the various pieces.