People should naturally be able to talk to each other without having to crane their necks or shout across the room. You want the sofas and chairs to face each other (not necessarily straight on, but close), and they should be close enough that you can have a natural conversation with the person seated across from you without having to raise your voice.

Like the name implies, the living room is easily one of the most important rooms in our homes. Unlike basements, kitchens or bathrooms, the living room is usually our first thought when it comes to decorating a new home. At the same time, living rooms need to be one of the most versatile spaces in your home. They take on a number of different roles which can make getting the decor just right a bit of a challenge. For some of us, the living room is still a more formal space reserved primarily for entertaining guests; for others, it's a very casual space. It's where we kick back after a long day to rest and relax or where we wile away the hours during a long weekend enjoying leisure activities like watching TV and reading.

Good design can make any room look great, and living rooms are no exception. When designing your living room, begin with establishing your style along with correct balance, proportion and scale of furnishings and decor. After that, everything else will fall perfectly into place.

Area rugs belong under the furniture – all the furniture if you can manage it. Exposing some flooring around the edges of the room is fine, but when using an area rug you want to make sure it’s big enough that all the furniture in a seating arrangement can sit on it. At the very least you want the front legs of large pieces to sit on the rug (the backs can be on the floor if necessary).