The Couch Placement Mistake That Will Shrink Your Living Room, According To A Designer

Deciding on the best placement for your furniture can be tricky, especially the couch. Although you might be aware that couches should face each other if you have more than one, you may not know there's a spot where you shouldn't put this particular piece. For example, you want to avoid putting your couch in front of the door with its back facing the entryway because it can make your space seem smaller. First, couches aren't necessarily designed to be seen from behind. Because of that, it might not be the most attractive view and not one you or your guests want to see each time you walk into the room. That's not to mention the fact that, as interior designer Kendra Nash told Homes & Gardens, "No one wants to walk into the back of a couch and have it cut off the room."

Although you may still think there's enough space between your couch and the doorway to allow easy access, you want to be sure it's a relatively large and uncramped path. Otherwise, "It makes the space feel uninviting and difficult to navigate," Nash explained. That brings up another issue. Although you surely want your room to be welcoming, you must also consider how people use and walk through the space.

In order to find the perfect spot for your couch, you need to consider a few factors, including the overall design, if it's practical, and if it's blocking an entryway. It's important to make sure everyone feels like the room welcomes them, and to do so, you must ensure that the couch doesn't hinder the flow of traffic in your space or make it relatively hard to use.

When placing your couch in a room, first think about how people would possibly walk by or around it. Is there enough space to comfortably pass it when strolling across the room? Would you have to turn awkwardly or shuffle past the couch to get to the window? Will it interfere with access to a table, drawers, shelf, or view of the television or disrupt the flow of conversation? Answer each of these questions, and if you come up with anything that suggests the couch might get in the way of the room's functionality or make you feel claustrophobic, then you should probably consider a different placement.

Rules tend to have exceptions, and that's certainly true when it comes to where you place your couch. For instance, although you don't want any furniture to block the door, you still might be able to position it with the back facing the door. You just have to have a certain setup and stick with a specific placement.

If your front door opens right into your living room — or your backdoor enters directly into a living area — then you may want to think about putting your couch in a perpendicular line that is slightly off to the side of the entryway. Keep the back of the sofa facing the door so that the seating becomes part of the living space. At the same time, the back of the couch creates a divider between the room and the doorway. In a sense, it creates a foyer-like area without the need to put up any walls. You can use this same trick to separate different rooms that might be open to each other. You should be mindful of the fact that this could make your space feel disjointed or even cluttered if your home is on the smaller side. However, if you have enough space and the right setup, then this could be a fabulous way to break the couch placement rule.