Rectangular Living Room Layout Ideas for 12′, 13′, 14′ and 15′ Widths

Most living rooms are rectangular and furnished with little thought given to furniture selection and layout. The sofa is often placed against the longest wall, with the television on the opposite side, and chairs are positioned wherever they can fit. This approach works to some extent, but it also wastes space and doesn’t always result in the best design. The living room floor plan ideas I’ve created below are drawn to scale and include labels for each piece of furniture and its clearances, covering areas from 12’ x 18’ to 15’ x 22’. They have different widths and suit different jobs depending on your needs: one is designed for talking to friends and family, another can accommodate a full sectional, one has to share a wall with the kitchen, and the last divides a long space into two separate rooms. Review the layouts with the measurements you have in mind, and choose the one that works best for your home.

12×18 Conversation-Focused Living Room Layout

By turning two of the chairs towards one another instead of facing the TV screen, it changes the function of the room into a more conversation-friendly design

This living room design prioritizes conversation but can easily adapt to TV viewing by slightly turning two of the chairs. The sofa is 84 inches long and extends along the upper wall, with two armchairs placed directly opposite one another on either side of the coffee table, facing in rather than out. An area rug is placed underneath so that all of the front legs of the sofa and chairs sit on top of it. In this arrangement, the TV remains on the far wall and is still fully viewable from the sofa, but it is no longer the feature the furniture is arranged around. The 24 by 48 table shown here falls in the middle of the standard coffee table dimensions range.

The distances for easy ergonomics are used, with the usual reach of eighteen inches between the sofa and the coffee table, since this is close enough to reach across without having to stand. The distance for the chairs is less, at sixteen inches, which is because no one will frequently be walking between the chairs and the table. Twelve feet is a somewhat narrow width, so if a sectional were placed here, it may take up too much of the floor space and cut off the walkway beside the window wall. Two chairs hold a comparable number of people and have half the visual impact, which is why this design works at this width. If your space is tighter than this, these narrow living room layouts work in slimmer widths.

Dimensions:

• Room size: 12′ x 18′
• Sofa: 84″ x 36″
• Armchairs: 30″ x 32″ and 30″ x 35″
• Coffee table: 24″ x 48″
• Sofa to coffee table: 18″
• Armchair to coffee table: 16″
• Wall-mounted TV: 60″ wide

Design Tips:

• Choose chairs with legs that are visible underneath, since skirted bases have the effect of taking up space on the floor.
• Move the rug under the front legs of the sofa and both chairs, since leaving it floating in the center makes them appear as if it’s not designed.
• Compare TV viewing distances to get the optimum mounting height. Since you’re watching it from a seated position 12 feet away, mounting it too high will make the entire room look like it’s tilting forward.

12×20 Living Room With Sectional and Reading Corner Floor Plan

By placing a reading chair near a corner with a lamp, you turn this room into a multi-purpose destination.

This design is focused around the fireplace in the upper wall, creating a conversation-focused room around this focal point. The sectional extends for 100 inches along the bottom and folds back 70 inches up toward the corner. The coffee table is 36″ round, and this shape is serves a useful purpose. Rectangular tables have corners, and it’s those corners that can catch your shin in a narrow room like this. To complement this design, the sectional’s curve feels purposeful rather than awkward because of the table’s round shape. In relation to the fireplace, the sectional is slightly offset, which means that from each of the seats you have a view of the fire. 

To create some variety of use, there is a corner reading nook on the upper right. There’s one chair, one lamp, and a little bit of daylight coming through the window to make it work. Having a place to sit other than the sofa gives this living room the impression of having different options. The 9’ x 12’ rug ending before that chair provides some continuity while the two areas remain somewhat distinct.

Dimensions:

• Room size: 12′ x 20′
• Sectional: 100″ x 38″ with a 70″ x 38″ return
• Round coffee table: 36″ diameter
• Reading chair: 30″ x 35″
• Floor lamp base: 18″ diameter
• Area rug: 9′ x 12′
• Fireplace surround: 90″ wide, 59″ opening

Design Tips:

• Make sure that the orientation of the sectional is confirmed before placing your order, since left-facing and right-facing models are not interchangeable, and if a chaise is placed on the wrong end, it may block access to your door. Our guide on how to choose a sectional covers measuring up before you order.
• Light the reading chair on its own with a floor lamp. An overhead fixture 12 feet away doesn’t make a corner readable at night.
• Leave the items on the mantel low and wide, since anything tall placed above a fireplace will draw the eye upwards and draw attention.

13×19 Open-Concept Living Room With Dining Connection Design

The sofa takes on the role of a wall by floating it near the center, directed toward the TV

This living room floor plan opens directly from the dining room and the kitchen, creating an open-concept design geared toward watching TV and conversation. The sofa is floated sort of in the middle with its back to the opening and thus carrying out the function that a wall would. From the dining side, you have the impression of a boundary, while from the living side you see a semi-enclosed area with two chairs situated on either side. In the middle is a table measuring 36″ by 54″. The only thing touching the perimeter wall is the television and console. For more of this arrangement, see these open concept kitchen and living room floor plans.

Along the right side, there is an open floor space measuring a little over thirty-nine inches that makes a good-sized walkway through the space. This is the corridor that runs between the two sections of the house, and it is the dimension that many reduce when they want to fit in a larger sofa. However, by maintaining this aisle you avoid potential collisions and stop things from feeling crowded. An 8 by 10 rug is placed under all of the front legs of the furniture; the edge of the rug marks the property line that separates the living room from the dining room. Open-plan areas require more of this kind of structure than closed-off rooms do, since there is no structural feature to define the boundaries for you.

Dimensions:

• Room size: 13′ x 19′
• Sofa: 84″ x 36″
• Armchairs: 30″ x 32″ each
• Coffee table: 36″ x 54″
• Area rug: 8′ x 10′
• Wall-mounted TV: 80″ wide
• Main circulation path: 39″

Design Tips:

• Get a sofa with a finished back panel since it’s something people notice when they’re at the dining table. If space allows, you can also use a sofa table.
• If you choose a console behind the sofa, it can help reduce the separation between the areas and conceal the cable route from the TV wall; it also provides a surface for a lamp without altering the floor plan.
• Take one of the finishes, either the wood one or metal, throughout both areas so that the open space appears as a single room rather than two rooms on the same floor.

14×20 TV-Centered Family Room Floor Plan

Placing a second sofa at a right angle to the main sofa lets a large family watch together rather than sitting in a row.

This living room is targeting larger families that need multiple couches so they can sit together during movie nights or while entertaining guests. On the short wall, there ‘s a screen measuring 84 inches, and the two-sofa seating arrangement forms an L shape toward it. The main sofa is 90 inches long in the lower left-hand position, and a second one, at 72 inches long, is placed perpendicularly on the right. Between the two sofas, there is a coffee table measuring 36 inches by 60 inches, which is large enough to hold all of your accessories and other items. There are more living room arrangements with a TV if the screen drives your layout.

The arrangement of the rectangular room is such that the TV acts as the center or focal point of the room. The second sofa helps make the room sociable because anyone sitting on it is positioned more facing the other couch. However, it can be slightly turned to make watching TV a priority. If you look at the open space near the bottom, you’ll see the door is located there to other areas within the home. With a width of 14 feet, there is finally sufficient space for the 9-by-12-foot rug to be positioned under both sofas, thus fixing the layout rather than allowing it to shift. Our guide to picking the right rug size explains how to size one for your own room.

Dimensions:

• Room size: 14′ x 20′
• Main sofa: 90″ x 38″
• Second sofa: 72″ x 38″
• Coffee table: 36″ x 60″
• Area rug: 9′ x 12′
• Wall-mounted TV: 84″ x 16″
• Walkway behind main sofa: 21″

Design Tips:

• Before you choose a TV screen size, check out your viewing distance. Guidelines state that 84 inches is the maximum size for about 11 feet, and if you select anything larger, you will end up straining to watch.   
• Pick a coffee table with a shelf or drawers to hide your remotes and other items out of sight.
• Place a lamp behind the second sofa since it reduces the screen glare and looks more stylish.

15×22 Formal Living Area With Two Seating Zones Layout

By creating a second seating zone behind the first, you gain a more formal living room design that acts as a separate space from the TV area.

This rectangular living plan divides the space between a more casual area up top and a more formal area below. Up top there’s an 84″ sofa, with two chairs facing each other, and a table measuring 36″ by 54″ placed between them. There are clearances of 15″ and 16″ between the furnishings which are tight enough for a conversation to take place across the table without anyone having to raise their voice. For rooms that run longer than this, these long living room layout ideas go further.

The lower area is intentionally made to be smaller and quieter. It has only two chairs, a 24-inch round side table, no rug, and no screen. This space is intended for morning coffee, so two people can move away from a larger group without leaving the room. This ability to let two people do that is what distinguishes a formal living room from a more casual space. The floor section between the two areas is intended as part of the design, not merely unused space. About 32 inches of clear space separates them, a width sufficient for comfortable walking but narrow enough to make the two groups feel connected. At this footprint you are at the upper end of standard living room dimensions.

Dimensions:

• Room size: 15′ x 22′
• Sofa: 84″ x 36″
• Armchairs: 30″ x 32″, four total
• Coffee table: 36″ x 54″
• Side table: 24″ diameter
• Sofa to coffee table: 16″
• Passage between zones: 32″

Design Tips:

• Add an area rug to the larger area and leave the other one uncovered since the contrast is what makes the eye perceive that there are two rooms, and it involves no extra cost.
• Tilt the two lower chairs a few degrees towards one another. Chairs placed parallel look as if they’re in a waiting room, while chairs at an angle look as if someone has just left after a conversation.
• Light each zone with its own switch and lamps so you can lower one lighting area when it’s not in use.

Before you move anything in your own home, walk the room the way you would normally enter and cross it. Leave that lane empty, since once the path is protected, the furniture is easier to map out and place. You can test that path with our furniture layout planner and traffic flow calculator.

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To showcase highly specific designs, some images on this website use advanced AI-generation software to illustrate ideas and room inspiration. See our editorial policy to learn more.