Smart Living Room Layouts to Make the Most of Your Space

By L. Roberts on September 14, 2019

This article is brought to you by CORT Furniture Rental. We take the hassle out of furnishing your new place so you can do more important things like read this article. Learn more about why furniture rental is the best way to get a great looking apartment.

In college, you probably don’t have too much money to spend on your living quarters’ decor. You probably wrestle with the idea of what kind of furniture to buy (or salvage from a dumpster) along with how to position it in your home to make it most inviting for guests and comfortable for yourself (and roommates). The living room is like the heart of your space: it’s where you come home after a long day and throw down your purse and keys before running to give your four-legged child the pets they deserve. It’s where you curl up in the fall with a blanket in front of the tv for your favorite football games. It’s where you host game night with some of your closest friends and have the tough conversations with your roommates about boundaries.

Your living room is truly the heart of your home. So where do you even begin when deciding how to arrange your furniture? What kinds of furniture should you buy/ask for from your folks? How do you go about decorating a living room on a limited budget when there are more people’s opinions than just your own involved? Here are some tips to your college living room layout:

via Pexels.com

1. What’s the main purpose of your living room?

Do you host people often, or are you and your roommate usually the only people lounging? Are you putting in a tv that’s specifically shared by everyone, hoping you end up on the couch watching your favorite shows on their designated weeknights? Before you decide how to decorate and arrange your living room, think about the main purpose of this room.

2. Who is responsible for living room furniture?

In college, we often split up the responsibilities of buying furniture in order to make sure one person isn’t going “all-out” to decorate the entire place. Depending on how you decide to split responsibilities, you might be in charge of buying the couch, or you might have zero say in the living room furniture whatsoever. Before you start making decisions about how you’re going to lay this room out, you need to figure out how much “say” you have in the way it looks.

3. What’s your “style?”

If you’re not interested in having a living room that could appear on the front of a magazine cover (or an Instagram feed), then you might not be too concerned with the way your living room is laid out. However, more than likely, you’re trying to arrange your living room in a way that’s comfortable for a variety of events: movie night with roommates, date night with your partner, and Saturday morning study sessions before a big final. Before you start arranging and re-arranging, think about what you’re trying to accomplish. If you just want it to be comfy: great. If you’re trying to be a finalist in a “best-decorated apartment” competition, this might take a little more work.

4. Decide on the focal point of the room.

Most people create their living room layout centered around the television. Whether it’s time to watch the premiere of your favorite show or you’re gathered in the living room with your closest friends and lots of popcorn, a television is often the centerpiece in American homes. If you have a living room television, you’ll need to decide if that’s the point you want the room to revolve around.

5. Your couch = your comfort.

The couch you put in your living room is probably going to be one of the most popular sitting areas for you and your guests. Decide on what kind of couch you want/need based on how many people you plan to have over at once, combined with the amount of money you have to spend, and the space that’s available. Sectional couches are great if you plan to throw parties or have get-togethers often. Smaller couches/love seats are more convenient for smaller areas. Whatever you end up deciding on, make sure you don’t mind spending endless hours cuddled up on it.

via Pexels.com

6. Colors, rugs, accessories.

You can arrange your living room in several different ways with some accessories. Once you have a couch, a rug, and a few side tables, you can practically arrange your living room for any situation. If you plan to be the host of a lot of college “get-togethers,” you might want to keep your layout nice and open. You’ll want versatility as your college years progress, so locking yourself into a living room arrangement with your furniture packed in “just right” will get old after a while. The more flexibility you have to re-arrange, the happier you’ll be with your investment of living room furniture and decor.

In the long run, your college living situation isn’t going to be the way you live forever. When you live with roommates, so much of your decor is out of your control. If you have one sentence to contribute to your roommates’ thought process about living room arrangement, it’s that you should have the flexibility to host many different types of get-togethers, including study sessions and all-girl sleepovers.

Looking for an easy way to furnish your off-campus apartment? Renting furniture from CORT saves you time and money. See how easy it is to get great looking furniture without breaking the bank.

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