The living room has all of the charm of a long scrawny hall, and you need to fit the sofa and love seat inside without making it appear to be a bus station. Parallel positioning will just emphasize the inauspicious dimensions of the room. Play accessories, upholstery and carpet colors, and surprising furniture groupings to create a gracious and balanced area.
End Point
Arrange the sofa and love seat in a ideal angle against the back wall of a long narrow area, the love seat on the end wall and the sofa on the longer wall. Then give the love seat more heft using a wall system supporting it full of books and artwork. A single painting above the bigger sofa on the adjoining wall connects and balances the two seating therapies, but it’s less weighty than a complete wall of shelves, artwork and books. Tuck a table into the empty corner created in which the sofa and love seat meet and use a sculptural lamp on the table as both artwork and a light source.
Colorful Island
Color, carpet and scale focus attention on a conversation area with a sofa and love seat in a long, narrow living room. Upholster the couch and the love seat in contrasting but coordinated fabric, using two principal and one accent colors. A midnight-blue velvet sofa with blue-and-cream paisley throw cushions is represented by a cream like seat — maybe in unbleached linen — using a thin blue stripe running through it. The cushions on the love seat are orchid or pansy-purple using midnight-blue medallion designs. Anchor the group using a contemporary rug that picks up the blue, cream and purple colors and hang a large painting or framed weaving, primarily in hues of purple, above the sofa. A cream laminate coffee table, floor lamp with a curved base and a hanging cream lampshade, and blue-and-cream paisley drapes draw focus away from the awkward dimensions of the room.
Depth Perception
When the room has windows on the long walls, then it is possible to layer the room to fit the sofa and love seat into a harmonious uncrowded but streamlined arrangement. Place the sofa on one window wall using the love seat catty-corner for it, but not close the windowless wall. Place a tall storage cupboard, armoire or wall system against the short wall behind the love seat. Snug a sofa table precisely the same span as the love seat immediately behind the shorter seating, with lamps at either end and a themed decorative item in the center. A coastal cottage features a vintage pond yacht; a tropical retreat gets a flowering orchid plant; a rustic home borrows some personality from a weathervane. The storage outside the seating “L” hides a home office, networking equipment or a mini-library. It might incorporate a narrow desk and slim seat, all partly disguised from the arrangement on the sofa table.
Break It Up
Produce several seating areas in a long, scrawny room and bounce light around the narrow area with lots of large mirrors. A conversation grouping with the sofa and a couple of seats sits on an area rug from the windows. Farther into the corridor, a small table and four chairs is a romantic dining area or “game room .” Along the wall, by the dining table and chairs, a love seat invites guests to relax with a drink or a cup of tea served from a sideboard. The long room is multi purpose without being crowded — sofa and love seat positioning separated provide you more options for using the room.