Interior designers share the 9 biggest mistakes people make when decorating a living room — and how to avoid them

Gena Kirk, the vice president of design at KB Home, told BI that it’s important to ensure that a rug does more than just work within the design scheme of your home — it also needs to fit the room you intend to use it in.

“A rug that is too large will look overwhelming in the space and can make the room appear smaller,” she said. “A rug that is too small forces your furniture to be closer together, leaving the room feeling unbalanced and [creating] the feeling of wasted empty space.”

Kirk recommended using painter’s tape and taking exact measurements of the area rugs you’re considering to create mock outlines on your floor.

This way, you can envision how the rug might look in your space.

Lauren White, the owner and principal designer of Ellen W. Interior Concepts, told BI that instead of placing your sofa up against the wall, you should consider “floating” it.

“Floating furniture means that you place pieces off the wall, sometimes in the middle of the room,” she said. “When you do this in your living room, it makes the room feel and look larger because you will be able to walk around it.”

Though this won’t work for all spaces — especially smaller ones with limited options for furniture placement — it’s worth trying.

Walk into a furniture showroom, and you’re likely to find that almost everything is sold in sets — including living-room furniture.

“The easiest thing would be to purchase an entire set, but don’t do it,” White said. “A space that looks too ‘matchy-matchy’ isn’t a good thing.”

Using separate pieces instead of sets can make your space look “curated,” she said, which “elevates the style in your home.” 

Design is more than having a home that looks pretty — you should also be taking ergonomics into account.

“I know that placing your TV over the fireplace is the ‘it’ thing to do, but it does a huge disservice to your neck,” White said.

“Your TV should be eye-level to where you are sitting,” she said. “You should not have to look up.”

You shouldn’t sacrifice comfort for style — and, if you do, your space might feel a bit unwelcoming or even sterile.

“Comfortability is one of the biggest factors that make a living room,” Sonja Rasula, a former interior designer on HGTV’s “Home to Go” who founded Unique Markets in Los Angeles, told BI.

Choose a couch that’s actually great to lounge on, a rug that’s soft enough to enjoy barefoot, and definitely add some comfortable touches to your space.

“Even if you are balling on a budget, adding a cozy blanket or a few plush pillows will make all the difference,” she added.

Living rooms are multifunctional, and your lighting choices should reflect that, Sara Ray, an interior designer based in Nashville, told BI.

“There should be overhead lighting on a dimmer that can be used to move throughout the space or dimmed to provide the right ambiance for a party,” she said. “You want to have plenty of secondary lighting so that tasks like reading can be done while sitting in the space.”

She suggested placing accent lighting on bookshelves, on a fireplace mantel, or above artwork to create layers of lighting in your living room.

Picking out the right furniture is important, but where you put it is equally essential to designing a living room.

“Large pieces in a small space can make the room look even smaller, where small pieces in a large space can leave too much empty space,” Rasula told BI.

For larger living rooms, she recommends leaving 30 to 36 inches of space between furniture pieces. In smaller spaces, like apartments, you can probably get away with 18 to 24 inches between pieces.

“This amount of distance will ensure you’re not overcrowding your living room while at the same time will help maximize space for a smaller living room,” she said.

Whether you’ve got great built-ins or have added bookshelves or ledges to your living room, you’ll want to be careful when filling them up.

“You should utilize shelving space as much as possible, but try and avoid overhang, which could cause the space to look overcrowded,” she told BI.

She explained that overhang occurs when items are too large for the shelf or bookcase, causing them to stick out over the ledge. 

Since a living room is often well-trafficked, you should probably have ample places to set down your drinks, books, and other items, Ray told BI.

“To create a functional living room, you should have a surface that you can easily reach from wherever you’re sitting,” she said. 

Consider including at least one or two side tables and a coffee table in your space — plus more surfaces if you’ve got the room.

This story was originally published in November 2019 and most recently updated on January 14, 2025.