How to Furnish a Living Room Around Your Sofa

Most living rooms are furnished around a sofa that is already there. The question is what comes next: how many chairs, how big a table, where the side table goes and why the room still feels unfinished in the evening. The answers follow an order, because each piece is sized from the one before it. This guide goes through that order, from the armchairs to the coffee table, the side table, the light and the textiles, with the distances that make a seating group work. We make no sofas. We make the armchairs, tables and candle holders that go around one, in our own factory in Sweden, and every figure here is in inches.

How do you furnish a living room?

From the largest piece outwards: the sofa first, then the chairs that face it, then the tables between them, then light and textiles.

The aim is a seating group: a place where people can talk, put down a cup and read without moving anything. Each step is sized from the one before, so a coffee table chosen before the armchairs is often the wrong size.

The chart below gives a guideline for each piece.

Guidelines for furnishing a living room around a sofa
Piece	Where it goes	Guideline
Armchair	At the end of the coffee table, or opposite the sofa	Seats within about 2.5 m (8 ft) of each other
Coffee table	16 to 18 in in front of the sofa	About two thirds of the sofa's length; top level with the seat or a little lower
Side table	At the arm of the sofa or chair	Level with the arm, or up to about 2 in below
Light	Ceiling, a lamp by each reading seat, candles low down	Three layers, not one ceiling light
Walkway	Around the seating group	About 35.5 in

How many armchairs go with a sofa?

One armchair makes an L-shaped group at the end of the coffee table; two, side by side opposite the sofa, close the group into a square. In most rooms that is the whole choice.

Top view. The armchair sits at the end of the coffee table, 16 to 18 in from it, like the sofa, with 35.5 in of walkway left clear in front of the group.

One chair suits a room where the sofa faces a window or a television. Two suit a room built for conversation, and side by side they take less width than a three-seat sofa.

With a deep lounge chair, allow its full depth: our armchairs are 31.9 to 32.3 in deep, so the back sits about 1.2 m (4 ft) from the edge of the coffee table. Our guides to where to put an armchair and two armchairs or a sofa go into the layouts.

What size coffee table goes with a sofa?

As a starting point, about two thirds of the sofa's length, 16 to 18 in in front of it, with the top level with the seat or 1 to 2 in lower.

A three-seater of about 79 in suits about 51 in of table; a two-seater of about 63 in suits a table of 27.6 to 31.5 in. Most sofa seats sit 16 to 18 in from the floor.

The chart below gives the sizes and heights of our coffee tables. Our coffee table height guide goes into the detail.

Anton Coffee TableNests to one footprint · Dekton top · from $2,559View Anton

Sizes and heights of by Crea coffee tables
Table	Top	Height	Suits
Anton Small	25.6 x 21.7 in	16.3 in	A two-seater or a small room
Anton Medium	27.6 x 23.6 in	17.1 in	A two-seater, seat 16 to 18 in
Anton Large	39.4 x 29.5 in	18.7 in	A three-seater with a seat around 18 in
Leo Small	ø27.6 in	16.7 in	A two-seater, with room to walk round
Leo Medium	ø31.5 in	18.7 in	A two-seater, or a pair of armchairs
Leo Large	ø37.4 in	20.7 in	A nest, or a sofa with a high seat

Where does a side table go in a living room?

At the arm of the sofa or armchair, level with the arm or up to about 2 in below it, so that your hand drops onto it without lifting the elbow.

Most sofa arms sit 21.5 to 25.5 in high. Our Affe, a turned solid oak pedestal table 23.2 in high with a ø12 in top, suits that height. The taller Affe, 31.1 in with a ø16 in top, is a lamp table beside a reading chair.

Our armchairs have arms at 19.3 in, so a lower table works better beside them: the smaller table of a Leo nest can slide out next to the chair. Our side table guide has the details.

Armchair Kent in black velvet with a sleek black frame, paired with a wooden side table in a stylish minimalist setting. — Kent with a side table at the height of its arms.

How do you light a living room?

In three layers: general light from the ceiling or walls, a lamp where people read, and low, warm light such as candles at the height of the seats.

A single ceiling light flattens a room in the evening. A lamp behind the reading chair, with the light falling over your shoulder, and a group of candles near the seating group make the same room feel warm.

Our Thomas floor candle holders stand 37.4, 41.3 or 45.3 in (37.4, 41.3 or 45.3 in) high and hold a pillar candle inside a glass cylinder, so the flame is shielded beside a sofa. Tom hurricane lanterns, 6.7 to 9.4 in high, do the same on a coffee table. Never leave a candle burning unattended. See our floor candle holder guide.

Which colors and materials go with your sofa?

Contrast one thing and repeat another: an armchair in a different color or texture from the sofa, and a frame or table that repeats a material already in the room.

Warm neutrals such as ivory or greige soften a gray sofa, black sharpens it, and a bouclé chair beside a smooth sofa stands out even in the same shade. A wooden floor is echoed by an oak frame; black window frames, lamps and pictures are echoed by black steel.

Our guide to matching an armchair to the sofa has combinations for the common sofa colors, and our guide to accent chair colors goes through the colors one by one.

How do you make a living room feel cosy?

Soft textures, warm low light, real materials and seats close enough to talk, in a chair comfortable enough to stay in.

Bouclé, wool and velvet add warmth to the eye and the hand; the grain of oak does the same for the furniture. Grouping the seats closer together, rather than pushing everything to the walls, is the change that does most.

A rug large enough for the front legs of every seat to stand on it holds the group together. Our guide to the best reading chair covers the corner where most evenings end, and our guide to hygge at home the Scandinavian way of making a room warm.

Close-up of the Armchair Kent featuring a soft ivory bouclé cushion and sleek black frame. — Ivory bouclé on Kent: texture as warmth.

A living room around the sofa in five steps

1 or 2: armchairs, angled in or opposite the sofa.
2/3: of the sofa's length: a good coffee table size.
3: layers of light: ceiling, lamp and candles.

Start with the sofa you have. Add one or two armchairs, seats within about 2.5 m (8 ft) of each other. Choose a coffee table about two thirds of the sofa's length, 16 to 18 in in front of it, and a side table level with the arm. Light the room in three layers and keep about 35.5 in of walkway around the group. Our armchairs, coffee tables and candle holders are made in our own factory in Sweden and covered by a 10-year warranty.

Frequently asked questions

What do you need in a living room besides a sofa?

An armchair or two, a coffee table, a side table at the arm, a lamp for reading and some low, warm light. A rug holds the group together.

How far should the coffee table be from the sofa?

As a guide, 16 to 18 in: close enough to reach a cup, far enough to get past your knees.

How do you arrange a sofa and two armchairs?

Put the two armchairs side by side opposite the sofa, facing it across the coffee table, with 4 to 12 in between their arms or a small side table.

How high should a side table be next to a sofa?

Level with the arm or up to about 2 in below it. Most sofa arms sit 21.5 to 25.5 in high.

Does by Crea make sofas?

No. We make the armchairs, coffee tables, side tables and candle holders that go around the sofa you have, in our own factory in Sweden.

Should the armchair match the sofa?

It does not have to. A contrast in color or texture usually looks more considered than an exact match, as long as one thing, a tone or a material, links them.