How to Arrange Living Room Furniture with a Corner Fireplace
Let’s be honest! Corner fireplaces are awkward to decorate around. The size of your fireplace, and the shape and size of your room are important factors in determining how and where to place your furniture. But fortunately, there are some tips that can help you make this awkward space turn into a stunning room that your family will love.
How to decorate a living room with a corner fireplace
First thing you need to do as you would when figuring out furniture placement in any room is to measure your space. How much room you have is key in deciding how much furniture and what type of furniture you can place in the room.
The first step you need to do when deciding on what type and how much furniture to place in a room is to measure the space. This will help you determine what furniture will fit into the room, and also as important, what will NOT work in your room. You will be able to narrow down your choices when selecting furniture.
Use a sectional couch
If you have the space in your room, a sectional or an L shape with two couches is the best choice for handling a corner fireplace. This works especially well if you have a TV on the adjacent fireplace wall. If you don’t have room for a sectional, you can always create a similar look with two couches in an “L” shape that would also work. This option is helpful if one length of your room would fit a three seater couch, whereas the other length would only fit a two seater couch or two accent chairs.
Photo: Setting for Four
This home has the perfect setup! They have a lovely corner fireplace, high ceilings and a nook with a large TV and lots of storage. The sectional works beautifully here. If I were to make a suggestion, a larger rug would tie the room together better, and a square coffee table works best for sectionals so that everyone can access the table easily to place their drinks.
Photo: Instagram
This room above is gorgeous. Its beautifully decorated BUT … the room is over crowded because of the size of the furniture in the room. A two seater sofa for the back sofa instead of the 3 seater couch, would have made the room less crowded. Its just too big for the size of the room as you can see the sofa arms stretch over more than they should. A square coffee table or a circular one would have worked very well here instead of a rectangular coffee table.
Make sure your furniture is the right size for the space. Having oversized furniture for your room makes your room look small and the space looks awkward. With a corner fireplace, you may need to make some tiny sacrifices like less seating than you may want. You can always solve this by adding ottomans or poufs that you can bring out when you have more guests than seating.
Photo: Natural Flow Interiors
This room above is stunning. I love the color they selected for their walls, their furniture is gorgeous, and they have a beautiful beam with a stunning chandelier. However, this room could definitely benefit from a sectional couch here as there is enough room, and you could see the TV and the fireplace as the same time.
Place your TV or bookshelf along one of the abutting fireplace walls.
Where to place your TV can always be challenging when you have a corner fireplace. Do you place it above the fireplace or on the wall beside it. It can be challenging to figure out what to do with the walls that flanks either side of the fireplace. A wall that doesn’t adorn windows, is a great spot for a bookshelf, the TV console or a combination of the two.
Photo: Pinterest
Can’t you picture yourself spending hours in this room? This furniture placement above is perfect for the fireplace and the TV. They used a sectional focusing on the TV & fireplace, a gorgeous round coffee table where its easy for everyone to reach, and added additional seating for the room. I love the colors they used and the harmonious style. This room is so cozy and inviting.
Photo: Better Homes & Garden, photo by James Nathan Schroder
This bookshelf is the perfect size beside this corner fireplace. You could have also placed a TV here as well if you wanted to. However this room is as cute as a button, and the homeowners likely use this room as a conversation area with a TV in another room for those that want to hang out there.
Photo: Unknown
In our photo above, the homeowners put in bookshelves for their adjoining wall. Personally, I think the oversized chair is a bit big for the space but the color definitely works. You could also put a bench in the same color & fabric instead of the chair but they used they space very nicely.
Keep your view as a focal point
With a corner fireplace, it can be very common to have more than one focal point in the room. A stunning view is also a focal point. You don’t need to sacrifice one focal point to highlight the other. You can do both. You can have your cake and eat it too. lol Be sure to place your couches and or couch & accent chairs in a way that maximized both focal points.
Photo: Natural Flow Interiors
This room above is absolutely stunning! Gorgeous fireplace, high ceilings, very spacious and backs onto greenspace. These homeowners have the luxury of alot of space which makes arranging furniture around a corner fireplace so much easier. They have left space to walk behind their sectional but the sectional in front of the sliding glass doors is a bit distracting. They could have the sectional flipped the other way so that sectional is where the two arm chairs or they certainly have room for 2 three seater couches. The two accent chairs in front of the window would be perfect here since they would not have blocked the view in the same way as the sectional does.
Read: 5 ways to create a focal point in a room
Don’t block your fireplace with furniture
Photo: Kimberly Kay Interiors
Your fireplace is your focal point in your room. You want to enhance it by placing furniture facing the fireplace. I love the furniture above that the homeowner selected. Unfortunately though, the furniture is blocking the fireplace. They’re ignoring their stunning fireplace and not making it the highlight of the room.
The homeowner could switch the sectional around with the backs of the sectional in front of the walls, and the two leather chairs could face the window creating a “U” shape. If you require additional seating, ottomans or futons could be accessible nearby to solve overflow seating when you have a bigger group.
How to place furniture in a long room with a corner fireplace
One living room I staged many years ago had a fireplace slapped in the corner of a very long and narrow room. The homeowner also decided not use the tiny area at the end of the room for the dining room that the builder had intended it for, but to use this space for the living room. It created a long skinny room. She was frustrated as she tried to arrange furniture in a way that suited her family’s needs and still make the room look stunning and not awkward.
If you have a long room with a corner fireplace, you can arrange your furniture around the fireplace as suggested above, and create a separate reading nook or seating area at the end of the room.
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