Living rooms are too often arranged around a screen. A few simple distances and angles turn them back into rooms for conversation.
Most living rooms we are invited into have every seat facing the same wall. It is understandable, but it quietly discourages the thing a living room does best: bringing people together. Rearranging around conversation rarely needs new furniture, only new distances.
Keep the circle close
People talk comfortably when they sit within about two and a half metres of each other. Beyond that, voices rise and the group splits into pairs. We often pull sofas off the walls entirely to tighten the circle around a low table.
Angles over straight lines
Two armchairs angled slightly toward a sofa feel more welcoming than chairs set square. A gentle angle lets people face each other without the formality of sitting directly opposite.
A surface within reach of every seat
Every seat should have somewhere to set down a cup. Side tables, a generous ottoman or a deep window ledge all count. It sounds small, but it is the difference between perching and settling in.
The screen can stay — we simply stop letting it decide where everyone sits.
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