A Guide for Great Room Furniture Placement

Here at Studio McGee, we are strong believers that mixed furniture is thoughtful furniture, but choosing layered pieces to fill out a great room for both function and flow can be difficult. Although there are many ways to design and organize a great room, there are a few things Shea and the design team always take into consideration. In this post, we’re going to take you through some of our go-to, great room formulas that help establish a cohesive feel and easy flow. We love these layouts because they work in so many different spaces, of all shapes and sizes, and they’re relatively foolproof. Something about these pieces working together elevates a space to make it feel intentionally designed, and you can replicate it in many variations. Here are a few tips for great room furniture placement.  

Typically, seating is the first selection we make when choosing great room furniture. There are times where a client will fall in love with a specific coffee table or rug first, but usually, Shea and the design team start with seating. When it comes to sofas, if we do two pieces, we typically do one with a heavyweight base and one with a lighter weight base, meaning one on legs where they’re exposed, and one solid piece or with a skirt that goes to the ground. The key is to not have the same base on every piece of furniture. There are, of course, exceptions to the rules and each home is different, but there are a few different layouts we tend to gravitate towards.

The McGee Home great room is an excellent place to look for an example of this layout. Shea started with two sofas, McGee & Co.’s Hildegard Sofa and Wilhelmina Slipcover Sofa. The Hildegard has wood legs on casters while the Wilhelmina is skirted. To complete the u-shaped layout around the fireplace, Shea added a pair of McGee & Co.’s Byron Chairs. The curved backs and sloped arms aid with establishing an ease of flow as they back the walkway from the home’s entryway, through the great room, and into the kitchen.

If you’re looking for other examples, check out the living room inside our Summit Estate project. This great room features two sofas and two chairs, all shaped in a U around the fireplace. One last example is the Hearth Room inside our Water’s Edge project.

As a general rule, if Shea and the design team do only one sofa, they try to contrast that choice with the accent chairs they layer in. A good example of this is the formal living room inside The Houston Estate. Wanting to diversify seating options, Shea created groupings according to functions, centering everything on the fireplace as a focal point. A textured, boucle sofa sits directly in front of the fireplace, while a pair of chairs with different functions complete the adjacent sides.   

Adding layers of seating options is always a good idea for additional functionality and weight distribution. In a typical “Two Sofas + Two Chairs” layout, Shea and the design team like to place a bench or a pair of matching ottomans or stools in front of the fireplace if there is one, or a few inches in front of the coffee table in another direction.  

Layered side seating is one of those design elements that just make a room look finished and more designer. Because they are a smaller, less committed pieces of furniture, we try to have fun with our choices and use them as an opportunity to add more interest and dimension into the look. 

You’ll find a good example of this in the Scaletta Bench and pair of vintage stools Shea used in her own great room, as well as the pair of ottomans used in front of the fireplace in The Summit Estate.

Once the seating layout is determined, the next selection in the design process is typically the coffee table. The right coffee table can make or break a room, and whether it’s making a statement or blending seamlessly with the rest of the space, it’s an important decision. 

Much like our seating choices, we focus on the distribution of weight when selecting a coffee table. If we have chosen heavy-weight seating or if the room is smaller, we gravitate toward coffee tables with a lighter, open base. Whereas if we have selected more leggy, lightweight seating pieces, we gravitate towards a bulkier, more solid coffee table. 

Style is another thing we consider when choosing a coffee table. If we have two more traditional sofas and transitional chairs, we might prefer a modern coffee table to create a more curated look.

The shape is also important, and the pieces around it can determine whether you want it to be round, square, or rectangular. And sometimes, like in the great room of The Summit Estate, a more funky, odd-shaped coffee table is the way to go. Think about the flow of the space. If it’s a smaller, righter space, think about a round coffee table that will ease flow around it. If you have the room and the seating creates a natural square, fill it with a square coffee table. An excellent example of this choice is the great room inside our Cabo Dos Vistas project. Two sofas, both with chaises, flank the fireplace, creating a square opening. The organic modern design aesthetic called for a bleached wood frame with modern steel banding.  

Once you’ve chosen your seating pieces and coffee table, it’s time to layer in the accent pieces. Side tables and floor lamps all apply similar rules to larger furniture pieces. If we do two side tables in a living room, we typically use different, contrasting pieces for more dimension, but in more traditional spaces, intentionally matched side tables can work just as well.

Our Hilltop Estate project is a great place to look for an example. In the formal great room, Shea and the design team used the two sofas + two chairs layout, with a rectangular coffee table and two ottomans in front of the fireplace. Scattered throughout are a selection of side tables and lamps. One side table is smaller wood with leggy spindles, the other is taller and round with a table lamp on top. Behind the side sofa is a console table with another table lamp, this one is black and metal to differentiate itself from the other one which is white and natural stone.