Decorating an open concept living and dining room combo can be intimidating, especially if this is your first home. You may live in a home with an “L” shaped floor plan, or a rectangle-shaped floor plan or even a perfect square, and you are unsure how to arrange your furniture. Does this sound like you?

If the answer is yes, then you came to the right place. Today I will walk you through three different floor plans. In each floor plan, you will be able to identify a defined “living-room” and a defined “dining-room”. You will also learn easy tips on arranging your furniture to achieve the designer look in your home.

1. How To Arrange Furniture In A Rectangle Shaped Floor Plan.

Furniture placement is extremely important when styling a living-dining room space in a rectangular floor plan. The most common mistake made when decorating a space is placing large pieces of furniture along the walls of the room. Below I will share with you easy tips that will give your living-dining room that designer look.

1. Define your living-room and dining-room space by placing a large area rug in each space. I love how this designer achieved that in the 1st photo.
2. Group your dining room furniture on top of one of the rugs and place I large lighting fixture. This will definitely separate your dining room from the living room instantly.
3. Utilize a large piece of furniture to create a visual break between both spaces. In the second photo above, I love the creation of a seating area designed around the fireplace. The large sofa is used to create that visual break in the room.

2. How to Arrange Furniture in an “L” Shaped Floor Plan.

The “L” shaped floor plan is one of my favorites to style! This space is a bit more flexible because you can easily create 2 separate zones. Let’s walk through both photos above in order to outline some simple tips together.

1. Creating a focal point: In both spaces, you can see that this designer utilized the windows and another subject matter as a focal point. In the living room, the furniture is arranged in a “U” shaped format. As a result, you have a conversation area with a great view out the window or another view of the entertainment center on the wall.
2. Addition of area rugs: Yes, they are great for adding more texture and interest to this space, but they also are great for creating a distinct separation of spaces.
3. Purchase the right scale of furniture or each living space. For example, I adore the size of the dining room table and chairs. The set fits the entire space of the area rug and there is enough space to walk around the dining room set too.

3. How to Arrange Furniture In A Square Shaped Floor Plan.

Decorating in a “square” Shaped living space can be very challenging. Most homeowners are unsure as to how to divide this living space and make it functional. Common questions are: Should I divide the space with 50% living room and 50% dining room, or should I forego a dining space because there is no room? Let me help.

1. Division of Space: If your goal is to truly have a living and dining room in your floor plan then the important thing to do is decide which space you will use the most. If it is the living room area then make that space fill 75% of the floor plan just like this photo above.
2. Select your focal point: In this design, you can see that the designer utilized the fireplace as their focal point to arrange the furniture. In addition to that, I love the idea of arranging the couch and sofa in an “L” shaped formate with a coffee table in front. This creates a cozy conversation area while enjoying the view of that gorgeous fireplace.
3. Selecting long rectangular dining room furniture: In this photo, you can see that the design opts to add a smaller scaled dining room set in order to avoid crowding this space.
4. Making the space appear larger: This tip is genius! Do you see the mirrors added to the wall? This is a game-changer in making a smaller space appear larger.

I hope that you’ve found this article inspiring and helpful as you begin to design a cozy space of your own. I am curious to know what type of floor plan you have in your home? Let me know by leaving me feedback below. Until then, happy decorating.

P.S. If you are needing help with arranging wall decor, then you will love my previous post, “How to Decorate A Large Wall In the Living Room” just click on the link and enjoy!