Before you start tearing a living room apart, consider how each of your furniture pieces relates to each other in size and shape.

For example, if your coffee table is significantly shorter than your couch, or if your side tables sit taller than the sofa arms, you probably need to make some changes.

To make it easy to set down drinks without straining or stooping, your coffee table height should be within a few inches of the couch seat height.

Your coffee table should have roughly half the visual weight of the sofa. A tiny coffee table will look dingy, but one that’s too big will crowd the room.

If you have side tables or a console table behind your sofa, they should be roughly the same height as the arms and sofa back, or a few inches shorter.

When it comes to an area rug, it should be longer than the length of the sofa and large enough to come within 12 to 18 inches of the surrounding walls.

The golden rule of living rooms is to avoid blocking windows and walkways. This way, people can easily move around the room without bumping into any furniture.

The coffee table is one exception to this rule; it should be close enough to reach from a seated position but remain about 16 to 18 inches away from your knees.

In general, it's better to have too much empty space than too little, as the room will feel more crowded once people are in it.