Float furniture in expansive room to help fill space

DEAR GAIL: We have a large great room in which we entertain and watch television. We do not have enough furniture to fill the room, and what we have is mismatched -- a leather sofa and a floral love seat that were in different rooms at our last house.

We've tried to fill all the space and put these items on different walls, but the room just does not feel right. How can we make it more attractive? -- Mary Jo.

DEAR MARY JO: Placing furniture along the walls in a large room creates an empty and unwelcoming environment. What you want to do is bring the furniture into the room and maximize the space.

To do this, you need to float the furniture in the room and bring the sofa and love seat together to form an "L."

Start by positioning the sofa so that it faces the room's focal point, which in this case is the television. Remember, this is your family room and for it to be functional you need to be able to watch television comfortably.

Now, when I say place the sofa so that is faces the television, I do not mean that the sofa has to be directly in front of it. Instead, place the sofa at an angle to the set, which will allow you see the screen.

You want to avoid positioning the sofa at a right angle to the television because then you would have to turn your head to see the screen.

Next, bring in the love seat and position it on a right angle to the sofa to form an L.

To balance the arrangement, add a third piece of furniture (a chair, ottoman, rocker or an accent table) across from the corner of the L.

Some people are uncomfortable with floating furniture because they are unsure about where to place the lighting. What you want to do is position the coffee table, then the end table and, finally, a table behind one of the pieces, preferably the sofa since it is the longest. Put a lamp on the end table and one or two lamps on the sofa back table, depending upon how much natural light there is in the room.

Now, the cords need to make it to the wall. If possible, block the walkway behind the sofa (where the cords are) with a grouping of plants and accessories.

If the room is so large that this area is still a possible walkway, tape the cords to the back of an area rug and place the rug. This eliminates any problem with tape residue on the floor.

Next, bring in any remaining pieces. Perhaps you have some accents or other interesting items tucked away in another room.

Or, if the room is large enough, you might arrange a bistro table and chairs, two occasional chairs and a table, or even a chaise lounge. Keep in mind this area of the room will not have any direct contact with the main grouping, and that separate seating areas make a room interesting.

To help pull the mismatched pieces together, take some of the floral throw pillows from the love seat and put them on the sofa. If there are not a lot of pillows, buy a few more in solid colors that match the sofa and put them on the love seat. You also might consider adding a couple of coordinating prints to put on both pieces.

Bringing furniture pieces together and into the room away from the wall makes it feel inviting and cozy. It also makes a more attractive first impression.