The living room is often the heart of a home- it's where people go to be together. Even if yours is rather small, there are ways of making it work for the way you live. If your home is small overall, your living room may also have to double as a dining room or an office. One way to arrange for what you need is to create zones for those activities, or have furniture pieces that do double duty. Forego the convention of putting all your furniture against a wall; instead create room to navigate from room to room behind a cozy gathering of chairs.
Save space by mounting your lighting on the walls instead of on tables or on the floor. Consider lightweight chairs or even folding furniture that can be moved in and out when the situation calls for it. And smaller furniture will do the job and make the room seem larger. Architectural Digest explains how to incorporate each of these schemes and more, with advice for making the most of a small living room. They do not have a television incorporated in any of their showcase parlors, so you'll have to work that idea in yourself, if that's what your living room is for.
(Image credit: Tara Donne)