I've made my tv & plant stand my focal point in my living room, and then work around that..

Nate Berkus, totally awesome interior designer, addressed the tiny living room issue. He says when you walk into the room the sofa should be opposite the door, so as you enter the room that is the first element you see. Also, he is very big on order and balance, in that he would put a small table beside each end of the sofa and place a lamp on each, or you could put a standard table lamp on one and put a floor lamp quite near the other. A coffee table should go right in front of the sofa with a couple of club chairs nearby, and if they happen to be swivel chairs all the better, for they can be turned easily for tv viewing.

Placing pieces in front of windows is fine, just don't block the view. And if the view sucks it's not that big a deal because you're getting the natural light. Place an additional chair and small table in a corner near a window to give the illusion of a reading nook. Presumably, the tv will be atop a console table or tv stand. Get a decent size bookcase so you can place beautiful bowls, framed photographs, vases, tiny porcelain boxes and the like along with books that hold special meaning for you. These are touches that will literally bring your personality into the room. And the several tables in the room would be lovely displaying candlesticks, trays holding small dishes with a bundle of dried herbs like sage and lavender tied with grosgrain ribbon, and perhaps a collection of small containers with a single flower in each.

If you have a beautiful rug you should place it underneath the coffee table. My final idea is to provide lots of texture and color around the room and hang a few mirrors to reflect the natural light from the windows. Employ lots of variety in the furnishings and mementos, and enjoy your new personal space.

And finally, my absolutely final suggestion is this: do not go all matchy-matchy in your room because it will negate much of your efforts to personalize the room. It will appear static and flat. Good luck and have a blast fixing up your nest.
Kaye

Kaye, thanks a million for all the detail you bothered to post. Actually. we see eye to eye on everything with the exception of the TV which we don't like in the LR. (On another listing I asked for help in decorating above the fireplace where it is built for a tv.) Otherwise, won't a small apartment LR seem crowded with that many pieces of furniture in it? I have 2 love seats for one corner, and 2 swivel chairs to be near them, but plan on putting the third go-with chair and footstool in another room as doorways and fireplaces take up space and make things difficult. Tks for your great input.

My small condo living room is arranged like this. Along one wall I have a small sectional sofa (it has one chaise section and one love seat sized sofa section). To the right i have the Lubi daybed from CB2. Across from the sofa is a Chinese painted cabinet/console for storage and has the tv and such on it. On the left side of the sofa is another cabinet for storage, and it has a lamp on it. On the right side of the sofa is a floor lamp. In the center are two small, round ottomans. I used to have a coffee table with drawers, but it wasn't comfortable for putting your feet up and it too up a lot of visual room.

I think a small space looks better with fewer, larger pieces of furniture than more smaller pieces. Also, our bookcases are all along one wall of the dining room. It looks better to have them clustered together in one place than one in the LR, one in DR, one in BR. I have the tv in living room because the only other option is the bedroom and I don't like that. The bedroom should be used for sleeping and, ahem, recreational activities and nothing else.

I don't have a rug, though I used to, but I hated the way it collected dust, animal hair, etc. in and underneath it. It's much easier to keep bare hardwood floors clean than carpet. Other people prefer carpets because those bare floors can be cold on the feet!