Apartment therapy living room

Struggling with how to lay out your living room to maximize form and function? Me too. Whether you live in a small studio or a larger home, furniture arrangement can be tricky, and sometimes thinking outside the box is the way to go! These eight smart living rooms — all from Apartment Therapy house tours this year — have taught me a thing or two about laying out what may be my most used room. Try these tricks for a better flow and use of this space in your home.

Tiara utilizes mirrors, tall ceilings, a lofted bedroom, and other smart decor choices to make her small studio apartment feel much larger than it actually is.

There are no doors or walls separating the living room, dining room, playroom, and kid's room, but each area of this one-bedroom feels like a separate zone.

Tour the Philadelphia rowhome of artist and designer Mitch Wiesen, who cleaned, caulked, and painted to update their home.

This couple sharing a small New York apartment were able to create a functional floor plan that has separate functional areas.

Karen Sawyer's Washington state house's style is like an "estate sale in a greenhouse."

Melissa Chang's thoughtful (and smart!) furniture layout, her approach to collecting, and her experiences living even smaller in Tokyo have all contributed to a gorgeous, cozy, functional home, despite being a one-room studio apartment only 250 square feet large.

Well, what if we told you that one teeny, tiny change in your living room could make a world of difference? It can, and here's where to start. #livingroom #livingroomideas #homedecorideas #livingroomdecor #designideas

Melissa's apartment is full of subtle, tongue-in-cheek cultural references to movies and TV.

Nearly everything in Miki's modern, colorful, maximal studio apartment is either second hand, Target, or IKEA.