Making the Most of Your Apartment Space: The Living Room

In most apartments, the living room is the first thing you see when you walk in the door. In fact, in most apartments, the front door leads directly into the living room.

If you’re furnishing an apartment for the first time, what should you take for the living room? The following list offers the basics for the perfect apartment living room set-up. Before you head for campus, get with your roommates and decide who is bringing what.

At least one seat for every roommate in the house. If there are two of you sharing the apartment, you need at least two chairs in your living room. If there are three of you, you’ll need a couch and a chair, or three chairs. This is a simple concept.
Additional seating if you like to entertain. Again, this is fairly obvious. If you plan to have your boyfriend over all the time, you might want to make sure there’s a place for him to sit even when your roommates are all home.
Coffee table. Even if you don’t drink coffee, a low table is a nice thing to have in your seating area for books and drinks.
Lamps. Some apartments do not have overhead lighting. If yours does not, you’ll need lamps. A couple of accent lamps are good for reading or studying, even if you do have overhead lighting.
Electronics. Although it is possible to go to college and not have a television, most people want a TV in their apartment. Get with your roommates and decide who is bringing what. If you are going to have a TV in the living room, determine who is bringing it and what furniture you’ll need (an entertainment console, TV stand, etc.)
Storage. Storage cubes, a coffee table with storage, cabinets in the entertainment center, or bench seating with storage is great for a college apartment, particularly for quick clean-ups when stuff just needs to be put out of sight.
Wall décor. Some apartments are very particular about putting nail holes in the walls, so be sure you check your lease before hammering begins.