Living Room Furniture: UK Buying Guide (2026)

A living room is the hardest room to furnish well, because it has to do four unrelated jobs at once — seating, television, storage and circulation — usually in a space that was not designed for any of them. This guide covers the measurements that actually decide whether a living room works: sizing a TV unit to the screen, getting coffee table proportions right, and choosing storage that adds capacity without making the room feel smaller.

Start With the TV Unit

The TV unit is usually the first fixed decision in a living room, because everything else arranges itself around where the screen is.

Width. A TV unit should be wider than the television, not the same width. A 55-inch screen is roughly 122cm wide and a 65-inch roughly 145cm, so allow at least 15cm either side. A unit narrower than the screen looks unstable even when it is not, and leaves nowhere for a soundbar.

Height. Seated eye level is around 100–110cm for most adults. The centre of the screen wants to sit near that, which for a typical TV puts the ideal unit height at 40–50cm. This is the measurement people get wrong most often: a tall sideboard used as a TV stand pushes the screen well above comfortable eye level and causes neck strain over a long evening.

Depth and cables. Check the unit is deep enough for the TV feet — many modern sets have widely spaced feet rather than a central pedestal, so measure foot-to-foot as well as screen width. Look for units with open backs or cable cut-outs; boxing a games console or set-top box into a fully closed cabinet traps heat.

Browse TV units at Onlineand.direct.

Coffee Table Proportions

Three numbers make a coffee table look and feel right:

• Length: about two-thirds of the sofa. A 200cm three-seater suits a table around 120–130cm. Much shorter and it looks lost; much longer and it blocks movement.
• Height: level with the sofa seat, or slightly below. Most sofa seats sit at 40–45cm, so a coffee table in that range is comfortable to reach without leaning down.
• Gap: 40–45cm between sofa and table. Enough to walk past and to stretch your legs out, close enough to put a mug down without standing up.

In a small room, a coffee table with a shelf or drawers does the job of a side table as well, and a nest of tables can be pushed together when floor space matters more than surface area. Browse coffee tables.

Storage That Does Not Close the Room In

Living room storage is a balance: you want capacity, but every solid unit you add makes the room read smaller. The trick is mixing closed and open storage rather than choosing one.

• Sideboards give the most closed capacity per metre and double as a surface for lamps. Low and wide reads better in a living room than tall and narrow.
• Display cabinets with glazed sections break up a wall of solid doors and keep the room feeling open, while still hiding the lower half.
• Shelving and bookcases use vertical space that furniture otherwise wastes. A tall narrow bookcase stores about as much as a low wide unit while taking a fraction of the floor.
• Console and hall tables are useful behind a sofa that floats in the room, or along a wall too shallow for a sideboard — many are only 30–35cm deep.

Browse sideboards, display cabinets, shelving and bookcases and hall and console tables.

What We Stock — and What We Do Not

Worth being straight about this, because it affects whether we are the right shop for your living room. Our strength is cabinet furniture — TV units, coffee tables, sideboards, display cabinets, shelving and console tables, across a wide range of finishes and sizes.

Our upholstery range is small. We list a limited selection of sofas and chairs, but we are not a sofa specialist, and if the sofa is the main thing you are shopping for you will find far more choice elsewhere. We would rather say that than have you work it out after browsing.

Matching Across Rooms

Several of the coordinated ranges we stock deliberately span rooms — the same finish available as a bedroom chest, a living room TV unit and a dining sideboard. If you want the living room to relate to the rest of the house rather than look like a separate project, buying within one range is the simplest way to do it.

See our Coordinated Furniture Sets Guide for which ranges extend beyond the bedroom, and our Dining Room Furniture Guide if the two rooms are open-plan.

Buying End-of-Line Living Room Furniture

Living room furniture is the category where clearance stock is deepest, because TV units and coffee tables are re-styled more often than they are re-engineered — a discontinued finish usually means a perfectly current piece at a lower price.

It also suits clearance buying better than most rooms: a TV unit is a single standalone piece, so unlike a dining set or a coordinated bedroom you are not committing to a range you will need to add to later. If it fits the wall and suits the screen, a cleared unit is a straightforward buy.

Our clearance site, discountfurniture.direct, has a dedicated section for end-of-line living room furniture — TV units, coffee tables, sideboards, side tables and seating our suppliers are currently clearing. Nothing on it is restocked, so measure your wall first and check what is there before paying full price.

FAQ

How wide should a TV unit be?

Wider than the television — allow at least 15cm either side. A 55-inch screen is around 122cm wide, so a unit of about 150cm or more suits it.

How high should a TV unit be?

Around 40–50cm for most setups. Seated eye level is roughly 100–110cm, and the centre of the screen should sit near that. A tall sideboard used as a TV stand puts the screen too high and causes neck strain.

What size coffee table for a three-seater sofa?

About two-thirds of the sofa's length — roughly 120–130cm for a 200cm three-seater — at a height level with or slightly below the sofa seat, with a 40–45cm gap between the two.

How do I add storage to a small living room?

Go vertical with tall narrow bookcases, mix glazed display cabinets with closed sideboards so the walls do not read as solid, and choose a coffee table with a shelf or drawers so it doubles as storage.

Do you sell sofas?

We list a small selection of sofas and chairs, but we are not a sofa specialist — our range is strongest in cabinet furniture such as TV units, coffee tables, sideboards and shelving.

Can living room and bedroom furniture match?

Yes — several coordinated ranges span both, offering the same finish as bedroom storage and living or dining pieces. See our Coordinated Furniture Sets Guide for which ranges extend beyond the bedroom.

Shop Living Room Furniture at Onlineand.direct

Browse TV units, coffee tables, sideboards, display cabinets and shelving and bookcases. Every order includes free UK mainland delivery in 3 working days by specialist carrier, direct from UK manufacturers.