How to Style a Living Room That Looks Pulled Together: Coffee Tables, TV Units & More (2026)

A living room looks pulled together when the key pieces — sofa, coffee table, TV unit, and any accent furniture — are proportionate to each other and to the room. The most common mistake is choosing pieces in isolation without considering how they relate in size, height, and finish. Get the proportions right first, then layer in styling. Everything else follows.

Most living rooms in Australia have the same problem: good individual pieces that don’t quite work together. The sofa is too big for the coffee table. The TV unit is too narrow for the screen. The hallway table sits there looking like an afterthought. Nothing is wrong exactly — it just never feels finished.

The reason is almost always proportion, not taste. When furniture is sized correctly relative to the room and to each other, a living room looks cohesive without any styling effort. When it’s not, no amount of cushions or vases will fix it.

This guide covers the five furniture pieces that determine whether a living room looks considered or cobbled together — and the specific sizing rules that make each one work.

Key Takeaways

• Your coffee table should be two-thirds the length of your sofa — this single rule fixes most living room proportion problems
• Your TV unit should be wider than your TV screen, not the same width — aim for 20–30cm wider on each side
• Coffee table height should sit within 5cm of your sofa seat height — too low or too high breaks the visual balance
• A hallway table sets the tone for your entire home the moment someone walks in — it earns more attention than most people give it
• Matching collections (same finish, same design language) are the fastest way to make a living room look intentional without any styling expertise

Coffee Tables: The Piece That Makes or Breaks the Room

The coffee table is the most-used piece of furniture in any living room and the one that has the most visual impact on the overall space. Get it wrong and the room looks off, even if you can’t immediately explain why. Marco Furniture’s range of coffee tables includes sintered stone, timber, glass, and nesting options — here’s how to choose the right one.

The Two-Thirds Rule

The most reliable sizing rule in furniture: your coffee table should be roughly two-thirds the length of your sofa. If your sofa is 2.4m long, your coffee table should be around 160cm. This proportion reads as balanced to the eye without the table overwhelming the seating area or looking too small to be functional.

Height Matters More Than Most People Think

The top of your coffee table should sit within 5cm of your sofa seat height — either level with it or very slightly lower. Standard sofa seat heights sit between 43–48cm. A coffee table that’s significantly lower than the seat creates a reaching-down sensation that feels uncomfortable and looks mismatched. A table at the right height feels natural to use and looks proportionate in the room.

Coffee Table Sizing Guide

Shape: Round vs Rectangular

Round tables work in smaller living rooms and open-plan spaces where traffic flows around the furniture. No corners means better flow and fewer shin accidents. They also soften a room that has a lot of rectangular shapes — a sofa, a TV unit, door frames.

Rectangular tables suit longer sofas and more defined living rooms. They provide more surface area and work better when you need the table to hold drinks, remotes, books, and a plant simultaneously.

For corner modular sofas, a square or round table is usually the better proportion than a long rectangular one. The Catalina Coffee Table in sintered stone is a strong choice here — the rounded corners and stone top work across both classic and contemporary living rooms without trying too hard.

Material: What Actually Holds Up

Sintered stone coffee tables are the most practical for everyday Australian living. The surface is heat resistant, scratch resistant, and wipes clean without any maintenance. You can put a hot mug down without a coaster, and spilled wine isn’t a crisis.

Timber coffee tables bring warmth and are more forgiving on hard floors in terms of sound and movement. They do mark more easily and benefit from coasters for hot items.

Glass tables are good for making smaller rooms feel more open but show fingerprints constantly and are less practical for households with children.

Nesting coffee tables offer flexibility — use the large one daily and pull out the smaller one when you have more people. A good option for rooms that need to adapt for entertaining.

TV Units: Get the Width Right First, Everything Else Follows

Most people buy a TV unit that’s the same width as their television or narrower. This is the most common living room sizing mistake. A TV unit should be visually wider than the screen sitting on it — not because it looks better in a subjective sense, but because a TV that’s wider than its stand looks like it’s about to topple over. Browse Marco Furniture’s range of TV and entertainment units including extendable designs, low-line units, and models with integrated storage.

TV Unit Width Guide

Height: Where Should the Centre of the Screen Sit?

The centre of your TV screen should be at eye level when seated — typically 100–115cm from the floor. Most standard TV units sit between 40–55cm tall. Add your TV height to the unit height and check where the screen centre lands. If it’s significantly above eye level, you’ll develop neck strain from looking up during long viewing sessions.

Low-line TV units (35–45cm tall) work well with larger screens because the screen height compensates. They also keep the room feeling more open and less top-heavy.

Storage: Open vs Closed

Closed cabinet storage hides consoles, hard drives, cables, and everything else you don’t want visible. This is the better choice for most living rooms — the cleaner the TV unit looks, the more considered the room feels overall.

Open shelving suits people who want to display books, plants, or speaker equipment and are happy to keep those items curated and tidy. It requires more ongoing maintenance to look good.

Extendable TV units — which expand in width as needed — are worth considering if you’re not sure how your layout will evolve. Several of Marco Furniture’s collections, including the London and Coco collections, feature extendable designs in coordinating finishes with matching coffee tables.

Hallway Tables: Your Home’s First Impression

The hallway table is the first piece of furniture a visitor sees when they walk into your home. It sets the tone for every room beyond it. Despite this, most people treat it as an afterthought — something to hold keys and mail rather than a considered design decision. Marco Furniture’s hallway tables range includes narrow console designs from 30cm deep that work even in tight entryways.

Depth: The Critical Measurement

Hallway tables should be no more than 35–40cm deep. This leaves enough walking space in most standard Australian hallways (90cm+) while still giving you a functional surface. Anything deeper starts to feel like an obstruction rather than a welcome feature.

Styling a Hallway Table Properly

The standard approach: one taller element (a lamp or tall vase), one medium element (a sculpture or decorative object), and one lower element (a small tray, a book, or a plant). Odd numbers — three or five objects — always read better than even numbers on a horizontal surface.

A mirror above the hallway table is one of the highest-return styling additions you can make to an entryway. It reflects light, makes the space feel larger, and creates a natural arrival point in the home. Keep the mirror at least as wide as the table beneath it, ideally slightly wider.

Buffets and Sideboards: Storage That Earns Its Place

A buffet or sideboard does two things simultaneously: it solves a storage problem and creates a display surface. Used in a dining room, it holds table linens, serving ware, and anything else you want out of sight. Used in a living room, it provides a surface for styling and hidden storage for tech accessories, remotes, and clutter. Marco Furniture’s buffets and sideboards range includes designs in timber veneer, ash, and contemporary finishes.

Sizing a Buffet for Your Space

In a dining room, the buffet should sit on the wall adjacent to or opposite the dining table — not behind the table where it’s hard to access while seated. Leave at least 90cm between the buffet and the table edge so chairs can be pushed back without hitting it.

In a living room, a buffet works well on a long wall opposite or adjacent to the sofa. Standard buffet heights (75–85cm) create a natural surface for styling — high enough to be visible, low enough not to compete with wall art or mirrors hung above it.

What to Display on Top

Three to five objects in varying heights. Always include one natural element — a plant, dried botanicals, a stone object. One lamp or candle holder for warmth. One sculptural piece for visual interest. Leave negative space — a buffet covered end-to-end in objects just looks cluttered.

A large piece of wall art or a mirror hung directly above the buffet is the most effective way to make it feel like a designed feature rather than a storage solution with objects on top.

The Fastest Way to Make It All Work: Shop a Collection

The easiest way to get a living room to look cohesive without hiring a stylist is to choose pieces from the same collection. When a coffee table, TV unit, and hallway table share the same material, finish, and design language, the room reads as considered without any effort.

Marco Furniture’s named collections are built specifically for this. The Casper Collection pairs a sintered stone coffee table with a matching TV unit and hallway console in coordinating warm tones. The Coco Collection uses a black burnt stone top with walnut veneer for a darker, more dramatic living room. The London Collection works in both walnut-with-black-oak and bold black-and-white finishes. The Vittoria Collection brings gold-toned metal legs and sintered stone tops for a more formal, luxe aesthetic.

You don’t have to buy every piece from the same collection — but keeping two or three of your main living room pieces in the same family gives you a foundation that’s hard to go wrong with.

Shop Marco Furniture’s Living Room Range

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Frequently Asked Questions

What size coffee table do I need for my sofa?

Use the two-thirds rule: your coffee table should be approximately two-thirds the length of your sofa. For a 2m sofa, that’s around 130cm. For a corner or L-shape modular sofa, a square or round table in the 90–120cm range usually works better than a long rectangular one. Height-wise, aim for a table within 5cm of your sofa seat height — typically 40–50cm tall.

How wide should my TV unit be?

Your TV unit should be wider than your television screen — not the same width or narrower. For a 65-inch TV, aim for a unit 180–200cm wide. This gives the screen visual support and stops the setup looking top-heavy. As a general guide, allow 20–30cm of unit width beyond the TV on each side.

What is the right height for a TV unit?

The centre of your TV screen should sit at eye level when you’re seated — around 100–115cm from the floor. Most TV units sit between 40–55cm tall. Add the TV height to the unit height and check where the screen centre lands. If it’s significantly higher than 115cm, you’ll strain your neck during long viewing sessions.

How deep should a hallway table be?

35–40cm is the maximum depth for a hallway table in most Australian homes. This leaves adequate walking space while still giving you a functional surface. For very narrow hallways (under 90cm wide), look for wall-mounted console options or very slim profiles around 25–30cm deep.

What is the difference between a buffet and a sideboard?

The terms are used interchangeably in Australia. Both refer to a long, low storage cabinet typically placed against a wall. A buffet traditionally sat in the dining room for serving food and storing tableware. A sideboard refers to the same form used in any room. At Marco Furniture, both terms describe the same category of furniture — long, low storage cabinets in timber veneer, ash, and contemporary finishes.

Should my coffee table match my TV unit?

They don’t need to be identical, but they should feel like they belong in the same room. The easiest way to achieve this is to keep the finish or material consistent — both in timber, both in stone, or both in the same colour family. Marco Furniture’s named collections (Casper, Coco, London, Vittoria) pair coffee tables and TV units in coordinating designs specifically for this reason.

How do I style a living room to look more expensive?

Three things make a living room look more considered without spending more: correct proportions (furniture sized right for the room and for each other), consistent finishes (two or three pieces in the same material or colour family), and restraint in styling (fewer, better objects rather than every surface covered). A large rug, a properly sized coffee table, and one strong piece of wall art will do more than any number of decorative accessories.

Questions about which pieces work for your space? Visit the Marco Furniture showroom in Fyshwick or browse the full range at marcofurniture.com.au.