An ottoman with storage earns its footprint more than almost anything else in a living room, because it can be a footrest, a coffee table, an extra seat and a blanket chest at the same time. Round shapes are the easiest to live with, since there are no corners to catch shins in a tight room.

Rectangles are the classic coffee-table replacement, and they suit long sofas and sectionals best. Lark Manor's Idalynn is pistachio velvet with a button-tufted lift top on tapered wood legs, and the Clymer from Laurel Foundry is a tufted cocktail design in beige performance linen with a solid wood base and a lower shelf. I Aim for a piece roughly two thirds the length of your sofa so the proportions feel right.

Square shapes and small stools fill the awkward spots: the end of a bed, the space in front of an armchair or the gap beside a vanity. Wade Logan's Brinna is camel faux leather with a tufted lift top on tapered metal legs, and Alcott Hill's square design has deep button tufting, nailhead trim and a lift lid in a white linen blend. Z Gallerie's Gable is a fig velvet chenille stool with a lift top on a gold-tone base.

If you have kids, pets or a habit of putting your feet up with shoes on, the fabric matters more than the shape. Charlton Home's Duanys is dark brown faux leather, round with a lift top on wood feet. The Dhiren, also from Charlton Home, uses brown performance fabric with a tufted lid, nailhead trim and turned wood legs. Interior Define's Sloan has built-in lift-top storage in more than 120 fabrics, and the Colten is a round coffee-table design in performance velvet with built-in storage.