small living room with lots of people to put in it!! adviceplease!

[bubblepop]

ok you lot..what do i do here? we are a family of 6 and our living room is quite small (about 12x11). small but cozy. we were looking at getting some new furniture for it as the old stuff is now torn!
we can squeeze in a 2 seater sofa and 2 chairs..but mother said the room will look too crowded and full of furniture! we've measured up and there isnt really any other choice due to the fireplace and doors etc..so its either have lots of furniture in there and at least some of us will have somewhere to sit..or maybe just have a two seater and one chair but that means the kids are gonna be on bean bags or the floor..not that the little ones are bothered but the big ones quite like a proper seat now! what would you do? would you go for comfort or looks ? also moving house isnt really an option but id be interested to see if anyone else would move because of this even though everything else about the house is fab! x

COuld you fit in one of thoose corner type sofa's.

no, but i wish i could!

How often do you have visitors?

If the answer is rarely, go for comfort.
If they come quite often and you are bothered about the look of the place, then go for looks and make the kids sit on the floor.

comfort
what have you got at the moment - will the new stuff make it look more crowded?

My living room is exactly the same size, we've got a 2 seater sofa and 2 chairs but it doesn't look overcrowded, although the furniture we've chosen is quite small and suits the proportions of the room.

I wouldn't move because of the living room but then we're a family of 4, not 6, we've got other reasons for staying and in the future we will probably take down the wall between the living room and hallway to get some extra space.