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NEW YORK CITY Here s one city apartment rule you can live by the bigger the couch, the more cramped the room.

A huge couch in a tiny room is going to leave little space for living. If your sofa crowds out the end table, or if it pushes the coffee table into the media console, it s clearly too big.

If you re serious about a pretty home, you must be prepared to forgo the luxury of being able to sprawl in front of the TV. Put your feet up on your coffee table instead.

Beware of what stores call their apartment couches even they are typically too wide and too deep for your charming New York space. Even Crate Barrel s Vaughn Apartment Sofa and CB2 s Avec Peacock Apartment Sofa two couches often touted for apartment living are 78 inches and 65 inches long, respectively.

If you re in the market for a new seat, here are some city-specific rules:

Measure out the area that will be your living room. If your room has multiple spaces in it, for example a living and dining room or living and bedroom, be sure to leave approximately two to three feet between each space.

Once you ve established how much room you have for your couch, allow at least a foot preferably 18 inches on either side for end tables or standing lamps.

If your room is small, chances are your couch will be against a wall. Remember this when buying, and consider if your new couch will block windows.

DON T

Don t buy a couch without seeing and measuring the space.

Don t measure right up to the table of the dining area or the bed in the sleeping area.

Don t buy a fat couch, meaning don t buy anything over-stuffed that resembles a La-Z-Boy.

Don t buy a futon. Leave those where they belong at college and invest in an air mattress instead.

Below is our guide to the best couches on the market that are under 60 inches:

Best Price

As inventory changes, Room Board has an annual floor-sample sale that starts on Dec. 26. Discontinued items are sometimes up to 50 percent off the retail price.

Macy s - Ava Fabric Loveseat 57 inches, $869, with sales as low as $669.

DNAinfo/Janet Upadhye

Also check out the Camila Fabric Loveseat at 60 inches and the Jillian Fabric Loveseat at 57 inches. Beware the ugly overstuffed two-seaters Macy s still carries a frightening number of them. Macy s has furniture sales multiple times a year and the discount is often worth the wait.