Unorthodox 7.1 setup

[BluLobsta]

I have a question on a 7.1 setup. Since my receiver supports 7.1, with a lot of good titles with 7.1 audio already and a promising future repertoire of 7.1 titles (LOTR anyone? ), I was thinking of doing a 7.1 configuration. Only problem is, my couch is against the wall and there is no room for rear surrounds. Would it be possible to move the surrounds to the center of the room and place the rear surround channel speakers beside the couch, in the normal surround position? Granted, sounds coming from behind you would now be beside you, but wouldn't the overall sound quality of the movie be improved, with audio features present that never would have been present in the first place? Or perhaps place 4 speakers in the surround position? Or should I just save my money and call it a day??