Help me arrange this room

[Deleted]

I’m turning this in to a formal living room in that it will no longer have a tv. Obviously I need a bigger rug which I’ll center off of the fireplace. But how would you arrange the couch and two chairs (they’re currently flanking the fireplace)? Immediately to the left when you walk in is a piano and on the right is a desk. Help me!

[momin2013]

After removing the TV (and the stand it’s on), and centering the rug in front of the fireplace (it might work, give it a try to see), I would move the couch back, then put the chairs in front of the window sort of angled in towards each other a bit, with a side table between them.

[momin2013]

After removing the TV (and the stand it’s on), and centering the rug in front of the fireplace (it might work, give it a try to see), I would move the couch back, then put the chairs in front of the window sort of angled in towards each other a bit, with a side table between them.

I think the whole seating area will be able to move a bit closer to the fireplace as well, which is why I think the rug might just work when everything’s a bit tighter together.

[pumpkin]

Nov 5, 2023 8:41:08 GMT -5 momin2013 said:

After removing the TV (and the stand it’s on), and centering the rug in front of the fireplace (it might work, give it a try to see), I would move the couch back, then put the chairs in front of the window sort of angled in towards each other a bit, with a side table between them.

I think the whole seating area will be able to move a bit closer to the fireplace as well, which I why I think the rug might just work when everything’s a bit tighter together.

This is what I would try too.

[InBetweenDays]

I would try and turn the couch so it's facing the fireplace. Then I'd either leave the chairs sort of where they are but pull them out more and slightly angle them in to make a conversation area with the couch (with a coffee table in the middle) or I'd have them just in front of and on either side of the couch facing towards each other (again with a coffee table in the middle).

I'd put the large plant against the wall to either the left or right of the fireplace depending on how far it sticks out into the room.

[dr.girlfriend]

Is the goal to have a place to sit and have conversations with guests, and if so about how many seats would you ideally have?

It's hard to tell proportions from the photo, but I think ideally you'd have the couch facing the fireplace, and then seating you can easily pass through (like the two chairs, angled in with a small table between them for drinks) between the dining and living room, and then more seating against the window -- optimally a loveseat if you can still get one that matches or at least coordinates with your couch, but if not maybe that padded bench?

Then behind the couch I would put a long low cabinet or bookshelf so that you get a nice view from the entry. I think it would be tempting to try to use that t.v. stand since you already have it, but I think you'd want something much less deep.

We have two bookshelves behind our sofa:

[dr.girlfriend]

And after I posted this, I actually realized this is how my living room is arranged, just flipped, and of course oriented toward the t.v. rather than a fireplace. :-) But similar in function -- the loveseat is against the wall where no one would walk anyway, the two chairs allow passage to the hallway (instead of the dining room for you), and the bookshelves behind the couch give you a nicer view from the kitchen (instead of the entry way for you).  Here's some more angles:

[mrsukyankee]

That's a lovely set-up dr.girlfriend.

[Deleted]

Thank you everyone for your input. This is where I’ve kind of landed for now. I want to live with it for a bit but so far I like it. The room feels so much bigger.



I think that ultimately I’ll need something more substantial for the wall between the windows. And if I keep it like this I’ll get something for behind the couch. I’m open to any other suggestions as well.

[SusanBAnthony]

I like that a lot! I agree that a bigger thing between the windows would probably look nice. But the rug totally works.

[momin2013]

Looks really nice - I agree with PP, I think the rug works really nicely in that space!

[dr.girlfriend]

It's coming along great!  I agree a bigger rug might define the space better. If you didn't want to spend a lot you could layer the current rug with like a larger neutral (e.g. jute) rug or something.  Also not sure if it's possible to raise the plants a little more so they take up less of the seating space.  Maybe only worth it if you have enough people to need to sit in all the seats on a regular basis.  I also think you can add a taller pouf between the living and dining room if needed.  It wasn't in the prior pic but I have this cube-shaped one and it's really flexible to be dragged anywhere for seating but not so low to the ground that adults can't take advantage of it.  :-)

[expectantsteelerfan]

If you don't need more seating, something that could 'take up' more wall space between the window would be a tall book case or lamp next to the bench maybe? Like a leaning ladder shelf with some decorative stuff on it, or a substantial lamp?

[RockNVoll]

The orientation you landed on is what I was going to suggest. Before I saw the new pics I was going to suggest a bookshelf between the windows, but how would you feel about adding curtains to add some more texture to that wall? If you hung them high and wide you wouldn't really need much else on that wall, maybe just a picture or a couple of floating shelves if you want display space. It doesn't look like there's a ton of space between that wall and the end of the sofa so I wouldn't want to crowd it with a piece of furniture.

[dr.girlfriend]

Nov 11, 2023 18:38:56 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

The orientation you landed on is what I was going to suggest. Before I saw the new pics I was going to suggest a bookshelf between the windows, but how would you feel about adding curtains to add some more texture to that wall? If you hung them high and wide you wouldn't really need much else on that wall, maybe just a picture or a couple of floating shelves if you want display space. It doesn't look like there's a ton of space between that wall and the end of the sofa so I wouldn't want to crowd it with a piece of furniture.

Oooh, I like this idea.  That would look very nice!

[Deleted]

dr.girlfriend, RockNVoll,

Those windows are tough for curtains because there are electric baseboard heaters directly below the window. I would prefer to have floor length curtains there, but it just isn't an option because of the heaters, and I'm not really a fan of short curtains. I do have tie up curtains in my kitchen due to the same issue, but I feel like that style is too casual for my living room.

[RockNVoll]

Nov 13, 2023 10:31:48 GMT -5 @sameoldstory said:

dr.girlfriend, RockNVoll,

Those windows are tough for curtains because there are electric baseboard heaters directly below the window. I would prefer to have floor length curtains there, but it just isn't an option because of the heaters, and I'm not really a fan of short curtains. I do have tie up curtains in my kitchen due to the same issue, but I feel like that style is too casual for my living room.

Got it. Two options: longer brackets that would extend farther from the walk and not touch the baseboards (though that might look weird depending on how deep your baseboards are) or curtain toppers which can be formal or casual.

[Deleted]

Nov 13, 2023 12:38:36 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Nov 13, 2023 10:31:48 GMT -5 @sameoldstory said:

dr.girlfriend , RockNVoll ,

Those windows are tough for curtains because there are electric baseboard heaters directly below the window. I would prefer to have floor length curtains there, but it just isn't an option because of the heaters, and I'm not really a fan of short curtains. I do have tie up curtains in my kitchen due to the same issue, but I feel like that style is too casual for my living room.

Got it. Two options: longer brackets that would extend farther from the walk and not touch the baseboards (though that might look weird depending on how deep your baseboards are) or curtain toppers which can be formal or casual.

By toppers, do you mean like a valance? Or more like a cornice/pelmet?

[RockNVoll]

Nov 13, 2023 12:52:13 GMT -5 @sameoldstory said:

Nov 13, 2023 12:38:36 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Got it. Two options: longer brackets that would extend farther from the walk and not touch the baseboards (though that might look weird depending on how deep your baseboards are) or curtain toppers which can be formal or casual.

By toppers, do you mean like a valance? Or more like a cornice/pelmet?

More like a valance, or kind of a combo of the two in that you can have valances that wrap around the sides as well for a higher-end look. At our old house we had ones made for our kitchen windows and it actually wasn't super expensive. Kind of like this, though ours didn't have a pleat on the edge.

Don't know if that's your style, but I think that wall could use some fabric to soften up the look a little.