UPDATED: Please help w. our family room floor plan

[jloww]

UPDATED AT END.

We feel pretty hopeless about the furniture placement with this floor plan and hoping to get some more excellent outside perspective.  Right now we have the tv to the right of the fireplace smack dab in front of the window and I hate it.

This is our back family room so it's where we watch tv, the kids play, etc.

Please help.  I need to have the layout figured out before I can get the electrician in to wire the room normally so I have my outlets and cable hook up exactly where I need them.  Right now there is a weird strip along the floor with a 2 pronged outlet every 2 feet.

The room is 15' x 15.5'.

[Deleted]

Do you have a pic or description of all the pieces you want/need to fit in there? I don't know that I'll have any suggestions, but I think it might help with suggestions. Is it a flat screen or a CRT? How big? Other equipment that requires a console, or just a TV? Couches, chairs, bookcases, play kitchen, etc.?

[jloww]

Mar 5, 2013 22:36:14 GMT -5 @juno said:

Do you have a pic or description of all the pieces you want/need to fit in there? I don't know that I'll have any suggestions, but I think it might help with suggestions. Is it a flat screen or a CRT? How big? Other equipment that requires a console, or just a TV? Couches, chairs, bookcases, play kitchen, etc.?

Pretend you're starting from scratch - we aren't married to anything.  We do have a flat screen tv and it's sitting on an entertainment console right now.  Kid related, just a 9 cube thing w/ bins. 

TV is 46".  Equipment: DVD Player, cable box, modem.

[spankswife]

I would put the tv in the top right corner, and then a sofa parallel to the bottom wall, facing both the tv and the fire place, with a love seat perpendicular to that, on the let side (facing tv). then put the 9 cube in the bottom right corner...

[boiler717]

I would probably do a TV in the bottom right, a sectional in the top right and maybe an accent chair in the top left.

[TBM]

Mar 6, 2013 8:36:05 GMT -5 spankswife said:

I would put the tv in the top right corner, and then a sofa parallel to the bottom wall, facing both the tv and the fire place, with a love seat perpendicular to that, on the let side (facing tv). then put the 9 cube in the bottom right corner...

This is along the lines of what I was thinking, except I was thinking of a chair/chairs rather than a loveseat.

[grey56]

This might be outside the scale of project you're thinking....but do you need all those windows and both doors?

I am normally against the TV above the fireplace but it might be a good option for you?

[tarheels]

I agree with grey56 that above the fireplace is probably the best place in this room. Damn mass-project architects never think about how people actually live in houses - hello, it's the family room, you need a tv wall.

I'm not sure how your fireplace is set up now, but can you have the electrician put an outlet and cable jack up there? Then you can have a sectional that clearly faces the focal points: perpendicular to the current tv window with the leg perpendicular to the backdoor. _|

That leaves the lower right corner for toy space.

[jloww]

spankswife



boiler717



TBM



grey56 and tarheels - I don't want to mount the tv above the fireplace because its wood burning and we use it all the time.  I don't want to worry about heat and soot.

As for rearranging the windows - we aren't opposed to that years down the line when we re side this house.  This is our forever house - we love it.  We do need to 2 doors because one is how you enter the room off a back hallway and the other leads to the backyard.  For the future we've talked about possibly eliminating that door and window in favor of French doors.  I will need all 10 years to think about what I'm going to do

[tarheels]

I vote for Boiler's plan then. Put a second chair over by the tv.

[jloww]

tarheels



I need end tables for my lamps and wine damn it.  I'll do one w the tv above the fireplace.

[jloww]

grey56 and tarheels - I have to do this don't I?  My husband can't say I didn't try.

i could give or take the coffee table.

[TBM]

I was kind of thinking of floating the sofa, and giving the kids a little area behind the the sofa for the shelf. With one chair.

[tarheels]

Mar 6, 2013 15:53:48 GMT -5 TBM said:

I was kind of thinking of floating the sofa, and giving the kids a little area behind the the sofa for the shelf. With one chair.

This is sort of what I was thinking for the over-the-FP suggestion as well.  Pull the sofa out into the middle of the room and put the kids' shelf in the bottom right corner.

[jloww]

Mar 6, 2013 15:58:49 GMT -5 tarheels said:

Mar 6, 2013 15:53:48 GMT -5 TBM said:

I was kind of thinking of floating the sofa, and giving the kids a little area behind the the sofa for the shelf. With one chair.

This is sort of what I was thinking for the over-the-FP suggestion as well.  Pull the sofa out into the middle of the room and put the kids' shelf in the bottom right corner.

But then a "hallway" w a cube organizer would be the first thing everyone sees when they walk into the room.

ill make that one next.

[jloww]

TBM



if I'm not even getting close here you may need to pretend like I'm 5 and I'm ok with that

[tarheels]

Mar 6, 2013 16:11:00 GMT -5 jloww said:

Mar 6, 2013 15:58:49 GMT -5 tarheels said:

This is sort of what I was thinking for the over-the-FP suggestion as well.  Pull the sofa out into the middle of the room and put the kids' shelf in the bottom right corner.

But then a "hallway" w a cube organizer would be the first thing everyone sees when they walk into the room.

ill make that one next.

I've assumed that people are walking in from the bottom door - are they coming in from the left door?  When they come in from the bottom door, they see the back of the couch with a console table, lamp, books, etc.  But from the left, yes, they see kid crap

[jloww]

The door on the west wall is from the kitchen. The door on the south wall is to go to the fenced backyard. We exclusively use the front door to enter the house.

[Deleted]

Where are your required end tables going to sit in the latest one? Those are hard to get in there. Maybe a loveseat like in your first example, with a small coffee table, then two chairs in place of the floating couch with a table in between?

[jloww]

@juno



Pretend there's a small coffee table there.

[Deleted]

No, that doesn't work. A coffee table wouldn't fit at all and allow for traffic. And that love seat would get really hot I don't know how to get those tables in there.

[TBM]

That was exactly what I was thinking.

Maybe you could block the view of the kid's stuff with a plant...and maybe a sofa table. Sort of stagger the stuff behind the sofa.


Sorry if I am not being clear in my responses. I am on overload right now and can't seem to get my thoughts from my head to my keyboard. Crazy times. ;p

[SusanBAnthony]

How old are the kids? Are you worried about the playing near the fireplace?

I might take the first one (spankswifea.) and move the shelf next to the fireplace, on the top wall. Is it low enough to sit under the window? Then you could either leave the couch where it is, or switch the couch to a sectional. How much seating space do you need?

[jloww]

Mar 6, 2013 21:03:23 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

How old are the kids? Are you worried about the playing near the fireplace?

I might take the first one (spankswifea.) and move the shelf next to the fireplace, on the top wall. Is it low enough to sit under the window? Then you could either leave the couch where it is, or switch the couch to a sectional. How much seating space do you need?

They are 3 and 1 and I don't worry about the fireplace.  The kids cube is not low enough to fit under a window but its close and honestly not a perms any fixture in our lives so I can ignore that.  Seating space - probably 4 people.  We have another living room with more seating for when we have family over (3x a year).

I think I finally have a winner!  



I will probably try to find a sectional without the chaise but I don't hate it.

[Deleted]

I like that. The chaise would be nice for lying in front of the fire but it does make that space tight. You could also add a teeny table next to the chair for drinks.

[jloww]

Mar 6, 2013 22:56:52 GMT -5 @juno said:

I like that. The chaise would be nice for lying in front of the fire but it does make that space tight. You could also add a teeny table next to the chair for drinks.

I have to give my friend credit for making this - she also suggested the extra table.  LOVE it.  Perfect for wine drinking!

i think the nice thing about a chaise is that they don't normal, have an arm do they?

[TBM]

Mar 6, 2013 22:59:46 GMT -5 jloww said:

Mar 6, 2013 22:56:52 GMT -5 @juno said:

I like that. The chaise would be nice for lying in front of the fire but it does make that space tight. You could also add a teeny table next to the chair for drinks.

I have to give my friend credit for making this - she also suggested the extra table.  LOVE it.  Perfect for wine drinking!

i think the nice thing about a chaise is that they don't normal, have an arm do they?

The chaise on ours has an arm that extends the full length of the chaise.  It's good for keeping the dogs from falling off, but I probably wouldn't get another one like this again.