Furniture help

[georgeharrison]

Hi guys.  We moved into our house in October.  I'd like to put some seating closer to the fireplace.  Any suggestions?  My husband really wanted to do the living room MCM, so I don't know if we need to follow that into this area as well?  I was thinking two cozy chairs that are pushed against the wall on both sides of fireplace and then move them in front of the fireplace when we have a fire.  My husband LOATHES this idea and wants to have a full seating area set up all the time.  But, I like the open space and don't want to be walking around chairs when going from the dining room to the hallway.

Here are some pics.  I'll put a pic of our living room in the replies.

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[georgeharrison]

Living room with foil on the seating in an attempt to keep the dogs off (it works, but not for the cats).

[dr.girlfriend]

Sorry to come down on your husband's side, but would you really have to walk around the chairs on the way from the living room to the dining room? The fireplace seems fairly out of the way in the corner. I think you could find some chairs where you could do two smaller-scale armchairs with a little end table in between.




You could always get something that is light and easy to move just in case:

[dr.girlfriend]

Also, since I'm giving unwelcome opinions anyway, that seems like a lot of wasted space. Maybe it's just the camera angle, but it looks like you've got a whole room's worth of space that is just being used as foyer/hallway? I would arrange the living room so it extends into that space a little, like floating another couch with its back to the door and maybe low shelving behind it. 

Here's a similar couch arrangement in my living room:



Then I would have an entryway mat and table to the side of the front door to define that space a little, and then finally define another seating area by the fireplace with a rug and then the seating.  As long as you have three feet or so of clear space to walk through I think that's plenty and it wouldn't look so bare.

[definitelyO]

I have a similar awkward space with a fireplace and a long room with the opposite end open and windows on one side and French doors on the other. We ended up doing one chair kiddy-corner to the fire place and then put the couch like dr.girlfriend, shows in the last photo with a narrow table to help define a walk way and make the area a bit more cozy.

[deadwing]

I agree with dr.girlfriend - it seems like a lot of open space. Personally, I think I'd put a love seat in front of the fireplace because I know I would use that more than chairs. I have 2 chairs in my living room and they are primarily used by the dogs. But you know your own preferences. I don't think seating by the fireplace looks like it would be "in the way" particularly.

[georgeharrison]

I love the wide open space, but my husband is on team "use the space." I was considering getting barrel swivel chairs and an end table, or I really like this small sofa (which my husband does not like). www.allmodern.com/furniture/pdp/deans-76-sofa-ndcu1256.html?piid=50892233

Thanks for the replies.

[TBM]

I really like Dr. Girlfriend's suggestions for both areas.

There are a lot of comfy chairs out there that don't scream mcm, but still work with it. We have a mix of vintage mcm, new modern (some mcm influence), vintage not modern, and it all works together. It's maybe more of a collected over time vibe, which just makes sense to me.

I don't really understand your current layout, with one completely empty room and the seating in the next room all kind of on one side facing the empty room. My kids would have used the empty room as a stage and forced us to be the audience with the seats alreading facing there.

Our living room has the door from the courtyard in the center of one wall and two doorways (main hall and kitchen) off of a perpendicular wall, so furniture placement for flow was a challenge. It took some trial, error and a lot of walking back and forth to test it out, but I learned that for us, tweaking angles (rug, seating) really made the seating more conversational and opened up paths where we needed them.

[darby]

Mar 1, 2022 12:25:38 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Also, since I'm giving unwelcome opinions anyway, that seems like a lot of wasted space. Maybe it's just the camera angle, but it looks like you've got a whole room's worth of space that is just being used as foyer/hallway? I would arrange the living room so it extends into that space a little, like floating another couch with its back to the door and maybe low shelving behind it. 

Here's a similar couch arrangement in my living room:



Then I would have an entryway mat and table to the side of the front door to define that space a little, and then finally define another seating area by the fireplace with a rug and then the seating.  As long as you have three feet or so of clear space to walk through I think that's plenty and it wouldn't look so bare.

I apologize as well, but agree with all of this. I’m also going to take it a little further (with the best of intentions). I love the green chairs posted above with the little marble table in the pic below it & think something like that would tie in his love for MCM with the more traditional/transitional style of your room. I understand your desire for open space, but there’s a happy medium between an empty home & overcrowded (which maybe I'm misunderstanding, but is really what you’re trying to avoid). I would also move the piano to where the blue sofa is & move the sofa to the opposite side, making sure the front feet are on the rug. Then move the chair over close to where the piano was, but not pushed up against the wall. And also, your home looks gorgeous!!

[dr.girlfriend]

Mar 1, 2022 15:34:36 GMT -5 georgeharrison said:

I love the wide open space, but my husband is on team "use the space." I was considering getting barrel swivel chairs and an end table, or I really like this small sofa (which my husband does not like). www.allmodern.com/furniture/pdp/deans-76-sofa-ndcu1256.html?piid=50892233

Thanks for the replies.

Your husband and I are really vibing!  ;-)  I don't love that couch either -- what is it that you love about it -- the curviness, or something else?  Curved or "conversation" couches are becoming more popular these days so I can imagine you might find something with that shape but a little more his style if you keep looking, and I can see where the back of that might be more interesting and less "jarring" to look at then the flat back of a standard couch.  I wish I had saved the pic -- a house came up for sale in my area that was beautifully staged with a curved couch.  Maybe I'll dig a little and see if I can find it.

A chaise like this might look cute there too, and is offered in a lot of fun colors which seems to be your style



Like others have said, it's a gorgeous home, and I don't think your current furniture is really taking advantage.  It almost looks like you have small-apartment furniture that you're making do with in a large house, and maybe that's true for now because you just moved in but if you have the means to invest in a few big pieces that are just for that space I think it would be wise, and you can always "make do" with current pieces in less-visible areas like kitchen and bedroom.

[dr.girlfriend]

Found the pics!  A little different than I remembered, but still a nice use of an awkward space.  Too curved for your spot but I think the style more along these lines may make your DH happier.





I'll add that we enclosed our porch so that our living room is now through a little archway like yours (what used to be the exterior of the building), and we have two chairs that visually extend the space into the "hallway" area, and ours is only 6 feet.  Not the greatest angle and those chairs are definitely "we want something cheap until our couch arrives in a few months" purchases, but just to give you a sense of how I think you are limiting yourself and actually interrupting the "flow" by staying within the confines of that archway:


Here's the view from the other direction to give you a sense of how much "walking space" we left:

[SusanBAnthony]

I love open space too, and my house is MCM/modernish. I also have a long weird living room with weird window and fireplace locations.

I don't have a great answer because I haven't totally figured it out. I do a lot of moving stuff around and seeing how it feels, using other furniture in the house as stand ins for the things I am thinking about buying (like using dining room chairs to simulate two armchairs).

My struggle is that I want one couch in a certain spot to get direct sunlight so that I can sit in the sun. Which throws off everything else. But I'm once again thinking about breaking it up into two chair by the fireplace and then two couches facing each other on the other end of the room.

I drive my H crazy.

[momin2013]

You definitely need a nice carpet there first of all, to sort of divide the space (I’d start it just slightly back from the fireplace).

Also, sorry, but team your DH on this - I really think setting up a seating area permanently is preferable to having chairs that you’d move around when you have a fire. I’d either do an L-shaped sofa with a chair, or two nice cozy chairs with a table between them, in front of the fireplace. I really think it’ll make a nice cozy area that you might get a lot of use out of!

[simpsongal]

Team Dr. G too - the furniture in your front living room looks a little too much like it's pushed up against the wall too. I think floating a piece would make the space feel bigger and more inviting. I'd try moving things around just to see how they feel. I'm hoping to do the same in my family room. DH is skeptical but I can always moving things back.

[georgeharrison]

Thanks for all the suggestions and input. I will play around and report back.

[Roc A Bee]

Is that the main door for your house?

I agree that it seems like a lot of wasted space. I would try to reconfigure the space and pull some furniture out from the alcove space.

[georgeharrison]

Mar 2, 2022 13:09:48 GMT -5 Roc A Bee said:

Is that the main door for your house?

I agree that it seems like a lot of wasted space. I would try to reconfigure the space and pull some furniture out from the alcove space.

That is the door to the backyard.

[Deleted]

I'm curious, how did the previous owners use the space? Do you by any chance still have the listing photos?

[georgeharrison]

Mar 3, 2022 11:21:58 GMT -5 @sameoldstory said:

I'm curious, how did the previous owners use the space? Do you by any chance still have the listing photos?

They used it very similarly.  They had a couple of end tables on the empty side of the room and some stuff on the fireplace, but it was mostly empty.  I will see if I can find any listing photos.

[georgeharrison]

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[Deleted]

The additional pictures help, thank you.

Is that the front door I see in the living space? Is walking through the living space after entering that door the only option or does it lead somewhere else as well?

I think that I would do a bigger rug and then like Dr. G suggests, having a couch with the back to this open space with a nice sofa table behind it. Then I'd do permanent seating facing the fireplace and I'd go for chairs that are more visually open, similar to the MCM style, but doesn't have to be quite, definitively nothing fully upholstered because I think it would be too visually heavy. I would also maybe consider moving the MCM piece with the record player to the wall to the right of the double door.

[ellipses84]

I have the perfect compromise for your DH. Let him pick an amazing iconic MCM chair he’s always wanted and only put one chair and matching small ottoman in front of the fireplace, like an Eames lounge chair. Have another armchair or two with a small footprint elsewhere in that room or living room that you can pull over to the fireplace.

Looking at your updated photos, you could put 2 small armchairs facing each other with a little coffee table in the middle, or side by side with a side table, but I don’t like the idea of seeing the backs of two chairs all the time.

Either way, I’d put a rug in front of the fireplace to define that space. Sometimes it’s easier to use a round or oval rug in an odd space like that.

[ellipses84]

Tapa is finally letting me post pics

[georgeharrison]

Update: We got some barrel swivel chairs, some nesting tables, and a rug. I'd like to get a lamp, because the overhead lighting is cans and it's too white/bright. But, I'm not really sure what kind of lamp I want. I want to be able to sit here and read, but firelight is too dim and the overheads are too much.

I haven't done anything with the living room yet.

Anyway, pics:

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[dr.girlfriend]

Nice job! I love that rug (and the photobombing doggie)!  I would actually move the chairs back further and a little apart, maybe so just the front legs are on the rug?  It still looks to me like the furniture is huddled too closely, but maybe that's not how it looks IRL?

How about a lamp like this? I think you'd want the base to be near the plug but the light to fall on the chair on the right.

www.crateandbarrel.com/meryl-arc-brass-floor-lamp/s340896?localedetail=US&storeid=631&a=1552&campaignid=10695901874&adgroupid=104968583985&targetid=pla-298671718505&pla_sku=340896&pcat=HSW&ag=adult&gclid=CjwKCAiAvaGRBhBlEiwAiY-yMOGa6yVizUWUFejdTkCANK70-aGueo3Slw0iJMviyLyA6D1F3vErgRoCaP4QAvD_BwE

[georgeharrison]

dr.girlfriend, we did move it all back a bit, so the edge of the chairs is on the edge of the rug. That's about as much as I'm willing to impede on the access the the hallway.

Thanks for the lamp idea link. I like that idea.

[maudefindlay]

I like the chairs and rug. So hard to tell important walkway space from pictures. It does look bunched up in the photos. Do you have to angle it to the angle of the fireplace? That seems limiting. Are you able to just face things to that wall instead? Would that allow you to pull things back a bit?