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corner fireplace in large living room. How to furnish?

15 years ago

Our living room is about 15X20 feet with a fireplace in the far corner and a large, rectangular oriental rug which comes to one of its corners right in front of the fireplace. Currently we have a sofa on one wall between two windows, but it is far away from the fireplace, and any placement of chairs facing the sofa obscures the fireplace entirely. I have seen postings about decreasing the size of the seating area and arranging that smaller seating area around the fireplace. But I don't see how we can do the with the corner of the rug jutting out toward the hearth. If we buy a smaller rug to put across the front of the fireplace, the floor space leftover will be a very awkward space in which to put a rug. We are mystified. p.s. if it helps to to know this, we have a small upright piano in the room on the wall opposite the fireplace and a small highboy on the wall next to the fireplace. In addition to the sofa, we have a low wing chair, a wooden arm chair and two smallish french looking chairs, all fairly formal looking stuff. Would be very grateful for any help anyone can offer.

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Comments (4)

bigdoglover
15 years ago
That sounds just like our family room in size, shape, and corner fireplace (which was a real challenge for me to figure out and in the end I needed a decorator to do it.) Here's how our designer arranged it (and by the way, he said to have a huge area rug positioned just as you have yours):

Going around the room, starting with the long wall directly to the left of the fireplace wall:

Wall to left of fireplace: A pair of wingback chairs and ottomans with a round tea table between chairs. These are angled toward each other of course but they back to the wall. So, pretty much, they are ignoring the fireplace.

Corner fireplace.

Wall to right of fireplace: TV cabinet (or, your piano). This wall has an exit to the foyer, so the next grouping of furniture begins several feet inward from it.

Long wall to right of TV cabinet wall and opening to foyer: Sofa, flanked by a large trunk on the left side and an end table on the right side, and of course a coffee table. On the left end of the sofa, at a right angle to the sofa, a small occasional chair. So sofa and occasional chair "share" the trunk as an end table.

Wall to right of that (which is basically mostly opening into the kitchen but has some small wall area: Another wingback chair at a right angle to the sofa. So sofa and wingback share the end table.

Right now all the furniture is either being made or recovered or in the garage, as floors were just redone and we're painting etc., but prior to that I had it arranged this way with existing/old furniture, and it really looked good. I thought I wouldn't like ignoring the fireplace by not having furniture directly centered on it, but really it does not feel like it's being ignored.

Have to find the area rug now but need to cool it on the money expenditures for a bit.

Hope this helps!
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
15 years ago
I also have a corner fireplace and decided not to make it the point of focus, but rather to have a living room with a comfortable seating area and logical places to hang our art. There's no TV since we have another room for that. I hope the pictures are of help to you.
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First, arrange the main seating area with the fireplace and TV as your focal point. If you like to see the TV from the kitchen put it on the left side of the fireplace. If you don't care about seeing it while in the kitchen, leave it where it is, but wall mount it on an articulated arm for flexibility, and put a new credenza below it that is 25% wider than the TV. We don't know where your dining area is, but you could put one at the kitchen end of this space. Or, you can use a family game table at the end opposite the seating arrangement. Replace the fireplace mirror with a nice big piece of art, but no wider than your firebox opening. If TV goes left of the FP you could move that slim piece that's by the pony wall opposite the FP, to the right side of it with the mirror above it as a balancing element. Or it can go on the full wall closer to the wide doorway. If buying new seating pieces, consider replacing the two wood trimmed chairs with something else. They seem to be misfits for the style of your other pieces. Rugs need rethinking, but get the arrangement organized first.
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bigdoglover
15 years ago
That's very lovely and so serene, ingrid!
oceanna
15 years ago
Have you looked at our fireplace thread in the Gallery for ideas?

Ingrid, you should add your pics to that thread, they're so pretty.

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