Would a smaller coffee table allow you to move the loveseat so it faced the sofa? I can't tell how much room there is between the rug and the entrance to the DR.

Thank you for your comments.

laxsupermom the sofa is too long to be switched 90 degrees - it would be a problem to walk around it. I'm not crazy about the big hulking coffee table and like your idea of something less square.

camlan I think your long term solution is probably the right one.

bac717 I'm trying out your solution right now!

Ottoman instead of coffee table, lovely TV exposed.

I pulled the couch a bit away from the shutters.

This corner of the room turns out pretty bare though.

What do you think? We're going to live with this a couple of days.

I think most of us with foyers, have the same problem. I have a short narrow foyer. I used to have a long runner, and I found that people would huddle on the runner! When we redid the foyer, I now have a small rug in the entry, so people tend to spread out a bit more and move into the living room.
I like your change. But, I am not so sure about the ottoman. It looks a bit too small to be used as a coffee table. Not sure why you now think the corner is bare, when that is how it was before. That can be a whole other thread that we can have fun with!

I like it the way you have now....but I would try one more thing...put your loveseat crosswise in this corner that you think is bare. Leave ottoman in front of couch or use your coffee table again if there is room.

I don't think the ottoman is right there either, it was just for perspective. I've got a low bench/table I'm going to try in that area.

The bare corner is too far away from the rest of the room to put the loveseat in - I'd tried it there once before. I used to have the black & glass table there that's now in the foyer, along with the lamp.

I like the change! Thanks for posting pictures so quickly! I think the LR looks much more welcoming now.

I think a bookcase on the empty wall of the corner of the room would be nice.

I think your LR looks much more inviting & accessible with the loveseat facing the couch, & the narrow passageway coming in from the entry is now gone.

Would a round table (maybe covered with a tablecloth), a lamp on it, & a fairly straight chair on the wall shared with the entry work in the bare corner? Tha would help get some light there, too.

Just had another thought for the empty corner. Would you have any need for a writing desk? I have a small desk with a drop front in my living room. My dad built it for me when I was a teenager and I now use it for my laptop. A desk would also be a good way to get some light in that corner, as was mentioned by kathleenca.

Lady - Your problems are in your head. Simply leave the couches comfortably positioned to see the TV. Then let other people stand where ever they want.

I liked it better the way it was originally. It's looks a bit odd to me that the people who sit in the loveseat have their backs to the TV. Also if you were going to have the sofas facing each other I think they should be centered to the fireplace. How about keeping the original arrangement and trying to move the entire arrangement down a few inches to be able to put a narrow sofa table behind the loveseat? Might be more inviting than the back of it.

Also, I can't tell from the pic if you have enough room but might you be able to make a bit of a V-Shaped arrangment with the sofa and loveseat coming out from about the center of the window (and place the end table in between them at the base of the triangle)?

It depends on the purpose of this room. How many of you have to watch TV together in this room? By having the second positioning, it is more condusive to visiting and when people enter the room, which is what your post is all about. Do you have a lot of drop in guests, which is why you are feeling that you need to change this? If it is only for a planned event, than feel free to move the furntiure around as needed. I have a neighbor who does this. I think I have seen at least three different arrangements in her family room.

I actually like your original layout, the sofas and the table. Plenty of seating and good viewing of the tv for everyone. When it was setup this way, what did you have in the corner area, left of the dining room? Visitors will eventually get the idea that they need to come in.

Same thing happens in my house, so I don't think it's the sofa because I don't have one there. Rather than change the furniture from the original more functional, attractive arrangement, usher your guests in faster! Like natesgram said, eventually visitors will get the idea!

I think the room looks biggest and best in the first photos, and I second the idea of a writing desk and lamp in the corner.

Thanks for your thoughts, everyone.

As far as use of the room, DH and I don't watch TV so the view of the TV is very low priority. When my sons are away at college the TV is never turned on. The only one who watches is my 18-year-old. When he's home, his usual position is on the longer couch with the TV on. We do have friends over fairly often - casual dinners, book club, bridge group, etc. The TV is never on then. For those times we need the seating of the 2 couches, plus we drag in some of the dining room chairs.

Going back to the original layout, I can't move the longer couch further towards the fireplace because of the stereo cabinet.

The current layout isn't ideal, but I do really like how open and inviting the room is compared to being blocked by the smaller couch.

I don't have a writing desk but I have a small round side table that I can try in the corner along with another red lamp like the one next to the couch. I'll see how it looks with a dining room chair.

I'll update with pictures later.

Thanks again!

Back again with one more photo of the same arrangement plus a bench/table that I pulled from another room.

DH and I really like how open the room feels now, after having lived with it for a few days. The downside is that the couches aren't centered on the fireplace and as a result look a little unbalanced. We're having friends over this afternoon so will see how this arrangement works with more people in the room.

My layout is similar to your original one, and when people come over I simply lead them into the seating area. And if there's a lot of people over, then it's good you have extra room for them to chat.

I don't care for the last photo because the sofas seem too close together for such a large room. Maybe if you had a sofa table it would help?

One reason I like the original layout is people aren't "forced" to look at each other which could get awkward. lol

A little Off topic. I envy you having someone to play Bridge with!! No one in this town plays Bridge. Can I come over? hee

Hi oakleyok! Sure, c'mon over for a few hands of bridge ;-)

I used to play bridge online and started chatting with someone who it turned out lives only a mile away from me. She knew a lot of the same people I did, and I'm now a sub in her "real" bridge group, and she subs in mine. Small world.

Thanks for your comments, too. The couches do seem a little close together. Our friends liked the new arrangement but thought everything should be shifted towards the dining room (ie centered with the fireplace). The problem with shifting left is that the smaller sofa then blocks the entrance to the DR (not obvious from the angle of the photo above).

We're going to keep tweaking.

lol, I was going to say the same thing. Does it matter where they stand? Let them stand where they feel most comfortable. If they start to feel crowded or the goodies are in on the coffee table, they'll move along. I understand the sofa wall thing, but maybe the foyer is closer to the kitchen which is why they continue to hang more out there?

On the loveseats, they're made to right-angle. They really don't balance well opposite one another. Of course, if that's the only way they work for you ...

Very pretty room! Great built-ins.

Would it look too crowded to bring the chair in too?

Would a smaller coffee table allow you to move the loveseat so it faced the sofa? I can't tell how much room there is between the rug and the entrance to the DR.

Here is a link that might be useful: Furniture Butler

I know you said you tried the loveseat in the empty corner, but I am wondering if you tried it angled toward the stereo cabinet, with maybe with the ottoman, (with tray on top?) in front of it, or two small tables. Something in the corner behind it (fern stand, tall corner table, maybe a swing lamp on the wall out of head banging reach? I like the smaller coffee table in your space.

You all have been so helpful, thanks.

I think the best solution would be to get rid of the loveseat and bring in 2 chairs, but that's not in the budget right now.

Just for grins I moved the loveseat to the empty corner. As expected, it's too far away from the long couch for easy conversation, but I like how the room feels more open. The bench is centered on the fireplace (the rug is not but should be) and the long couch is centered on the windows.

I couldn't carry the ottoman back in, but here's the bench in front of the loveseat; doesn't work here at all.

I pulled the couch away from the window.

I like it best of all your tries. If you could find a small square table to go in front of it on the half closest to the dining room wall, it would make it feel usable and wouldn't crowd your walking space. There is room for a floor/reading lamp on the left, and something behind if you want...or on the wall (a mirror, maybe?)
For more laughs, you could also try the chair, floating and angled the same way as the tv cabinet, kind of close to it (without interfering with the door opening, with the back to the dining room. I think a triangle furniture arrangement would help keep the loveseat from looking too added on/stuck in the corner. If the upholstered chair doesn't work, maybe a comfy wood arm chair, a little lighter in scale than the upholstered one?

Try centering the area rug to the fire place and then place the couch, with just the front of its legs on the rug. I can't tell how that will work space wise. I liked it best with the couch and loveseat facing one another.
In your last pic you have a lot of the rug under the couch.

I tend to agree with your assessment that ideally, it'd work best to swap out the loveseat for two armchairs. I think that would work best to maintain flow, not just from foyer to living room, but from dining room to living room as when you moved the loveseat (you also moved the problem). I think you could have a very nice, collected look if you moved the armchair you already have there and then looked for a second one that was a bit different in styling from the first. Something with wooden arms and legs showing. You might be surprised at what you could find on Craiglist and what you decide not to use that you already own, you can also resell on Craigslist. I've done that for many of my room makeovers and find I can get a new look for a fraction of the cost that way. I know you didn't ask about this, but I also think that switching to a larger rug will help your room feel more expansive and open.

For me, it's not about the furniture placement. I think the problem here is that the rug is too small. It doesn't ground the furniture in the room. Also, the green color sort of blends in with the sofas. I think with a larger jute or sisal rug (beige/taupe) would do wonders for making the furniture feel at home in this room. You could probably find an inexpensive one on Overstock.

I have a small table I can try next to the loveseat, but in the meantime here are more pictures incorporating other ideas. The chair is stolen from my office and is more peach than red, so not a great match to the other reds in the room. The rug is centered on the fireplace, with the couch both off and on (different pictures). The rug may well be too small, since it was originally purchased for the L-shaped arrangement. Our budget is very very tight, so I'm not sure a new chair and/or rug will be possible. I'm willing to keep an eye out on CL though.

I think your original furniture arrangement looks great, and works well - I wouldn't change a thing. Sometimes the solution is architectural rather than interior decoration. Could the opening into the room be shifted down to the stair landing?

My apologies if this has already been suggested -- I read above posts really quickly.

What do you think of the chair there? I think it makes the room more friendly and welcoming, breaks up the white of the cabinets a bit. If you have a little table to put by it that wouldn't interfere with the tv or walkway. And the color looks great on my monitor. I like the rug with the couch on it, in the last pic.

I don't think the love seat can live in there. It would look much better with two arm chairs. Also, I would think about a different coffee table. That one looks almost Asian inspired so I would find something different.

I don't mind the loveseat in the corner, but I think you need to try putting it over to the right a bit, not exactly centered on the corner of the two walls. That will move it out of the entry a bit, and also move it into the seating space a bit more. You need a lamp and table beside it. Then I would move the end table and lamp that you have now to the other end of the couch, so that you can pull the couch a bit closer to the loveseat. The only problem I have with this arrangement is the rug - kind of fighting between the couch and the other major seating piece.

I am going to suggest that you go back to the original layout, with one difference. Try putting the loveseat in front of the window, so that the whole seating arrangement moves down into the room a bit. Keep the corner table, and put the couch at a right angle to the loveseat. Turn the rug so that the long side is just under the front legs of the couch, and then the shorter side should be able to fit just under the front legs of the loveseat.

I think the purple chair that you showed early on could be brought into the room where you have the tall chair in the last pix. I wouldn't use the bench for the coffeetable - it is too small and the wrong feel for your space. The other coffeetable that matches the side table feels too big, imo.

By using the loveseat in front of the window and moving the whole seating arrangement down, the entry to the room won't feel as obstructed. And running the longer seating piece parallel to the fireplace will carry your eye across the room and help that be the focal point.

In the long term, you might think about looking for a taller secretary desk or bookcase or clock to put on the wall that faces the fireplace, to your left as you enter the room. The room is very weighted to the fireplace end with all the cabinetry, and something tall on that end wall would be a nice balance, but would not be in the way if the couch was placed as suggested.

I still say try bringing the purple chair in...

I haven't read all the responses, but I agree with Loribee, the purple chair would look awesome with the green couches! (And the salmon colored one, not so much, sorry!) I prefer the original arrangement, but as Les suggested, try switching the sofa & loveseat to bring it more into the room (and put a sofa table behind the sofa to soften the blow of looking at the back of the couch). I also prefer the original coffee table.

Sorry, not a fan of the love seat in the corner. I liked the couches facing each other, since you mentioned only your son is the tv watcher in this room.

I think you need to replace the love seat with 2 chairs.

I also would like to see the purple armchair there. I think it would be a stunning combination with your sofa and cushions. The salmon one is a possibility as your second chair, if you were to slipcover it. Scoobyruby has some similar chairs which are slipcovered. I would love to see the pembroke table you have next to the purple table between the two chairs with both sides of the table raised up. Then put the ottoman back where you had it first in front of the fireplace and put back the square coffee table as well. That would create a nice conversational grouping while not obstructing the flow. Long term, I still think you need a larger rug, but I would first get the grouping right so you can be sure of your rug size. Inexpensive rugs can be found at places like TJ Maxx, or if you are vigligant, occasionally Tuesday Morning.

les - laxsupermom already suggested exactly that and OP said the couch is too long that way.

I think the original layout (assuming couch and loveseat cannot be switched) is preferable to the loveseat in the corner.

I think grbr54's suggestion of moving the opening is brilliant! But, I suspect that's not in the budget now, but perhaps something for the future.

I think the red chair you brought in looks great, it warms and friendlies up the room.

Also not in favor of the loveseat in the corner. It's isolated and looks like the place where you will make the bad guests sit, LOL, "You, go sit in the corner!"

I think you had the right idea with the sofas facing each other. How about a table behind the sofa with lamps to balance a lamp on the square table next to the other sofa. I would like to see something round. You have lots of square going on. The rectangle rug which is beautiful doesn't look quite right in that place. Maybe somewhere else. Did you try two chairs to create a square facing the fireplace? Maybe try your square coffee table in between with a small sheepskin rug under it. It's a lovely room.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I've read all of them and appreciate your taking the time to chime in with opinions. Some great ideas to try out. I won't have time to move any furniture for another day or so but plan to experiment a bit more.

gwbr - knocking out walls isn't in the budget at the moment.

olychick - I actually like the chair there but think the color isn't great. Also it's the cat's chair in my home office and he's a bit lost without his usual place to sleep ;-)

htnspz - agree with everything you wrote.

les - thanks for weighing in, I really appreciate your wonderful advice. I'll bring the purple chair down from upstairs and try your suggestion.

loribee - purple chair coming soon.

hoosiergirl - I agree!

ellendi - agree, the loveseat in the corner is less than ideal.

k9arlene - yes, I think that's the right long term solution.

valinsv - purple chair coming soon, pembroke table too. By slipcover, do you mean cover the entire chair, sort of like a parson's chair? The salmon fabric is actually a bit faded - it could use a freshening up and I'm not opposed to finding new fabric for it.

jillinnj - I'm pretty sure the couches can't be reversed with the shorter one on the window wall, but everything's pretty easy to move around and I'm willing to give it a shot.

bigdoglover - agreed!

nanabella - good ideas to try. I do have another round table I could bring into the mix.

Here is a pic of scoobyruby's chair that is slipcovered. It actually looks a lot like your chair. The skirting at the bottom gives it a more substantial look.
{{!gwi}}

If as you say your chair is getting a bit worn, I think this would be a nice option. I'm just wondering what is the height of the two arm chairs we are discussing. That is where it will be helpful to see both armchairs in the same room, though sounds like a bit of work to haul from downstairs. You have so many lovely items already in your home, it's definitely a good idea to exhaust those possibilities first.

Another vote to place the purple chair where the tall red chair now sits .... and try putting back the original coffee table ....

Try removing the rug from the seating area -- just to see how that changes the look ....

I do like the loveseat angled in the corner! But folks who sit there will need somewhere to place a drink -- I wonder if a tray on the ottoman would work? And perhaps look for a standing lamp for that corner?

I wanted to add that you should think about how many people you need to seat in the room. Then start making determinations about your seating.
Don't discount bench seating because there's an option to place one where you had the loveseat originally. It wouldn't visually block the traffic flow and would provide additional seating. You could then add two armchairs and have seating for 5-6.

We had a loveseat in the corner once and it became our favorite spot. I placed a table behind it with a lamp, and smallish coffee table. At night it was especially cozy to sit and play card games with dh.

I agree you need a much larger rug, but I also understand how money can be tight, especially when you have a child going off to college!

Maybe you could start your own Rug Fund or put one on lay-away?

Thanks for that photo, val, it's helpful and I can definitely see doing a slipcover for this chair.

DS is home on break and helped me move furniture around. We tried a variety of arrangements. I think the purple chair is too bulky for the space. What do you think?

As far as how many people we need to seat, usually we host groups of 5-6 at a time. My bridge group is 12, but we don't need casual seating, just room for 3 bridge tables.

Option #1: Couch where it was before away from the wall, add purple chair and side table.

#2 Couch moved back against the window, rug is no longer centered, with purple chair.

#3 Loveseat with side table and lamp. This seems cramped to me.

#4 Loveseat centered on window with long couch going across the room. This was not good on the other side of the long couch, too close to the opposite wall to pass by comfortably.

#5 Loveseat moved down towards fireplace, arms overlapping a little.

#6 This arrangement was a little better as far as walking space.

#7 Everything is pushed towards the fireplace more than in the original arrangement, which gives more area at the entrance to the living room. I don't think it's as inviting as having the non-L arrangement.

#8 I don't think the purple chair works in the corner facing the back of the couch.

I like the next to the last picture. The only reason it doesn't look inviting is because the back of the room is empty.

Our living room is basically like that but with the entrance to the "side", and we put a sofa table behind the sofa, a large round rug behind it, and a wooden "game" table on top of the rug. Basically we filled up the empty area which makes the whole room inviting.

Do you have an old dresser you can set behind the sofa, or even some book shelves to put in the empty corner?

A strong vote for #2! But try it without the area rug -- which seems to emphasize that it is too small for the whole room ....THEN try replacing the original coffee table -- there may be enough "visible" space for it when the rug is removed ....

I really prefer to see the sofa pushed back to the window .... but no side table by the loveseat in the corner .... a standing lamp would work well in that corner ....

oakleyok - like this?

teacats - thanks for your vote :) When I turned the rug I found that the floor underneath it is in terrible shape, very scuffed up :( I'll need to take a closer look at this problem. I'd like to try the original square table back in, but I think we're done moving furniture for today. I'll get DS to help move again tomorrow.

I like teacats suggestion. It looks too cramped to run your couch across from the FP with the loveseat also there. You could try replacing the loveseat with the salmon colored chair. How does the wooden chair look next to the purple chair with the pembroke table between? I know the color will be off, but in terms or style/scale. You can always toss an ivory sheet over it. What I would do is the keep the rug centered with respect to your FP, with no furniture legs on it. It's not large enough to ground your furniture in that way and only makes your room feel closed in.

Is there another spot for your loveseat if you decide not to use it here--perhaps upstairs where the purple chair was? That is so sweet your DS is helping you on his school break.

We decided to go ahead and put our house on the market, so here's the arrangement the stager came up with (from the listing pictures). The armchair is too far from the couch for easy conversation, but the room is much more open this way.