Looking at the picture with the white rug and the sofa pulled back a little I think it looks good, not too squished...but you said DH doesn't like looking at the back of the sofa...and no, doesn't look like theres room to put a sofa table behind the couch without blocking the walkway.

I think you can also get away with facing the sofa towards the fireplace wall, in the picture looking "down" on the space, the sofa looks too far over to the left, looks like you have room to pull it over to the right some without it blocking your walk way.

Did I understand that you DONT use the fireplace at all? if so, what about putting your tv stand or a different one if you choose in front of the fireplace if you don't want to mount it over the fireplace.

My last 2 cents...what "FEELS" better? I have moved my furniture from every which wall, flipped the tv from one side of the room to the other and although the arrangement "worked" it didn't "feel" right to me and I would end up putting it back.

What I like about the sofa facing the fireplace wall is that your back isn't to the kitchen/ dining area...

Yes, I definitely need panels or drapes of some sort. Once the mantel is installed, though, there will be maybe an inch or in and a half between the door trim and the mantel. Makes hanging drapes hard! We thought maybe panels or rolling panels (invisible-ish when they're rolled up).

Karenseb, that's awesome. I am lacking a pantry, so this would be amazing to have.

My husband might not go for it now, but it's something I can keep for future reference. I think he's so tired of the renovations and all the work he's had to do (I help when and where I can, but I'm no pro!) that he just wants to finish up the essentials now and get it over with. I'm kind of in the same boat. When we bought the house, we never imagined we'd have this much work today. One project lead to the next, and then all of a sudden, it became a whole house remodel practically!

always1stepbehind, I pushed the sofa over because so that we could look directly at the TV. Even with it so far over, I'd say the last seat looks out to the backyard. Not a problem, though. I do think it'd look nicer if we pulled the sofa out to the right just a tad!

I forgot to mention, we don't really plan to use the fireplace because ordinance doesn't allow us to, but we like the idea of having it there. I think it's cozy! LOL! It does pose a design challenge, though!

If you decide to do a pantry later, my husband once built a pantry where every inch counted. He had drywall on one side only in the pantry, so we gained almost 3 inches. A shallow pantry about 12 or 15 inches deep would be great if you have room. You could build it out into the family room if you haven't room in the kitchen/DR.

I don't know if you mentioned being open to a new sofa, but I think you could get away with a small sectional with the setup pictured that sundance posted of their space. I have the same set up as you, where I have a walkway I have to make room for and I have a sectional situated like sundance but my space is smaller.

the first picture is when it first got delivered, I actually have it pulled out a little more away from the window wall and still have room for my walkway...even with a slim armoire on the wall to the left (you can barely see it in the pic above)

This angle is looking in from hallway..

correction, my sectional is turned different than sundance but you could do the same direction as sundance with one section facing the fireplace and the other section facing the ponywall/kitchen area.

That is like mine, only you have more windows and no fireplace! Our sofa was a custom that originally came with a sectional, but since we didn't need it at the item, we opted to not order it. I'm going to see if I can find the dimensions for it.

What, can I ask, window treatment did you opt to go with for your slider (or is it an actual door)? It looks like you have blinds?

The sectional looks great.

Love the idea of a sectional (facing the pony wall) with the tv over the fireplace. With a great coffee table and rug and maybe an arc lamp or end table and lamp...you're done.

Maybe for that long wall you just need a longer sofa?
Holy moly!

Love the idea of a sectional (facing the pony wall) with the tv over the fireplace. With a great coffee table and rug and maybe an arc lamp or end table and lamp...you're done.

I did this reversal of your 1st photo before you posted about shifting furniture towards fireplace.

The TV and pony wall seemed similar height, as though TV could be switched to just in front of pony with sofa facing open floor plan (Im a sucker for open space layouts).

Will stop beating this dead horse but hated to waste my fine photoshop... okay, MS paint cut and paste technical skills *smile* Below its just a photo of narrow room that did it similarly..

I have French doors on my tv wall. I have bamboo roman shades just to block some of the light but we don't need complete privacy. those doors go out to our patio.

Jaynes123, that's a pretty neat set-up they have there. They successfully divided their room with their TV console.

And holy moly, that is one looooong sofa!

Okay, my husband is going to attempt to draw the room for me. I will post when I have some versions up!

I think I found a way to move the piano to the long wall, move the TV to where the piano is now, and move the sofa infront of the fireplace. We are slightly off center to the wall, and we'll be fairly close to the piano's edge, but the view of the TV isn't obstructed.

The fireplace's lower half is blocked by the sofa, but it's a pretty high mantel and part of the fireplace itself is still visible. This way, we clear up the walkway, which was really bugging my husband. He's finally willing to unplug the electronics this weekend so that we can move stuff around. Yay!

The only problem I see with this layout is I'm not sure where to store all my books other than the half-wall.

Played around with RoomSketcher to get these images. Too bad they're not 3D. I have a few more layouts to share with you, so when I get live pictures, I'll share with everyone.

I really appreciate everyone's ideas so far. Thank you!

This post was edited by Sugar_Berry on Thu, Jul 3, 14 at 0:39

Just another angle

Sugar...will you be able to use the breakfast bar with the dining table & chairs right behind it? It will be REALLY tight. What about nixing the bar stools and doing built-in bookcases below that counter?

Even though the fireplace isn't functional, it looks a bit awkward to have the sofa's back to it.

We can use the breakfast bar if we buy a narrow table, about 30"-35", and have dining benches on that end. We actually like the look of benches with a rectangular dining table (saw it in a few show homes), so that's not a problem. Or it was suggested we buy a bar height dining table and scoot the bar stools over depending on our needs. We're still mulling that over. Heck, we're mulling the whole house over!

I agree, it's a bit odd to have the sofa blocking the view to the mantle, but I wonder if the builders intended for the set-up to be like that, since all the wiring actually comes out of the stairwell.

So this is the sketch of TV over the fireplace. To my eye, it's just so off-balanced, even with the side chair pulled to the right some to balance it out, because the sofa extends 3" further into the space than the fireplace,. I almost feel like I need to put something right in front of the pony wall, which was what my hubby was trying to avoid. I'll still test it out this weekend. I'm determined to come up with a layout we'll both enjoy!

I just don't think that room is going to make any sense unless you put the sofa on the long wall and the tv on/in the half wall. To have the sofa with it's back to the tv, the french doors and basically the dining room, is really awkward. When you say you seldom watch tv, I don't see why you'd arrange it so that it's all you focus on, esp when the rest of the room (fireplace and french doors) is so pretty.

If you did a unit like that Ikea one above, you would have your tv and some bookshelf space. If you still need more shelf space, you could wall in the space above the 1/2 wall and hang the tv there. Or you could place the tv on the lower half of the 1/2 wall and build open bookshelves above it for more storage, then you could access them from both the kitchen and living room.

I'm thinking TV over fireplace for sure. Just make sure it's centered over the FP which in your sketch it is not. Put the TV on an articulating mount so it tucks over the fireplace but can be pulled sideways when needed. You could even do a very contemporary dark wood built in all around the fireplace and up to the TV (depending on flammable materials clearance of course. I would keep the piano where it is and back the sofa on to it. To me, sofa on long wall just accentuates the bowling alley effect - sofa floating in middle of room allows different 'areas' in one room.

I feel your pain too - my family room is 11x24! I have an 'L' shaped sectional and mounted the TV in the corner.

This post was edited by robotropolis on Thu, Jul 3, 14 at 13:54

Great ideas everyone. I did map out some suggestions given to me yesterday night, and these also might work. We're just not up to filling in the half wall or covering it up because I need the shelf space and we installed some very expensive marble on it that was left over from our kitchen remodel. If we're really stuck, I'm sure I can convince my husband to see if we can put it in the half-wall, but right now, he's having none of it! We're left with trying to figure out what we can do with things the way they already are. I think I won't be able to tell what I like until I get to move all the furniture around, so hopefully by this weekend, I'll do. I'm just hoping to get feedback on possible layouts and which ones definitely won't work.

I'm not trying to be a pain everyone, and I really do appreciate your constant feedback. Thanks for putting up with me!

Someone suggested moving the piano over to the fireplace.

It might work if I purchase my end tables and furniture carefully. And I think it works if I switch the sofa to the stairwall...

We can't use the fireplace, so heat damage to the piano is not an issue.

Of all of your options pictured here, this one (or with the tv over fireplace) is the least awkward to me. Because the room is so narrow, facing the long wall or facing the piano where is is now just looks like the walls are too "in your face". With the couch facing the fireplace (or impossibly the 1/2 wall) it opens the room and your eyes have something to look at besides the walls/tv. I think the piano near the fireplace is too crowded looking. It looks like you've done a wonderful job on your remodeling/finishes.

When I see the sofa perpendicular to the long wall, the space behind it looks to narrow to me for either the fireplace which looks like its being blocked or the piano because it looks like its just being stored behind it.
How tied are you to the fireplace, with it not even being usable? Would it be a consideration and would it physically fit to put either the piano or double bookcases in front of it?

Thanks olychick! I'm feeling like the remodel will never end. One thing gets done, and something else suddenly needs repairs...

And I agree with you about looking out towards the window. It was so bright when we moved the sofa over to test it out and it's nice when I'm reading.
But...I think you just gave me an idea...not going to bore you guys with anymore layout options, so I'll test it out and see how the hubby likes it!Thanks!!!

You mentioned the piano to tight for the dining area - would the double bookcases work there to free up space.

I cant seem to let go what seems the natural layout to me - TV on the pony and spacious options it opens up, especially seeing it commented by others too. Even options with chairs backed to fireplace (#4) doesnt seem to block off fireplace like sofa does, since sofa so solid and long like room divider. Have you actually tried the sofa facing pony and not liked it?

If only you could retire the piano and get a keyboard, you'd have so many more options. lol.

Jaynes, yes, I know it would like the most balanced with the sofa placed against the long wall, but I really don't want to modify the half wall other than to repaint and put the shelves back in. We don't have the budget to do the built-ins right now because we still have two bathrooms to remodel (one being the Master Bath!). And it know it looks level in the photo, but i checked again and if we were to just tuck the TV into the space, it would be too low. Right now, the TV is actually higher than the pony wall, and it's actually a bit low right now as it is. If we kept it were it is now, we'd mount it a tad higher (though not as high as the fireplace).

I can lose the bookcases, no problem! I was planning on getting rid of them anyway for smaller with a smaller footprint.

Yes, upright pianos are so big. I've played on the high quality electronic ones, and, sadly, they feel completely different from real ones!

Armed with all these drawings and layout suggestions you've all sent me, I'm going to give them all a go this weekend. Many, many thanks!!

Okay, you've said that you rarely watch tv, so it seems senseless to design your entire room around the television for the few times you use it for video games, etc, I would place it over the fireplace with an arm that could adjust it in various directions and forget about it. It should be able to be made to view from almost any angle for the times that you infrequently use it, then I would place the sofa on the long wall.

Does the piano need to stay in this room? From your plan it looks like it could fit in the entry/foyer.

My recommendation for the layout of your room. You need to accommodate more people with seats. The bookcases around the tv block the view. Use a sofa and two lounge chairs with a coffee table. Move the bookcases over to the fireplace/library area and incorporate a comfy chair or recliner with a good light for reading. Not sure your existing sofa will work with this configuration, but perhaps you can consider mounting the TV on the wall with a minimal wall mounted cabinet from IKEA below.

Since you cannot use your fireplace at all, have you thought of putting your two bookcases in front of it? Or the piano, if there is room? Or even the TV/unit in front. Then you would have more wall space to arrange your living room. I am not fond of a TV on the wsll above the fireplace. If placing something in front of the fireplace leaves a little "gap" on the window side....place a tall plant there.

If you don't like the look of a tv above the fireplace check out Pottery Barn mirror cabinet media solution. It looks like a mirror but opens up like a cabinet to expose the tv.

beverly27, I actually just came up with a layout like that. I did add a bench facing the TV as an option for extra seating. But I'm currently testing these all out. I think what's going to work out for us, based on these drawings and the actual space, is probably going to be a combination of your drawing and what I came up.

oaktonmon, ooh pottery barn! I'm going to check it out. Thanks for the tip!

I have a similar narrow room so I feel your pain. Because I have a counter stools in my kitchen on the living room side, I have about nine feet or so to work with. I have tried all the arrangements you have and I have settled on one that is a mix between the one beverly27 just posted and the one you posted on Tue, Jul 1, 14 at 2:18. I have tried the sofa facing the wall, but it blocks off the room too much and we too don't watch a lot of TV so it is not necessary for the sofa to face the TV directly. I'll take a couple pics tomorrow in the daylight and post for you to see.

For the dining room, I think you need a long, narrow table with a bench on the window side. That way the table can be pushed a little closer to the window to give the barstool area more room.
Something like this:

A simple parsons table would fit in well with your decor. Room and Board has tables you can customize. A 30x60 should seat six people.

Here is a link that might be useful: Customizable Room and Board Parsons Table

Here are pics of my space. Ignore the mismatched chairs (hubby and I can't agree on matching replacements) and the light fixture. Anyway, from the wall to the edge of the carpet is 9'3". The rug is 8'x10' and the shelving along the wall is 15" deep. The TV is on a bracket so it can be swiveled to any position.

As you can see, our counter dining area faces the living room. Someday I want to make it facing the dining area and add shelving where the current barstools are. It would be very similar to your space when that's done.

We do not have a fireplace, but have considered adding one in the corner where the [hideous] blue chair is. In that case, we would have just one chair where the brown one is now. This is what you have now since your fireplace is so far over that it is essentially a corner fireplace.

geokid, that is actually what I think my husband and I will be doing! What a coincidence!

Over the weekend, we tried almost all the layouts suggested (much to my husband and everyone who had to help's horror), even went back and forth a few times, and have settled on two arrangements that will work best for us. In either arrangement, the sofa is going to face the fireplace. We'll have two slimmer side chairs with a opposite from the sofa. We most likely will have the TV mounted on the long wall with a smaller cabinet or mounted cubbies/shelves (something) for the electronics. I might add in a small tufted bench opposite the TV if we need more seating, but the two side chairs should work for now, and when my family/friends come over to play video games (which seems to be really often lately), we'll pull the chairs over. But realistically, we all sit on the floor. The piano will stay along the stairs, and to balance the open wall space between the piano and the sofa, we'll mount some shelves for decor and books.

We tried mounting the TV over the fireplace, and I surprisingly liked it, too! It totally cleared up the floor space and made everything so open, but...it was kind of uncomfortable to look up at the TV. I'm only 5'3"; I don't mind a few minutes like that, but not for a couple of hours and not for game-playing. It's fine for my husband, though. I'm still keeping this an option, as I think we won't really know what'll work for us until we start buying some new furniture.

I tried placing the piano in the dining room; no good because it ate up too much room. The bookcases are currently there, and I kind of like it! LOL. We have no dining table yet, so it feels like a special reading room. Haha!

I like the idea of the bench along the window. If our chandelier was centered in the room, would it look weird for the table to be off-center? Otherwise, my plan was to buy a narrow table, have bench seating on one side (probably closer to the bar area) and regular chairs the other side.

Still no furniture, but you get the idea. The sofa isn't as close to the piano as it appears in the floor plan.

This also works, but, as you can see, the TV is pretty high. I can only lower the mantel about 4 inches or so.

Thanks for the help everyone! I'll hopefully have some newer furniture soon, so I'll post a follow up for the downstairs. I still have to figure out the dining table situation, so I'll probably come back for some help!

But...do you all think I need a bigger rug? That's a 5x7. Do you think I need an 8x10?

Thanks!

I like the TV on the long wall. Long term TV viewing over a fireplace can lead to neck problems for some people. If you find 2 very small chairs, you could try them as shown in this floor plan. Then your fireplace isn't blocked and one more person can view the TV.
I would definitely lower the TV on the long wall. The middle of the TV should be in line with your eyes when you sit on the sofa or chair.

Rather than have a coffee table, you might consider 2 smaller ottomans to set drinks down on but also to be used to pull up to the tv to play video games. It would also seem less visually crowded than one larger coffee table. I'm also leaning toward placing the tv on the long wall, but agree, it needs to be lower.

HI Sugar Berry-you have alot of good suggestions here and I've tried to read through all the posts. Not sure where you are in your remodeling project, but we have a similar scenario with a long narrow living room and narrow family room. What we did with the family room is replaced the sliding patio door with a single french door. It gave us more wall space to work with in the room and really didn't cut down on sunlight).

We wanted a coffee table, but it just took up too much real estate in middle of the room. We opted to place 2 ottomans with trays on top in front of sofa. They can be moved, used for seating, etc. We also purchased a smaller scale contemporary style swivel rocker that allows us to position it to watch TV or towards kitchen area so visitors can chat with us while working in the kitchen. You could place that next to fireplace/patio door.

Also, wondering why you aren't using the fireplace (not functioning?) and why you're going to store peripherals in it? Could you find a console to place in front of it that would also serve as a spot for your TV?

Someone mentioned whether the piano could go in the foyer.

Currently it appears to me as though piano where its at is squeezed 2 feet behind sofa and that its forcing opposite chairs to be up against the fireplace.

Understand if your fine with it, but to me seems the piano unneccesarily cramps the room to the fireplace while still not having enough space for itself behind sofa, with resulting half piano view above sofa not the nicest use of that back wall.

No offense intended, just an opinion but with piano removed, the room seems to work much more nicely.

If you really want the piano there, you could allow more space for it and open the view to both TV and fireplace by switching the chairs.and shifting seating towards fireplace.

With this option both piano and fireplace would have floor space in front of both. I like your layout, just think for length of room it cuts off the fireplace and piano.

Hi all,

The foyer is actually not a accurate because I didn't draw in the bathroom door and the closet actually cuts into the hallway. We have about 35" of wall spat to squeeze a tiny console or shoe cabinet in front of the door. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

I haven't bought any furniture, and ottomans in lieu of a table are certainly an option! Jaynes, when we were testing out the layouts, we did have everything closer to the fireplace than what the diagrams are showing. There was actually more than 3 feet, so it shouldn't be too bad. We'll probably only need the sofa and two side chairs, and they can pretty much go anyway that feels most open and practical. :) I just added the bench as a worst case scenario if we needed more seating.

chicgeek, my state limits the days you can use your fireplace (practically, the days you would want to!), and we were only going to do that to the fireplace if we mounted the TV on top of it. I probably won't do it!

Great ideas, everyone! I think once a few furniture pieces are ordered, we'll know where everything should go! This, at least, gives me a start to what types of things I can buy.