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Decorating a Narrow Living Room

14 years ago

We are redecorating our living room and most of the pictures I've seen show seating (sofa, loveseat etc.) in front of a TV, or facing each other. Neither of these will work for us- our living room is narrow so there isn't enough room to put sofa and chairs in front of each other, and our main TV is in the family room (we don't intend to purchase one for the living room). Does anyone have any ideas?

The entire space is the living and dining room. We already have dining furniture and a sofa, but can buy more furniture to complete the room. The right side where the hanging light is, is the dining room:

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Comments (4)

anele_gw
14 years ago
I'm sure someone else will have a better idea, but what about a sectional type arrangement if you'd be open to a new sofa? Would that work? I'd put the long side against the wall and the short side would sort of create a division between the living room and dining room. Then, just because I love fireplaces, I would think about putting an electric fireplace on the wall facing the long part of the sofa, or I might look for an antique mantel and put that there . . .

If you don't want a sectional, I wonder if you could put just a chair or two instead?

In either case, you may want to see if you can turn your dining room table, so that you have a little more room for the living room section.
fnmroberts
14 years ago
How wide is your space? Our combination LR and DR measure approximately 25'. The DR is 10' wide and the LR L's to be 13'. No TV in ours either, arranged for conversation.

From the link below you can view room photos to see how we have dealt with arrangement. Hope this helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Room Photos
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Sorry, Kim, I was typing at the same time you were, but that arrangement that you have now, is what I suggested below. I really like it. if that wood piece needs to be there, can you put your TV on the long wall where your couch is, put couch in front of windows and chair on the right side of your couch as you are looking at it. May even have room for another chair.....with end tables, coffee table and lamps your room will look good. I assume you will be putting some sort of curtain/drape on the windows. Your floors look very nice and a rug in front of the couch would give it some color.
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I'm squealing - a double sided fireplace is so cool! I definitely say go lighter and try lightening before walling in or having it torn apart and built differently. I say that because it can be done so inexpensively and with your wooden ceiling, a natural stone fireplace is only, well, natural! Go to Pinterest to look for how-to's on whitewashing - soooo many posts about it. Can easily be done yourself for very little money. Beverly posted about staining - that had me researching because I always thought to go lighter you had to paint. I found Masonry Cosmetics. I'm super excited about this because I have exterior stonework I want to change the color of and I did not want to change a maintenance free item on our home to one that has to be maintained. But indoors I would think white-washing would last just fine?
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Comments (23)
I want to thank you all for your suggestions and close out this thread. I've moved into my house with the furniture I have, and this has allowed me to see what I need and what could work. One thing I've learned is that I'm really lacking in storage space. So now I'm obsessed with the idea of storage ottomans and tables. To that end, here's what I plan to do. (Sorry that my sketching isn't as nice as your models!) Add a counter-height table / island along the open wall space in the kitchen. The ideal one would have drawers, shelves, or cabinet space and also be able to accommodate 4-6 counter-height chairs (or maybe a banquette and several stools), or better yet, be expandable. This would be my primary dining area. Get rid of my current glass-top dining set and move my beloved coffee table to its spot, where the kitchen opens into the living room. Get four ottoman / cushions with storage. This will be casual tea time seating or extra entertaining space. Place a new sofa along the long wall for my primary lounging space. Full length (not apartment size) I think would work as long as the seat depth is relatively shallow. Buy a long, narrow storage ottoman / coffee table to go in front of the sofa. The ideal ottoman / coffee table would also be able to serve as extra seating for larger gatherings. Keep one of my benches under the front window. That's where it is now, and I think it works quite well there. The other bench is upstairs at the foot of my bed. The window bench in theory is my current lounging spot, but in reality is a really fancy dog bed, LOL. With this plan, I could seat about 15 people for casual gatherings and have plenty of standing room space. That's more than sufficient for me.
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Would family like table and chairs by the end wall [65"] Cheap idea for curtains not your question.... each 1 for each 100"W, 1 for each window and 2 for side wall's window. "Weighted hem and unlined 100-inch-by-96-inch panel is made from 100% polyester that is easy to wipe clean and thick enough to keep the light out. Its wide grommets make it simple to slide open or shut." https://www.houzz.com/products/neutral-gray-grommet-doublewide-blackout-curtain-single-panel-100x96-prvw-vr~132700550 https://www.houzz.com/products/oriental-weavers-highlands-gray-blue-area-rug-6613a-7-10x10-10-prvw-vr~151744605
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OKMoreh
14 years ago
Some years ago I had a living room that was 11 feet wide and 25 feet long. There was a separate dining room (forming an L with the living room), but no family room, so I had to include TV watching in it.

I treated it effectively as two rooms, almost as three. I put a sofa against the longest wall, centered relative to the opposite wall, which was shorter because of the dining-room L and because of the door to the entrance hall, and placed two upholstered chairs next to it at right angles, forming a U. Since there was no fireplace or any other obvious focal point, I placed a long, low bookcase opposite the sofa, with a large painting above it and straight chairs at either end.

I put the TV at the end of the room, with the furniture for watching TV turned away from the sofa group. There was also a separate seating area at the entrance-hall end, consisting of two chairs and a small table. This small seating area was not especially functional, but necessary because of the traffic flow.
oceanna
14 years ago
You might see some layouts here that give you ideas...

Here is a link that might be useful: Long narrow living room

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