Long narrow living room with large fireplace

12 years ago

Help! I'm really struggling with this layout! We're moving back into our first home, that we've been renting out for years. The room is longer than it is wide with a large fireplace opposite the front door entry. It's strange and I'm having a difficult time finding a focal point. There are pictures here of how we used to have the room situated, but we have new furniture- a longer couch and loveseat seat, plus a large square ottoman. The shelf that is next to the fireplace has been taken out and is just slightly larger than the loveseat.... I don't even know where to begin with this. TV over the fireplace? TV on wall next to fireplace? TV on wall to the right of the fireplace? The wall and corner that aren't shown has 2 doorways, one to a hall directly next to the fireplace, and the other directly right of the fireplace to a bedroom. AGH!!! Help!! Please... I'm losing my hair over here! :)

This pic is taken from the bedroom doorway, with a walkway to the hall behind the fireplace to the right...

This pic is taken from the front door-we're having it replaced. It currently is an left-hand inwardswing, but can be changed...

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Comments (4)

palimpsest
12 years ago
If you could post a sketch of a measured floorplan it would help. I would probably keep the TV about where it is but modify that spot so that the TV could be wall mounted and the components on shelves below, or something like that.
lethargo
Original Author
12 years ago
With 2 very young children, a house on the market, and this new home to work on 8 hrs away-I'm not finding the time to get the sketch uploaded...

The room is
20'2" x 11'7"(At it's widest, the measurement from fireplace to opposite wall is 9'4") The nitch is 24"x74". The front door is 36" from the corner, 36" wide. There is 121" from the base of the steps to the opposite wall, and 112" from the bedroom door to the front wall.

Sorry!!! I'll try to get a sketch posted later....
Hope this helps in the meantime!

Also, the lights above the tv shown in the pic are gone, and the fireplace is going to be covered with a surround.

Thanks for looking!
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jakabedy
12 years ago
Our LR has about the same dimensions as yours: 12' x 20', and has some of the same issues. It is a very difficult room. And we really only have one solid wall. You see the long wall, with the fireplace in the center and glass on either side. The opposite long "wall" (behind the sofa) isn't a wall at all, but is open to the rest of the great room (see the floor, the cork is the LR and the pavers are the "hall"). You see the one short wall which is mostly glass with room for a small bookcase on the 3' of wall that is there. The wall not shown is the solid wall and has the TV canted out from the wall (corner of TV table is visible in pic), sort of in the corner like your TV.

We tried various options with the furniture lined up straight. But it really didn't work for TV viewing, which is primarily what happens in this room. So we wound up with the sofa angled toward the TV, and DH's chair/ottoman at the end of the room. The club chair in the bottom left of the picture isn't great for TV viewing, but works for visiting.

This picture isn't that great, but I already had it in my PC, so . . .
lethargo
Original Author
12 years ago
Jakabedy- I'm so envious of all that light! I tried some angled arrangements on my layout, and it just doesn't seem to work with the walls behind the sofa/loveseat. Thanks for the suggestion, I'm trying anything and everything!

I'm thinking of putting the sofa to the right of the front door, the loveseat to the left, so that they each flank the fireplace. The ottoman in between, the tv on the mantel-angled down for viewing. Placing a console table behind the loveseat, and a piano in the corner where the club and footstool used to sit. In the nitch I'll have bookshelves put in, and space for the various media boxes we'll have to stash. ....blech. I just don't like that the front door opens nearly straight across from the fireplace. It'll open right into the sitting area.

Working on gettting a sketch uploaded..