Even adults can be clumsy, forgetful, or have one too many and fall.....for insurance/safety reasons, I would put up a wrought iron bannister. It looks like its missing.

Hi Norwega. Love the wood floor. Your hubby did an awesome job. Your kitchen counters are gorgeous too. I do have to agree with gk though, a railing is a must. I can't believe you wouldn't have a code that says you have to have one. If you don't want a half wall or railing why not build a book shelf similar to the built in around the window. That, I think, would work and look beautiful. You could still set two chair in front of it like you have your lawn chairs now.

I see you have vents in front of the window like we did in our last home. That can pose a problem, but what I did was set bricks (you'll have to wrap them in felt to protect the wood) behind each leg to keep a sofa or loveseat that you put there from blocking the air.

Oooh yes, you must put up some kind of railing. So many things could happen, even with no kids in the house, especially with those slick floors. One of those chairs could tip over backwards.

It gives me an uneasy feeling to look at it. Sorry.

It's hard to tell about furniture arrangement because of what's in there now and what's not in there yet. It looks like it will be a very nice room, especially with some kind of railing over the stairwell. :)

Hope you guys don't drink, lol.

Sorry, I know you came here looking for furniture arrangement advice, but I have to agree with the others. Some sort of railing, half wall, built-in/attached bookcase is a MUST in that space. I can't believe you would pass code, but it's also a terrible hazard for adults, pets, and children. My reaction to your first photo was "holy carp!"

ok, so imagine a railing there.

Does anyone have suggestions on where to put seating? Amount of seating?

We do drink, but not to excess.

TIA

Are the things that are pushed to the side (Piano, old sewing machine) going to be in this room?

Could be, but don't have to be. We could put them downstairs in the family room.

I know you asked for furniture placement, and sorry to be offering unwanted advice, but... you may not be able to get insurance with no railing. That happened to us. We wanted a railing, but didn't have the $$ to put one in right away, and the insurance company refused to insure us until it was done. TG we did it - I ended up having a fall (totally sober...slips happen) and the railing stopped me from getting hurt worse than I did.

Sorry, another one that thought holy crap that is an accident waiting to happen. You need a rail. You may want to look into plexi glass if you like the open concept but someone could get seriously hurt.

Is the TV staying where it is?

I would suggest that you use painters tape to see if it will fit before you purchase something. Are you looking to get a sofa? I have been seeing quite a few 80" sofa's and I don't think I would do bigger than that. How big is the opening with no rail?

You could put a small, L-shaped sectional in there. Have the shorter side placed where the 'cliff' is and the longer side in front of the window. Pull it out a bit because of the vents.

I've had windows that size and what I've done is place a low coffee table behind a sofa and add larger plants to the top.

Window panels would probably work better than woven blinds because he windows themselves don't seem to have enough depth to install them with an inside mount. They will soften the overall look, too.

Get a nice console to store your TV and stereo components. You could place the sewing machine diagonally in the corner between the two windows. If you had it under the smaller window it might be too much on that wall but you could try it and see.

Floor lamps can also be added. It looks like you have plenty of outlets.

Furniture slips when people use it. Every week I have to pull our sofa out from the wall, where it has backed up a tiny bit whenever someone sits on it. It's not even noticeable until it's jammed up against the wall. Our floors are not smooth like yours. Even if a person never falls over that cliff, your furniture might.

ok, so imagine a railing there. Hmm, that sounds like something my daughter might say. No offense to you, because I love her dearly. But she would say it when she has no intention of listening to anything anyone else has to say and just wants to get past the objections to whatever it is that she wants. So I would imagine that you're a fairly young person? Not that there's anything wrong with that! Anyway, now you've heard the warnings.

Agree with everyone else about "the cliff" (that made me LOL!) and I think the bookcase suggestion was a good one. 'Nuf said.

If it were my room, I'd definitely place the TV in the corner between the two windows. You want it to be viewable to the dining area and the kitchen as well as the room it's in. Also, it seems to me the best placement to avoid window reflections on the TV.

After that, I'd decide how I wanted the traffic to flow. It seems to me the best arrangement for traffic would be a sofa or love seat along the nonexistant railing/bookcase/halfwall and two chairs facing the front window (no table between these two chairs), with a round coffee table or ottoman in the center of the room, so that traffic would easily flow from living to dining to kitchen. And maybe another chair, bench or chaise lounge along the other window (or... is that a black piano?). And then maybe something fun or whimsical in front of the front window, like maybe your sewing machine with plants, other antiques, etc.

hi...yes i also think that you need a rail if you want to keep that chair. But, if you don't want to put a rail, perhaps you can use L sectional sofa just like what parma suggest you. It safer. Maybe you could try this Spartha sectional sofa :
http://www.mycalypsohome.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=24&keyword=&manufacturer_id=0amp;Itemid=26&orderby=product_name&limit=30&limitstart=30

Here is a link that might be useful: www.mycalypsohome.com

A great space with nice light! I love the floors. Also wanted to suggest if you're not a fan of railings, that you might like a railing made with stainless steel cables. Friends of ours have these in their home - very minimalist and modern looking, but follow code and save lives!

Lucy

I think you need to decide if you are going to put in a railing or not (and I really hope you do . . .it looks a little unnerving without one) before you decide furniture arrangement. If you do, it will give you an extra wall to work with. The furniture will have to be arranged differently without one there . . .basically nothing one would sit on/be able to tip/slide on that side.

lucy111 - a cable railing sounds interesting. We have a monorail light in the kitchen above the island, so it would coordinate with the kitchen. The photo below has the entry light, kitchen cabinets are not all up at that point, but they are in the kitchen photo. We've been at the remodel for almost a year now, DH has done all but the demo. Could you find out where your friends purchased the railing? TIA

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

I found that Lazyboy has a design plan, which might be helpful in deciding what will fit.