Good for you! Unless you have a gorgeous finished basement, no reason to spend the bulk of your time without natural light, etc. And your living room has a lot of charm. Nice furniture too.

Could you post a photo of the wall opposite your window wall -- couldn't quite tell from floor plan what it's like.

You won't know about the sofa until you try it, but often a narrower depth is comfortable for shorter people, but not tall people.

Do you use your dining room / are you happy with it as is?

Here is a pic of the opposite wall. It has our staircase and right now there is a tv armoire there. Not the best place for the tv right now because of the angle of the couch. I have tried having my couch face the tv armoire and the chairs on the other side facing the window but it isn't ideal either because you have to look through the chairs to see the tv. It works, but isn't great. Our dr is a whole other project lol! We don't use it often because we have a kitchen table, but I think I'd like to eventually make an arch between the kitchen and dining room much like the one between the lr and dr, and possibly replace the table with an island and start using my dr too! I've had this epiphany of sorts. I have suddenly realized we are spending money to heat these rooms, we don't live in a huge house and yet we are wasting these rooms! The kitchen/dr project is a not so hard construction project that will have to wait until later. Might first try it out for a while before I open walls.

Of course, the first furniture arrangement I though of you've already tried (sofa in front of window, with chairs more or less facing window)!

To the left of TV armoire is a doorway with shelving in the corner?

yes, there is a doorway to the kitchen and powder room left of the armoire. That thing in the layout is actually a wall, for some reason it is bumped out there. I will prob move my current couch back facing the armoire until we can do the project, but it really isn't the most comfy place for tv. If the final layout seems like it may be the best option I'll do either the bookcases first and keep the couch we have or I'll do the couches and keep the armoire where it is. Don't think I can use both the armoire and the couch, but I'm open to all suggestions and if I can save money buy not getting a lot new stuff that would be awesome!

I can understand why you want to move up to such a pretty room. Yes, please post pics of the other walls.

Would something like the following work? Put the couch about where the chair is in your second drawing (but squarely facing the lovely large window). Mount the tv on the wall across from the fireplace (where the print currently is). Put two your two chairs (or two swivel chairs) where your second drawing shows a love seat. Consider building a storage unit with a cushioned seating area (like a window seat) to replace the bookcase to the right of the fireplace. Finally, if you do not use the AC often, hang a lightweight print in front of it in a way so that it could be raised and lowered.

Didn't see the pic of the other wall. Don't think my idea works now. . .

Here's a pic of the full back wall. That cream colored door is actually off the kitchen hallway there not the door to that opening. Funny how it lined up that way. We took the door down when we did our kitchen and I've wanted to put it back ever since, but dh is resisting! Anyway, thanks everyone. Deltabreeze, I actually have tried that layout with my existing furniture using the armoire instead of a flat panel. It was okay...a close friend of mine convinced me that it didn't work because she felt as soon as you came in the house you were smack dab in the middle of the lr and there was no transition. Plus, we couldn't do that layout and center the furniture to the window. It had to sit to the left of center to make room to pass in front of the armoire and into the house. The armoire is 24" deep so if we did a flat panel that would make a difference.

This whole layout thing has been the joke of all of my friends. I'm constantly rearranging. We had painters in recently to fix the ceiling, when I returned home they had moved my furniture to the way it is now. I had the sofa facing the tv before. I just cracked up and called a friend to see if she had sent some elves to rearrange again. I really think I'd like to figure out what the best layout is even if it means new stuff. I just want to be able to live up there and be comfortable watching tv. What do you guys think about the proposed layout. Does it work well? Any other ideas that might be better?

I dont have any layout ideas but just wanted to say that I love the trim and beams in your house!

Mo

Ah, thanks! It really is the reason we fell in love with and bought the house.

I like your room the way it is now...it looks very cozy and livable, not formal. We also have toys/tv in the basement and keep the LR a tv-free zone. It's amazing how little tv anyone will watch b/c it's a pain to go all the way down the stairs (but I think my kids are older than yours based on the type of toys). We use the LR to read, play games, listen to stereo, enjoy the fire, do homework. Our LR is right off the foyer too and the best part is that the room is always clean :)

Do you use your fire place? If not, if it is just for looks, can you move the rug forward to cover the hearth. then keep the couch where it is with the front legs on the rug. You will then be able to see more of your beautiful rug. Remove the "coffee table" and replace with something darker. Could you use that bench that has the toys on it? Don't know about the dimensions. Or maybe recover the current "coffee table" in a darker fabric. It looks too much like the sofa for my tastes. If you currently don't use the dining room, can you make that a "play room" and keep the toys in there?

Hmm. If you want a transition, here are two other options that might be worth considering.. . .
Option A.
Put the flat screen on the wall opposite the fireplace -- over the baskets where the small pic is currently. Use the existing armoire for toy storage. Put two swivel or moveable chairs along the left end of the rug. Put another swivel chair about where the left couch cushion is in your second floorplan. Put the couch or a love seat where you show it in your second floor plan. As long as the tv is mounted medium high, you should have three good viewing chairs.

Option two.
Mount the tv on the wall where the armoire is currently. Put the couch where the loveseat is in your second floor plan. Put one swivel chair to the left of the fireplace (similar to your current floor plan). Consider building a deep uphoulstered bench to replace the bookcase on the left side of the fireplace. This lets you view the TV from the couch, one chair, and possible the bench.

In terms of your laughing friends, tell them not to expect any permanent resolution to your LR decorating woes.
Those of us with odd shaped LRs (mine is only a tad bigger than yours) end up shoving furniture around a lot as technology and family needs change. Over the years, my couch has been shoved up against every wall in my LR -- plus it "floated" in the middle of the room for about 8 years. Each arrangement has its pluses and minuses. My current arrangement, for example, sacrifices all attempt at having a graceful transition from my front entry and largely ignores my fireplace. Yet it works for us right now. The important thing is to find something that makes your family happy and comfortable -- at least for now.

iris16 - do you like this better? I had a cover over the ottoman because I switched my curtains and pillows to bring in more greens and yellows for spring and summer. I just switched back, but hadn't removed the cover. Now that the darker colors are back I do realize I like them better! I've always thought my couch was a little too light and since I now think maybe a narrower depth couch might be better for the room I am thinking I could replace it. It sure is comfy though! And, I do have a tall husband 6'4" so I just learned he might not like it. I'm short so I guess it wouldn't matter for me. Wonder what to do. I could just do the two new couches and keep the tv armoire where it is or I could do the bookcases with a new flat panel tv to the side of the fp and keep my current couch or I could just put the tv above the fireplace on an angle. Starting to wonder if that is the best solution. Must go read other posts to see what other people have said about that. Thanks everyone for your ideas!

I think your room looks very inviting as it is -- I love the colors, and the high contrast palette.

But if you're up for rearranging furniture, would love to see how it looks rotated 90 degrees, with sofa in front of window. It seems that may visually widen the room, and as you mentioned, it makes TV watching easier for now.

Kew, Yes I do like the darker colors better. And I like this arrangement of your furniture too. Your furniture looks in good shape to me. If it is still nice looking I would try to postpone buying new and work with what you have. If this is going to be your main living/family/TV room with small children you don't want to have to worry about getting new furniture messed up, unless it really needs to be replaced. I would concentrate on getting the arrangement the way you like it first. I would spend my money on some kind of larger storage/book case that can accomadate some toy storage too.