Please look at my Great Room

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

First, here's the plan:

We're making a number of small changes throughout the house, but right now I'm focusing on JUST the Great Room. I think I'm good at spacial layouts ... but have a big blind spot when it comes to arrangement of Great Rooms. In this situation, I have two concerns:

- Does this Great Room need another 2" or so of width?

- Where should the fireplace and shelving go?

Details set fairly well in stone:

- We're putting in a wall between the Kitchen and the Great Room. This will be a solid wall; no pass-through, etc.

- We will have a sliding glass door in what is shown above as the Breakfast Room; we grill out frequently and want direct access to outside. As such, we don't really need the exterior door in the Great Room -- I want the light, but I'm open to keeping this as a sliding glass door, making it into a bank of windows, or going with a window seat across this spot.

- This set of doors /windows will open onto a patio -- uncovered, so southern light will come in from this back side.

- The two interior doors -- one from the Foyer and one into the Breakfast area -- will remain in their current spots.

- The plan shows a cathedral ceiling. We'd like some sort of a "special" ceiling in this room, but we are open to something other than a cathedral.

Now for pictures ...

In my current house, my Great Room is only slightly larger than this one: 15'6x19' , and it's always arranged in one of these two ways -- either one is comfortable. You can tell that the black square is the fireplace (flanked by windows). The red is the TV and the blue squares are a sofa, loveseat and recliner:

This new house's Great Room will be similar in size, and at first glance I thought I was happy with the idea that the TV, shelves, and furniture would all fall to the left side ... and we'd have a nice walkway behind these items, straight to the back windows/door.

But now I'm wondering if this isn't too cramped ... or if the dimensions are off a little. In my current house, the breakfast room is connected to this space, but 19' is fairly wide for a furniture arrangement.

Oh, and a large Grandfather Clock must be given a place of honor somewhere in this room. Both my husband and I adore the clock.

Possibility 1 -- Wall full of fireplace, TV & shelving -- TV in red, plain shelves in green -- Window seat against the back wall -- Sofa & loveseat floating -- this seems to make the "walkway" too narrow; thus, I'm thinking this would be better if we added a couple feet to the width:

Possibility 2: TV and shelving to the right of the fireplace -- closed-door cabinet (perhaps shoulder-high?) on the side wall, which would square the room up a bit AND would give some good storage -- and then the furniture seems to fall into place more nicely.

Possibility 3: Flip the fireplace and TV to the other side of the room. Benefit: Now the sofa & other seating fall nicely into the back of the room, eliminating the need for the walkway behind the sofa. Negative: The fireplace and TV must fit onto a smaller wall (though still probably 12' or so?). I've retained the side-wall cabinet here.

Or do you see a Possibility 4? Perhaps a combination of two of the above? I'm open to different furniture combinations, a sectional, or whatever.

Thanks for your ideas.

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Comments (6)

lakeerieamber
8 years ago
Personally, I tend to prefer a more square family room over a longer rectangle. Our family room now is slightly smaller than the one in your plan and it works because it is out of the flow of traffic and there are 4 walls so the furniture can be against walls and it doesn't impede the flow. Of your arrangements, I prefer 2 but if you have a large tv the sofa may feel too close to it.
scone911
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I do this a little differently. First I figure out how many people the dining room will seat comfortably. In your case, that's six, maybe eight in a pinch. That implies one of several options:

two facing three seater sofas

a sectional

a three seater, two seater, and recliner

a smaller sectional plus recliner.

Given the shape of that great room, you really want to float the furniture toward the fireplace and away from the kitchen wall, otherwise your circulation is bad. It's best if circulation goes around or beside a seating group, rather than through it. Personally I would use a sectional with recliner. I'd put the grandfather clock in the front hall, that's traditionally where it goes.

Also, not that you asked, but Gardner's plans work much better with some sort of opening into the kitchen. It's all about sightlines and conversation.

ETA: BTW, if you move the fireplace away from the fake ridge, you should redo the ceiling with it. Some sort of tray or beamed ceiling could work.
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You asked: I hate it. The bottom one looks like someone took a traditional, wicker sofa and wrapped it in leather. Those very formal, old fashioned arms, and bun feet, don't go with the eclectic, casual style of the upholstery. The shape of the red sofas is much more appropriate, but it would be better in all leather. Leather is great with kids so long as they don't have sharp things in their pockets and can be trusted not to poke pencils into it. It cleans up with water and saddle soap. But it does stick to bare skin, and can get hot. It's nature's vinyl. Which is why they combine it with fabric. Bad move. Either be fabric or be leather. The weight and texture are too different and they rarely come out looking great, especially after some living happens. The red bench is cool! Less imposing than a sofa table (console), but with a lot of the same function. And it's folky and funky. My Aunt had the two sofas flanking the fireplace in her living room. It's a great conversation grouping, but not so much for TV watching. For that, especially for the kids who probably look at the screen more, you want a straight on view. You can do a big square, though. An L of couch and settee or second couch or loveseat, and a couple of small easy chairs that are easy to get around on the opposite side. You have your red chairs. I'm not sure if they're too big to allow people to walk by easily if you close up the square, but even so, you can always pull them over for company, and keep them by the piano for family time with running kids. Re Larry, have your other family members sit tested him? I totally agree about the shape. It's very tired. But that LOVE thing is important. Your family room couch should feel Ahhh to sit on. I'm sure it'll still be there though. Maybe you can find a similarly comfy couch in a more classic shape that will give you more breadth of possibilities. Comfort comes first, but it can be done with a little more style than poor Larry. ;-)
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My husband and I are done remodeling and finally ready to purchase long-term furniture. Exciting, but the great room is giving us such a hard time! As you can see from the floor plan, we only have one wall to the right of the fireplace to anchor furniture, or at least that's the only design we're coming up with. As of now, we don't see any other place for the TV except that wall. We toyed with the idea of hanging it over the fireplace, but our mantle is way too high so that option is out. Keeping the TV on that wall means we have to float all our seating. My dream is a standard sectional with a chaise on one end. Looking at our dimensions, you'd think we have the room, but after taking into account the brick hearth, 3-4' walkway we'd like to leave next to the stairs, AND that small 2' wall next to the stairs that eats into the walkway itself...the room closes in quite a bit. A large sectional seems overwhelming at that point, especially hanging out in the middle of the room. We also have a coat closet at the end of the "walkway." Again, making our large room, not so large after all. We measured off the sectional and it really does seem to swallow the room. (Pics below - and disclaimer - we've since updated our banister and whitewashed our fireplace!) We're expecting our first and only child in May. Again, I'd love a sectional that the 3 of us could snuggle on, but I fear there won't be any room for accent tables, or any room for our baby to crawl around and play. Plus, factor in all the baby gear, although temporary, we'll be pretty cramped for a while. So our next thought was to float a double chaise sofa facing the TV at 129" long with the chaises coming out to 64" each. (Possibly adding a long sofa table behind it depending on the dining table we choose.) We would then float 2 accent chairs just in front of the TV console, facing the sofa. This will leave us with dead corners at the windows, but I can always fill them with blanket baskets, etc. (We have a very spoiled cat, so he'll end up with one corner I'm sure!) And I was thinking once the baby gear days are said and done, we could even do a slim sofa table along the stair wall. At 129" it will still be just as long as the measured off sectional in the photos below, but I'm hoping due to coming out only 64" and remaining low profile, as opposed to a full back 96" along the stair wall side, the room will still feel open. I know how some people feel about the chaises...that they're wasted space and ottomans are more versatile. I agree, however, we're using ottomans now with a standard sofa and I don't care that much for the set up. We do entertain, but I want to design more for our family on a daily basis and I think the double chaise might be a nice way to get my comfy sectional feel without entirely enveloping the room. Thanks so much for reading. I am desperate for thoughts!! If you see an arrangement I haven't thought of, or think what we're planning might be terrible, great, etc...I'd love the feedback!!!
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mojomom
8 years ago
I think you need the extra 2' to be able to float the furniture and have decent circulation. That will square off the room a bit as suggested by Amber and avoid moving the fireplace. I did what scone suggested and decided upon what seating I wanted - for us it was a comfortable nest for the two of us, but 5 for comfortable TV viewing -- movies and ball games and 6-8 for comfortabe conversation, then had the room designed to accommodate that.

You might want to take this over to the home decorating forum. The they are really good with furniture arrangement.
ILoveRed
8 years ago
I think the extra 2 ft of width will be nice. Essentially making the great room 17'4" by 19 and also making the foyer a little more spacious by 2 ft. Or you could divide the extra front 2 ft ...one ft in foyer and one ft in laundry and front bedroom.

Lots more options for furniture combinations and placement.

two feet can make a big difference for the few sq ft you will be paying for in the long run.
mrspete
Original Author
8 years ago
Personally,
I tend to prefer a more square family room ... Of
your arrangements, I prefer 2

I'm also liking it best, and I think part of that is that it essentially squares up not the whole room, but the seating area.
Given the shape of that great room, you really want to float the
furniture toward the fireplace and away from the kitchen wall, otherwise
your circulation is bad. It's best if circulation goes around or beside
a seating group, rather than through it. Personally I would use a
sectional with recliner. I'd put the grandfather clock in the front
hall, that's traditionally where it goes.

I just don't know. I like the idea of the whole back wall being fireplace-TV-shelves ... makes it feel kind of tucked back out of the way... but by flipping the room /placing the sofa against the wall, we don't need a "walkway" both in front AND behind the sofa.

I don't want to relegate the clock to the hall. I love seeing it every day, and at night it's an ideal nightlight for someone walking through to the kitchen.

Also, not that you asked, but Gardner's plans work much better with
some sort of opening into the kitchen. It's all about sightlines and
conversation.

Thanks for the feedback, but we're already settled on some moderately significant changes in the kitchen, so -- for the kitchen -- this is the opposite of "what you see is what you get".
I think you need the extra 2' to be able to float the furniture and have
decent circulation.

Yeah, to tell the truth, I already thought that when I posted ... but I was wondering if anyone had any other ideas. And I wonder if 2' is the right number.

You might want to take this over to the home decorating forum. The they are really good with furniture arrangement.

I didn't realize such a forum existed! Thanks!
dauglos
8 years ago
I'm not sure I have a favorite, which I know doesn't help much. But, as a big TV/movie person, I'd encourage you to take your and your husband's TV/movie viewing habits into consideration, especially since this is a "forever home." You'll presumably be spending a lot of time around the house, and spending most of it with your head turned 30 degrees (or more) isn't ideal. On the other hand, having a big blank screen front and center may not be your thing if the TV isn't usually on.

It occurs to me that "smart" TVs may eat up even more of our time in the future, too. But, anyway, your mileage may vary.

Please look at my Great Room

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Please look at my Great Room

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