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Help with furniture choices/placement

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

Looking for help with figuring out what we need furniture wise for our great room in our new build, and what the best placement would be.

Both myself and my wife really want a sectional, just having a hard time deciding what size would work best for the room, and where would be best to place it. Other than that, we don't have a hot clue about what else would fit/work in the room. We both tend to like more minimalistic, contemporary design.

The TV will be mounted on the wall, to the left of the fireplace. Hopefully the photo of the floor plan I've attached works.

Any suggestions?

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Comments (2)

nhb22
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
It might help if the great room plan was larger. You can try to post again, with exact measurements. But in the meantime, I enlarged and cleaned the space up a bit so that others can easily give you ideas. I don't have any knowledge of sectionals.

Is the following correct? The room appears to be around 17' x 20'. Outside window wall and the opposite wall with the open staircase is 17'. The fireplace wall and kitchen opening on opposite wall is 20'.
xarcady
7 years ago
To figure out what other furniture you want/need in the room, you need to figure out what you will be doing in that room, and get the furniture you need to support those activities.

So, TV watching and a sectional. Will you need a place to put down drinks and snacks? Prop your feet up?

Other activities might include things like visiting with guests, a weekly board game night, reading, knitting, watching sports with friends, doing various hobbies, eating meals in front of the TV.

So you might need a game table and chairs, or lots of seating for friends, or several side/end tables for guests' food and drink, bookcases, storage for games/game equipment, storage for crafting supplies, a good reading lamp, a basket for yarn and knitting needles. Things should be stored as close to where they are being used as possible, to make it easy to tidy up, so storage for the items needed for the various activities planned for the room is important.

Once you have figured out what you want to do in the room, what you need in the room will become more clear.

And don't worry if the room isn't fully furnished when you move in. It may take you a while to find the best uses for each room in the house. Take your time and buy things as you discover you need them. Buying in a hurry because you think the room needs to be furnished tends to lead to mistakes.
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The room seems big, but so much of the perimeter is kind of useless as a location for new seating. Casegoods could fill some of those voids visually, especially opposite the FP where you need a large counter balancing piece like a bookcase and then some large art in the stairwell. I would plan to ground the seating on a large rug. You can tape out some versions for size using the stair railing and fireplace as your boundaries while aligning the rug to some of the windows. The sofa would have its back to the stairwell end of the room. Two chairs would sit where your large sofa is now and, if you do the 4 swivel chair arrangement, two would sit with their backs to the upper landing. Three boys and a dog need space to run around and play, as you said. That's why I suggested smaller scale furniture that would leave some more floor space.
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Oh dear. Now I see why the confusion. Husband wasn’t quite finished with the build of fireplace when I took the picture. In this picture you can see fireplace better With the side boxes. It will have two side boxes...one for fire wood. One for the grill and tools stored inside the box. But you are correct, many places near house to put the grill. Then carry food to wherever we put an eating table. The issue with the patio near house is there is bright hot sun especially summer evenings, and it obstructs our beautiful view from inside the house. This picture is from right outside our bedroom, which was going to be screened in but we decided we don’t need the screen.
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Your house is beautiful. Lots of natural light. Your house should be a place of comfort for you, not your guests. It's nice to entertain but I can say from experience good people don't care if you live in a cardboard box, so long as you are kind to them and treat them with respect. Nobody cares what Art you have on your walls or how many comfty chairs you have out for them to choose from. So let the focus be on you and your family's comfort and desires. Now, if the credenza and tv are staying, add Art, Mirrors or shelving to the sides so it looks complete. You say you have book clubs, perhaps a bookshelf or shelves with decorative books and items flanking each side of that TV. Beautiful Art you like above the fireplace. The rug is too small for those couches. At the very least flip it horizontally instead of vertically , which it is now. I would place a 3 person sofa on the side where you have 2 chairs currently. Place the 2 chairs on the side you currently have one chair (towards the entrance). You did well to place them all on the carpet but you have enough space for a larger carpet. The coffee table is fine. Gives a transitional look. Your molding is very traditional looking so try to get Art and sofa pieces that are more modern or transitional and your space will look stunning. If you are open to the idea, ottomans can be decorative and a place for your feet so that you can move them around and have thinner furniture. The chairs you have now are a little bulky and don't give much life to the space. I would brighten the credenza too if you're open to that (?) Right now it looks like a black hole on that wall.
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