A couch on the wall facing the large window, and 2 matching chairs, angled towards each other, on each side of the large window. After that, you can think about what kind of tables/lamps to purchase. Is the entry into the room on the left hand wall?

Yes, The front door is in the foyer on the left. I worry putting a couch there will awkwardly block the doorway into my dining room. What do you think?

What is the length of the wall where a 72" couch can be placed? And what is the room's width? If the room's narrow, the couch should be against the wall.

The wall is about 10feet. My issue is if I put a couch against that wall, it is off center from the window! That will drive me crazy!

If the couch is placed as close to the dining room opening as possible, and a side table & lamp on the other side of the couch (in the corner), it might look more balanced to you. Another option is to place the couch on the short wall facing the entry opening. It looks like it would have a window behind it, and not sure if this window goes to the floor, but that might still be the best placement if you prefer symmetry. I prefer symmetry too! I have a similar living room, and it drives me crazy too, but have 2 windows (with 5 feet between them) instead of one large window.

yes, the window on the right is a short window! A couch could fir under there. I never thought about turning the room. Thank you. I am also not married to buying a couch. I could just do chairs like lounge-ish. I also thought about building a window seat under my giant window. This is why my room has been empty for 2 years.

I'm curious: how would you build a window seat under a window that goes to the floor? What do you have on the window? Blinds, curtains? I love window seats, but not sure how that would work. You could just do chairs, but the room might need something more to ground it & make it look more complete. You could include a 60" loveseat in place of a couch on the wall facing the window - and 60" might fit more symmetrically facing your large window. Apartment sized couches are also available. And 2 chairs like you mentioned, on either side of your small window. Here's a photo of mine; I'm also in the process of replacing the art above the couch. Lots of designers say not to place couches against a wall, but sometimes we have to, so we can walk through the room! I'm sure there are some great ideas from other people that will respond to your dilemma.

A window seat would be great; you have plenty of space below it! I like your matching cabinets/bookcases. You have a nice room to work with.

I was thinking about doing this? Do you think its too crowded?

Whether it is too crowded or not depends on the size of the chair that you are putting between the windowseat and the entry but it looks like you have enough space as shown in your photo. Do you plan to keep the bookcases where they are? Are they matching? Your layout is good. You could center the couch on the wall, as long as you have room for an end table/lamp on one side of the couch, and then a piece of art would be centered on the wall above the couch.

How many do you need to seat?

I'd purchase the couch & 2 matching chairs first - see how that looks and how they 'fill' the room. Then decide if you want a 3rd chair. And of course make your window seat whenever you want to. Get end table(s) if you don't have them & consider a coffee table. Then decide on whether the bookcases look like they still belong in the room. Have you thought about putting a tv in the room at some point? If so, you could put it where you were considering the 3rd chair.

If you're planning on a window seat, I would consider doing that with a chair flanking either side of it and the sofa directly across. I feel the arrangement you show above with 3 chairs and the sofa moved to the left makes the room feel a bit out of balance. You'll need 3 feet of walking space behind the sofa to comfortably move to the dining room so you'll want to keep that in mind when doing an arrangement and consider furniture size.

Thank you so much katinparadise. The room being out of balance is exactly what I am worried about. Do you mean lay it out like this?

You're welcome. That's exactly what I meant except you'd want to move the sofa back about a foot.

I’m not sure if this makes a difference, but in the drawing just above, the wall at the bottom of the room is labeled as 10’ to the opening. That can’t be right. A 10’ wall would end exactly across from the middle of the large window on the opposite side of the room, if the window is perfectly in the middle of that wall.

oh wow! you are right. I just remeasured. The back wall is 10' 3". The drawing should look more like this. I hate that the back wall is so off center from the window.

Do I put NOTHING along the backwall? I keep staring at it. I worry it will look so empty.

You could add a console table with lamps and artwork to the back wall.

Just remember, you need at least 36" behind the couch to provide walking space along that 10' wall. So if your window seat is 1 ft. minimum depth (and that's kind of small; it would most likely be at least 18"), then a side chair(s), set at an angle take up at least 2 more ft. (I'm guessing at that), then the couch is probably 3 ft. in depth and you'd need about 3 ft. from the couch to the window seat, maybe more, with those chairs in those positions you need room between the chairs and the couch, how much room is left behind the couch and the 10' wall? Is there enough for a console table and leaving space to walk through? A 12 ft. room isn't that wide. I'm not sure you have enough space to put anything on the 10' wall with the couch in that position. I use the old-fashioned way of figuring out size of furniture and my room; cross-section graph paper to scale of the room; include door & window openings; cut out templates of a couple sizes of couches, chairs, etc., end, accent, & coffee tables, your bookcases (You can label & use post-its for templates for easy of moving/placing. Place the templates in different positions on the graph paper to find a good layout. Lots of fun, and it helps a lot!! There are also web sites where you can do furniture arrangements.

your right. Its getting really tight. I hate this room!

How would you feel about eliminating the window seat and sofa and doing 4 chairs around an ottoman? It's a really pretty look and would suit the room better.

I am fine with ditching the window seat. Would you put the round ottoman centered with the window?

Yes. I would keep the scale of the chairs smaller as well-maybe 32" deep.

so, something like this?

I'm not sure I like seeing the backs of each piece of furniture, and this arrangement makes the room appear more narrow. And visually I see 4 empty corners. Lots of hard lines. Where would you put tables/lamps? If you'd put one on a side of the couch, where would you plug the lamp in? I'd at least angle the 2 chairs.

Try putting the sofa with its back to the mirror cabinet and the two chairs across from it.

You guys are so incredible!! Really, I can't thank you enough for trying to figure this out with me. I just purchased a chesterfield sofa (the back of the couch is VERY low). Its only about 30" high. Now, I can put the back of the couch against my window without blocking too much of my window. I feel like this will make the layout a lot easier now that the couch can be pushed against the window.

Very pretty couch! Very traditional and elegant (I'm a fan of traditional). It was smart to purchase that first. Is it a solid color? You could probably get chairs with higher backs. Maybe 2 wing backs? They would look great with your couch. Some brands have matching chairs where one is a recliner/ glider rocker, and one is stationary. Do you think you'll ever put a tv in this room? We put one in our formal living room, and it has caused nothing but furniture-arranging confusion!! By the way, I am far from being an expert, but it is sometimes easier figuring out other people's design issues than my own...

I wouldn't buy any more furniture until you get the sofa in the room. Being the largest piece, it will help you determine the best placement for everything. If you would, get some furniture movers to put under the legs of the couch so you can move it around and determine its best placement. Graph paper and floor planners are great but there's nothing like being able to move the furniture around in the room!

Agree with Katin! Wait till you get the couch in the room before buying any other furniture. You also may decide you don't want it in front of the large window.

Thanks guys! It should arrive the first week in November. I will sit tight until then :)

That's not too far off. Happy Halloween until then!