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Home Decorating Design Dilemma living room

Family room furniture layout

6 years ago

Anyone have layout ideas for our family room? We continue to struggle with this room. The doors on the left lead to a screened porch that we rarely use. The kitchen and table are in front of the couch in the picture so it is one open kitchen to family room layout. We have a small tv in the cabinet on the left which just broke so we moved in our larger one and its stand and prefer it in here. My husband loves watching sports and having a reasonably sized tv that can be viewed without neck strain is important to him. There isn't room above the mantle to hang a tv and my husband said no way to that since it is high up. We have a big family so lots of seating is important but I don't know if those doors should be blocked - at least appearance wise. I would love to take down the bookcases and get windows put in since the room is very dark all the time. I'm trying to make it less like a cave :)

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Comments (5)

PRO
Sativa McGee Designs
6 years ago
Are those doors your only access to that area? If not go ahead and block them completely, treat them like windows.
kontrella
Original Author
6 years ago
We have access to the room from our deck. We don't really use it much so I was hoping it wouldn't be a big deal to cover it up.
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What Jamie said. Unless you use the chair to watch TV. Right now, the chair is blocking entry into the room and the couch and chair are both too far away from the TV. So, TV to the left of the fireplace. Sofa facing the fireplace. Chair on the right of the fireplace. Bookcases on the wall opposite the window.
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Which layout do you prefer and why? This is my family room drawn to scale. It is an open floor plan. The dotted lines represent the imaginary boundaries of the room. The arrows are sliding glass doors so I need to keep that area a walkway as it also leads to the guest room and bathroom. My TV unit is long and almost as tall as the ceiling- custom built by my husband. It can be moved but hubby is worried about glare on the tv from the sliders if we place it across from them. We mainly use this room for watching TV but it is rare that our family of 5 is all together at one time now that our kids are all older. Thoughts and suggestions? Layout photos in comments.
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Picture of room with previous owners’ furniture/layout
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Hi Katie, I'm Preksha and I've worked out a few layouts for you. The sectional you have currently is eating up a lot of space so I would definitely recommend breaking it up with a sleeker couch and a couple of chairs. Although it may be a little tight, placing the TV on the large blank wall and a couch in front of the slider gives the room some intimacy. I would also recommend adding a tall bookcase and a media console with some storage. I've also worked on another layout with the TV over the fireplace as @groveraxle suggested. You can add some storage on either side of the fireplace and replace the armchair that is now there if you would like more seating. Would love to help you with more layout/ furniture suggestions, do let me know if this helps. You could get a clearer look of these rooms and can customize them to your liking here.
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Saypoint zone 6 CT
6 years ago
A couple of lamps would help it feel less cave-like. Just relying on overhead lights is not usually very attractive.
jmdrouin
6 years ago
I would suggest moving your large television and its stand from its current position to in front of the fireplace opening. This will enable you to shift the couch so that one arm of it is against the wall looking out the french doors, one side still have its back to the kitchen table but people can enter the couch area from the French door side. You don't want to block a fire escape route. When family comes over you can put chairs in front of the fireplace bookshelf and tv corner cabinet and the french doors.

With this new configuration you can install a large fancy or plan rectangle decorative mirror on the wall above the couch to bounce the light reflected from the french doors directly across the space.

People feel uncomfortable with their backs to a doorway or other people. You need to add a console table and lamps or a dresser that is short and long to go along the back of the couch to create a protective feeling for people sitting with their back to the kitchen.

For future renovations to the space you could install bookcases flanking the fireplace with windows above the bookcases or instead of windows mirrors that look like window. This could be as fancy or simple as you like. Disregard tv above fireplace in the image below put a mirror where the tv is to bounce light around the room and put the tv and its stand in front of the fireplace box so you can still use the mantel and when you want the ambiance of a fire you can have your tv project that image. Here are some pictures.

I like the warmth of this mirror better than cold black but you get the idea also another place to decorate for holidays if you like, make sure the mirror is not too dinky.
Yayagal
6 years ago
no pics

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