Have you tried floating the sofa across from the fireplace?

Yep, that would seem like the way to go, but when I tried it that way the sofa just felt way too big + I couldn't figure out where to put the tv. There's a huge heating grate on the floor, I think where you indicated to try the TV.... Is it that the sofa's just too big for the room?

Would you be willing to take a pic with the sofa facing the fireplace? It doesn't look too big?!?

I love your room as it is! If you are craving a change I know it is not optimal, but putting my tv above the fireplace opened up my 1920 living room so much. I have a small tv placed on the stand on my mantel and it is fine for viewing and now allows my fireplace to be the focal point of the room when tv is off it fades into the background and let's the fire place dominate. I too have three walls with double doorways, two windows with rad covers and a big fireplace. So I would place the tv on the mantle, float the sofa infront of it and add two chairs on the sides. This will create a nice walk way for the front door.

Hmmm... we'd need to find something to put the TV on that would hold roku, antenna + cord mess, but here's floating the sofa, sorta your suggestion. It looks better than I remember from last time I tried it, although the view of high green back from the door might take getting used to. Thanks.

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What a delightful space! I would like to see a photo of the sofa across from the fireplace, but, honestly, I like the way you have it now, too. Maybe one large piece of art over the fireplace and different, brighter pillows on the couch would suit your arty/quirky side better.

ETA:. I like that! Get a very narrow table for behind the couch (which could actually go a few inches closer to fireplace if you need space for the table). Then, you could have a cool bowl or basket on the table for keys or just for looks, plus fresh flowers or whatever. Have you considered painting the walls to ties it all together? Not necessary b/c I like it now, but your "quirky" comment stuck with me and so much if the room is very traditional. Just trying to think of easy changes for you.

It's a pretty room, love the mossy sofa and chair. How about adding panels to the bottom of your drapes to make them floor length?

I think you have much better taste than you think you do. However, the white area on the TV stand has to go. Also, the painting over the mantel. Some red pillows on the couch to integrate with the drapes. You probably realize the drapes are too short but I'll leave the decision to replace them up to you. I would try a more colorful painting over the TV and hang it lower down. A rug reaching up to the grate would be good; a larger rug, perhaps Oriental, with red in it to tie in with the curtains and striped rug which will also make this room more vibrant and seem much larger. I love your style; your personality comes through and you understand spatial relationships and a whole lot more. I would leave the couch where it i unless you really love it the other way. Please do post again when you've made some changes. esalerugs is a good place to try, also e-bay, for rugs.

I like both the orginal look and the floating sofa too! Which feels best?

nadine, your living room and what little I can see of the rest of the house looks lovely.

If I had to find a nit to pick : ) , I might replace just one of the pillows on the sofa with something with the same red in the curtains, entryway rug, and in the pillow on the chair.

I don't suppose you'd like to show us the rest of the house : ) ?

I would inject more quirk and more color. Probably changing the rug,the small lamp,and new pillows,first. Maybe take more clues from the barkcloth. (could you do a close up picture of it,btw?) Also,I would add to the floor fringe to the drapes. But you have a great room and looks like the rest of the house follows suit.

Wow. some pics and some fresh eyes really help. Thanks to all. Loving a lot of these ideas and going to leave the sofa floating until tomorrow (because now I have to get off the computer, for one thing). I knew the current media stand bugged me; that it's the white panels is an aha moment! Thanks, Ingrid. I was waiting to see when somebody would comment that curtains are too short, I had been humoring myself that as long as they were behind the sofa nobody would notice. Adding panels might be a good idea. What color?

The print above the mantel was in my husband's dorm when he was in college (!) and I think we'd both love new art. But real art.

My husband's very pro persian rug, but he likes the more traditional styles while I like the more tribal looking ones. Any suggestions?

Oh how I love bungalows! What a darling home. Most of the time when we feel like a space just isn't right it's because the focal point is messed up and what our eye is drawn to when we look at the space is something that we don't necessarily like. The focal point of any room is first whatever is out the windows, second a fireplace and third whatever is the largest item in the room (piano, sofa, etc.). When I look at the pics you posted, especially the top one, I of course see the fireplace itself first, then the sofa. But from there, it's a little chaotic because you have so much going on right around the fireplace. So it's like my eye jumps all over the place. Does that make sense? The layout you're working with is probably just fine, as long as it works for your family. However, it could probably stand some editing (the rest of the home, from the glimpses that you've given, looks more pared down). I think the bookcase end of that room is just suffering a little from clutter, even though it's well organized.

Here are a few things I would suggest: 1) replace the artwork above the fireplace with one fantastic painting and eliminate everything else on the top shelf. 2) Eliminate the pillow on the chair or if you have to have one use one in a monochromatic neutral color. 3) Eliminate or replace the sheer drapes with some sort of blind that has some texture to it (sheers aren't especially suited to bungalows and for some reason yours feels off...although it could just be the picture itself). 4) If you can stand it, eliminate the rug under the cocktail table, as it doesn't really work well there. 5) Pull the chair away from the bookcase some more...it's feels a little too squished up against it. 6) Replace the entertainment stand to something less deep (as shallow as you can get away with and maybe a little taller and hang the TV on the wall on a swivel arm if you can. It would look less bulky that way.

Alternatively, floating the sofa with a narrow console table behind it is a good way to eliminate some of the weighty feeling of that room since you'd 90% of the time be looking over the sofa into the room...see, changing the focal point! Still do some editing though to simplify it all just a bit. Good luck! It really is a cute space!

OMG! Our houses are verrrry similar! Except your back wall of your living room is open, mine is a solid wall. Cute space! I have the sofa on the window wall, a love seat facing the fireplace and a recliner (which I hate) near the opening to the dining room. I have my TV over the fireplace (we don't use the fireplace) We also put up a door to the hall and keep it closed all the time. I put my Christmas tree in front of it. Sorry to hijack, just wanted to show the similarities. I love the windows over your bookcases.

Yes, tell him we said to go for the tribal. :0)

your room looks nice with the sofa either way, but I think floating it makes it look more spacious.

Tribal Gabbeh rug.

More traditional

Sort of in-between

For your interior I don't know that I would suggest the tribal. These are all from esalerugs.

Have you considered a Kazak style rug as a compromise of sorts? There are many variations, with different levels of "tribal".

Wow! It looks fantastic with the sofa floating!!!

I love bungalows, but I know they can be a challenge. Yours looks great.

I used to live in a house (not nearly as cute as yours) that had a very similar entry to the LR. I also had my sofa your new way... but I never got used to it. If my room had only been a few feet wider, it would have worked. But it just felt a little oppressive. It looked good in pics but not IRL. I kept it since I bought too much new furniture in anticipation of a new house and it just didn’t fit any other way. (Turns out all that furniture was too big for the new house, too... never doing that again!)

One thing you might try, even though it’s a big pain, is to take everything out of the room. As you decide to move each item back, you will feel if it’s right or wrong. It’s a chance to have a clean slate without spending a dime.

I like the sofa floating, too. Not sure about drapes color, can you show them closer? Probably best to use a solid, maybe neutral color from that fabric for panels.

I love the rug you have and it goes with your furniture. I'd layer it over a larger seagrass rug, they're not very expensive.

Thank you all so much! This is fun.

So, when everybody in the family got home, they all said they weren't thrilled by new layout — but by the time I was searching for recruits to help move the sofa back, they decided it was growing on them. ; )

So we're going to sit with it this way for a while. I do like having the windows clear, and being able to see out them from various seating. The area behind the sofa still looks a little weird to me.

I've also taken stuff off the mantel-- an improvement. I'd love to find nice large art to replace the print over fireplace -- but how, without breaking the bank???(Home Goods has its place --but not what I want). I've loved looking at the rug suggestions -- Kazek style does seem like it might work. (Though I'm intimidated about buying a rug). In my dream world I'd also get a less overstuffed chair to replace the brown one.

As far as curtains, I realized I have an extra two panels that are damaged and maybe I could cannibalize them to extend the drapes. Still debating if they have enough sentimental value to make it worth that much work. I think somebody asked so here's a close-up of drapes, also a pic of the dining room adjacent to the living room.

Your room is beautiful, love your décor.

If it were my space, I would create a foyer, with some sort of slider between the windows and doorway, and then put the sofa in front of it, facing fireplace.

I don't think that your sofa is too big, although I don't know exact dimensions, and you are best judge of course - but I think it may just be the Feng Shui of the whole situation. If you put sofa facing fireplace, without creating a 'wall' there - the sofa not only has back to adjoining room, but also back to front door/entry - it is just not the best position for the sofa that way, it's awkward. if you create a foyer - with even a partial wall there - i.e. the 'wall' doesn't have to go all lthe way across the room - there would be a different feel with that sofa placement.

Then of course you could either put tv on left side or right side of fireplace, or if you wanted to mount it over fireplace you could use something such as Down and Out mount, which is available on Amazon, it's a mount that would enable you to lower tv down over fireplace to eye level for comfortable viewing.

And I see you have a ceiling fan and if you did a slider, you may need to move the fan over, if possible - or alternatively, maybe bring in a chandelier that you can swag.

The new 'foyer' would not be very big, but definitely big enough.

You could try using some curtains on a ceiling track, or if you have some folding/divider screens in the house you could use those, to see how the arrangement might work for you, before installing slider(s).

Hope some of this helps!

Love your house and love your style. I could live there. I have a similar decor sensibility, and a 1920s house (though sadly it’s not a bungalow...I’d love a bungalow). I was ready to suggest a Kazak rug before I saw the above Kazak suggestion. That’s what I have in my living room (from esalerugs). If I’m going to pick apart your room, I think you need a larger rug. Looks like yours might be 6 x 9, maybe? I’d go with 8 x 10.

Are the shelves moveable? I’m wondering if you could remove a couple of them and fit the TV on one side of the fireplace? If not, I’d put the furniture back the way it was. If you do that, I wonder if you could do something fun with the white doors on the TV stand, like paint or wallpaper them?

You can find original art on e-bay for very reasonable prices and the selection is huge. Please do give them a try. (I still like the couch under the window. Best light for reading too in that spot.)

I love your room; one thing I would change out though.....the gorgeous carpet by the sofa, cocktail table etc....seems to have apricot/rust/orange tones in the carpet....and you have red in your accents. Just me but would you consider removing the red pieces in the room, pillows exactly, and trying a more vintage feel of pillows in the apricot, peach, orange colors of the rug.....and some lamps too....I think you need more of another color so that the charming and beautiful eclecticism can be interrupted by one constant color that relate to each other....if a room is too non matching it can looks like a furniture showroom, but adding a repetitive color adds cohesiveness and a bit of relaxation to the room....

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Love your living room. Great style! I'd cannibalize the extra curtain panels to lengthen your current ones. Seems easier than shopping for new. My nitpick: your two lamps vary too much in height. As for finding new art, here are other online resources besides ebay and etsy:

Artfinder

20 x 200

Daily Painters

Minted

Also, don't forget any local art associations and their upcoming shows.

Goes to show TV didn't exist when these homes were designed. Do you use your fireplace? I would be tempted to set the TV on the hearth and cover the black hole up or find another room for TV watching.

If you have the budget, you might reconsider having a sofa at all. I love the idea of 4 club chairs situated around a round or octagonal cocktail table or ottoman. I've done it for several clients and they love it.

Both of these homes are 1920s Colonial revivals, the same era as your home, with multiple windows, doorways, stairs, and fireplaces in the room:

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I think everything is in the right place but I would make a few changes.

A larger paler rug (like a Moroccan berber or gabbeh) with creams in would balance the tones a little.

I would paint the wall behind the fireplace a beautiful deep teal colour to tie things together. This would complement the sofa, chair, painting and curtains. If successful yo could also paint the window wall too but leave the others neutral.

Bigger lighter floor rug, darker on two walls.

A lot of cities and towns have spring art walks and local art fairs. I'd look into your local art scene to find a great original piece.

I think the sofa looks great floating. I like the foyer idea, but I'd do it just by adding a narrow console table behind the sofa to give you a drop zone. Possibly a lamp on the console instead of the floor lamp (although I really like that lamp) to make more passage space on the side of the sofa.

ga_nadine - I love the brown chair. If you don't like it in that room, perhaps you could use it in another room.

The first picture with four chairs is very nice but when you have only one living room you must have a couch to stretch out and take naps!

What a lovely room! The floating sofa makes it seem much larger.

I agree with the larger rug suggestion and to look locally (art fairs, galleries, PBS auctions) for a large single piece of art for above the mantel. That's how we acquired the majority of our artwork.

Would it be possible to move the chair to where the TV used to be? Or is the sofa now too close to that area? Would it work in front of the picture window?

With the TV opposite the chair it makes your bookcases look very crowded. I'd shop for a new TV stand.

I know you said no TV above the fireplace and it's not a look I care for either ... but, it would certainly open up your space even more.

The TV would be much too high above the fireplace.

So much creativity and so many good ideas. And I love seeing pictures. Susan Davis's of the way the orange was pulled throughout the room was helpful. On that note, her comment made me realize how much the rug in that room has faded. The rust used to be more red than it is now!

I love the idea of moving a shelf. Never occurred to me. And the suggestions of where to look for art and rugs.

I hate to confess this, though — this morning, before I went to work, I moved the sofa back to original position. Please don't hate me! I think Anele's comment about her living room arranged that way looking better in pictures than it did real life points to something. I thought the pictures of with the sofa floated made my living room look the best it ever had. The reality, not so much. From the pictures you just can't see the broad green Berlin Wall the back of the sofa makes.

But don't give up on me! I may even float the sofa again before I go to work tomorrow at this rate. I'm mulling curtains (keep or change?), rug and art ideas, and maybe something less boxy that I could use as a media stand.

Resurrecting this thread to show progress... I know it's not perfect and there are some design "cringes," but I think it's much better. The painting's my mom's, and a placeholder until I win the lottery and can afford a piece of art that large. The only thing new is the rug. Everything else was moved from elsewhere in the house. Thank you all for your advice... I'm much happier with the room now!

BEFORE

An already pretty room looks even better! The painting especially is terrific and looks perfect in the space.