skip to main content

Furniture Building a Home Design Dilemma

How to arrange a large 'square' family/dining room off kitchen.

5 years ago

Due to a series of errors in developing a floor plan we mistakenly ended up with a 24' square family/dining vaulted room off the kitchen. The room should have been 22' x 26' but its too late now. Now we are faced with how to arrange furniture for seating and dining in this room. There is no other dining space other than seating at the island.

After accounting for 11' x 24' of space at the kitchen end for the dining table and chairs, buffet etc. we are left with 13'x 24' for the seating area. A fire place also juts into the room on the long side of the seating area - it has French doors on either side. Remember the room is 24' wide. We have wired for a chandelier off the center vault beam 66" from the kitchen/family room dividing wall. I've made several other mistakes with this design but this is really stumping me. Any suggestions for furniture layout that won't divide the room into 2 long skinny areas? Any input welcome. Thanks.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (3)

Alan Lnu
5 years ago
as a hopeful home builder, what were the series of mistakes and how would you avoid them in the future?

will you put a TV against the interior wall?

if so, I would break the room up into 3 areas. a small seating area directly in front of the fireplace. a long dining table next to the French doors between the fireplace and the kitchen, and a couch that faces the interior wall with the TV, and then a couple arm chairs either side of the TV to create the conversation space.
grapefruit1_ar
5 years ago
I would repost this when the house is finished. I need to see it as it s ready to go. It looks like a fantastic space!
Related Discussions
Kitchen/Dining/Family all one big room
Q
Comments (31)
We built our open concept house a few years back and love it. The livingroom is vaulted up to 16ft. and the kitchen/dining area has 10ft ceilings and it feels very cozy to us. It helps that the rooms aren't that big. If I had to find some negative aspects, I would say that their is a lack of wall space for art and furniture. I suppose this could be a positive for some. Also, the TV gets very loud. Not great when you're trying to do some baking and your son plops himself down to watch MMA! It definitely is a life-style thing. Very casual and informal to say the least. Also, you need to be a pretty neat/clean person because it can look like a cluttered up mess easily. I'm a clean-as-I-go kind of cook and we have two (super quiet) dishwashers so when dinner is served, there is no mess to look at in the kitchen. The dishwasher is running just a few feet from the dining table and it's totally silent. Guests are always astonished at our dishwashers! If I didn't cook like this, not sure if I would like having the kitchen open. It's also the best for parties because we can use the center island in the kitchen as the buffet table and the openness makes for easy mingling.
...See More
How to arrange furniture in large kitchen - design dilemma!
Q
Comments (4)
Well, it slightly depends on a few things. But I will say you can swag a fixture over so you don't have to move the electrical. 1. how much space is between the island and the table right now 2. how often do you access the patio, a table might be right in the way of that.
...See More
How to arrange furniture in family room? Asymmetrical walls.
Q
Comments (7)
Install TV on the stair wall. Many pros put all the TV gear in a closet under the stairs and out of sight. Arrange a seating area in that 12 x 14 area. A sofa and 2 chairs would work well. In the area by the sliders and kitchen peninsula, flank the window with a pair of chairs, perhaps with footstools) and a lamp for a reading area. Once you in stall curtains, a lot of the large wall between the windows will be covered by drapes. Between those you might consider a family portrait gallery with over sized canvases, or just a great piece of art you love.
...See More
How should I arrange my furniture in my off-centered living room?
Q
Comments (5)
You don't really need a coffee table, since you have the side tables. Just tuck a c table under the side of the couch where there is none. That should free up some space. Since you want to put a unit where the chairs are, the chairs will have to be relocated. Even with your two couches and chairs, you only have eight seats. Add more with poofs or ottomans. Relocate the two chairs in front of the fireplace (with their backs to the fireplace). Or as suggested, move the couch that's in front of the window to face the other couch. Then the chairs can go in front of the window. I agree with art going around the tv.
...See More
Ali
Original Author
5 years ago
During the planning stage we went back and forth several times with the direction of the vault. The porch outside the big glass doors is a gable and we played with the idea of having the vault run from left to right and through to the porch. We kept changing the proportions of the room to accommodate dining, seating areas etc. At the end we 'forgot' to change the dimensions back to 22 x 26. You look at the plans so much that you don't 'see them'. The room looks massive yet it is not long enough for seating and dining - and its too wide. I didn't notice it until the foundation was already poured.

Originally we had planned that the room to the left of the main entrance would serve as a dining room. I was advised to put the dining table in the main room and so we made the original dining space smaller by adding space to the office. I'm old school and always liked a dining room and breakfast space in the kitchen. Now I'm building a very expensive house without either. Lesson: decide on the things that are important to you and stick to them. Ignore the advice of people who might live a different lifestyle than you.

Related Stories

BASEMENTS Room of the Day: Family Digs In for a Chic New Kitchen and Dining Area

By Natalie Wain

When a homeowner needs to free up kitchen space for her home bakery business, the only way to go is down

ROOM OF THE DAY Room of the Day: Patience Pays Off in a Midcentury Living-Dining Room

By Annie Thornton

Prioritizing lighting and a bookcase, and then taking time to select furnishings, yields a thoughtfully put-together space

KIDS’ SPACES Who Says a Dining Room Has to Be a Dining Room?

By Becky Harris

Chucking the builder’s floor plan, a family reassigns rooms to work better for their needs

PATIOS Patio Details: Covered Dining Area Extends a Family’s Living Space

By Annie Thornton

Large sliding glass doors connect a pergola-covered terrace with a kitchen and great room in Seattle

HOUZZ TV LIVE Tour a Designer’s Cozy Colonial-Style Family Room and Kitchen

By Mitchell Parker

In this video, Sara Hillery shares the colors, materials and antiques that create an inviting vibe in her Virginia home

DINING ROOMS My Houzz: From Underused Dining Room to Family Hangout

By Shannon Malone

Even a fireplace didn’t help this dining room’s popularity, until an interior designer stepped in

KITCHEN DESIGN Kitchen of the Week: Breathing Room for a California Family

By Tiffany Carboni

Wide-open walkways and generous storage give a couple who love to host all the kitchen space they need

KITCHEN DESIGN Kitchen of the Week: Room for Family Fun in Connecticut

By Tiffany Carboni

It's now connected to other rooms, but the most valuable connections for this kitchen have to do with those who live there

HOUZZ TV LIVE Designer’s Family-Friendly Kitchen and Great Room

By Mitchell Parker

In this video, Amy Elbaum shows the storage and style details that create durable and fashionable spaces in her home

KITCHEN DESIGN Kitchen of the Week: Large Island Anchors a Family Hub

By Becky Harris

Beautiful woods, metal finishes and antiqued surfaces create an elegant transitional style in this eat-in kitchen

Sponsored

More Discussions

Need help finding cat proof dining chairs

32

Upholstered King Bed

3

unsure of area rug size for our our sectional

2

small apartment is this chair crowding the room?

13

couch too big but need to work with it

13