Are you blocking the sliding door? Please take a picture from the other end also, looking this way.

Totally blocking the sliding door!! I don't know how else to configure the furniture in the space..bad right..

Note - I am standing in a sliding doorway to take the photo 1

Yes - take a picture of the area from all angles please. Hard to get a feel for the space with just this photo.

The basics are there for this to be great. I think it just needs some minor things. The three throw pillows are so large that it doesn't look like there is any room to sit down. I'd reduce it to two small pillows perhaps in brighter colors. The cushions on the far end look like they are partly off the frame - I wouldn't be inclined to sit there. Can that be fixed? Perhaps with velcro on the frame and the back pillow. For me, I like to put my feet up when I relax. Could you replace the table with some thing longer that has a pillow top? If it is not too big, I would move the table to the end of the couch at the bottom of the photo so that the person sitting there has a table to set a drink on. Perhaps you could put something tall, colorful, and decorative on the table as well. A small plant would bring with life, too. How about a bright piece of art on the wall with the light switch? Finally, although you don't have much room, I would move the couch away from the walls just a few inches so it didn't look jammed in.

Not a pro, but at first glance, the dark furniture and cushions make it look a bit gloomy. I bet brighter/lighter cushions, rugs and some flowers in pots will do a lot for this space.

Do we like the table on the side? Adding more images from different angles now

THANK YOU EVERYONE

The sofa can easily be re configured. It is the Ikea System so I subtract pieces and switch things up. Chairs would make me sad.. but I'm wondering if I could make chaise styles to still get that lounge feel we desire.

Sorry the sofa is the problem. You need 4 chairs instead of the sofa. I have a similar issue with my lanai. Mine is 9' under the roof and I was originally going to put in a sofa too but realized 4 chairs in a circle with a small table between them would work better. It also allows for people to move the chairs around as needed.

And down at the other end I'd hang a hammock or put a rocking chair there. Your only other solution is to make the lanai wider.

Is it possible to remove a couple of the back cushions, like the end one facing the camera, and replace them with the pillows you love? Or possibly get more pillows that size and replace all the dark back pillows with just throw pillows? If that would work, I'd look into some 1) lighter, or colorful cushions covers to coordinate with the cream ones, which will brighten things up (or maybe using all throw pillows on the back will make the dark cushions work better on the seats), and/or 2) get a more colorful, fun rug. If that's a seagrass or sisal rug (or fake), you can easily paint it with some stencils if you're not artistic. Look on youtube or pinterest. 3) look for a fun piece of art or wall hanging to go on that blank wall there. 4) maybe some mini/fairy lights to make it seem a little more festive, esp at night.

If you move the side table away from the end where you just tried it, can you then move the whole sofa away from the sliding doors a bit? I would rather have that walkway to the other part of the lanai a little narrower and the sectional away from the doors so it doesn't seem crammed in there.

I love the idea of a hanging hammock chair at the end.

I would really love to keep the sofa if possible. HOW did this lanai size and shape make sense to a builder? Im still feeling overwhelmed by how underwhelming and unfuctional it is.

I was able to move the entire sofa away from the sliding doors by moving the table in so it is flush with the sofa and I like it MUCH better.

Will search for wall art to hang now! We have stringlights all around the ceiling so at night time it is quite lovely and fun! Since we have children we opted for dark cushions on the couch... I agree lighter is waaay more beautiful but given our situation dark seemed like the best option.. Ill try to add more brightness and color with live plants too.

Where are you? Are you by the sea? If you’re in Florida or Hawaii, consider something that has more of a tropical or beach feel, like replacing the black cushion covers with something brighter.

Check out Sunbrella covers, they are indestructible and easily cleaned.

It's hard to give advice on furniture arrangement if we don't now what traffic paths you need through the area. It would be really helpful to have the dimensions of your area, and a quick sketch showing where the doors are, and which side is the opening side of the slider. Do you need to have a path through the area to where those 2 single chairs are, or can that be blocked off?

Is there room to put the sofa where you now have the love seat and table, and put the sofa facing it?

The cream colored pillows have a couple of problems. The color does nothing to liven up the dark furniture. (Could you dye them?) They look very stiff and uninviting. (Could you replace the insert with a softer thinner insert? Or use the inserts from your gray and striped pillows?) They are too large - I'd feel as if there was no room for me to sit. (Not much you can do about that, but it is less of an issue if the pillows are thinner and softer.) My recommendation is to replace them with 2 smaller squishy pillows in a tropical pattern with lots of green. Maybe a longer rectangular shape instead of square. See how the pillows are smaller here, and add some life to it?

I like the green in this one. I think it would work with your dark cushions just as well. Notice that the color is repeated in the fun hanging paper balls. Whatever color you choose to use as a bright accent, repeat it in the cushions, throw, wall art/hanging etc.

The room will look bigger if you pull the rug away from the wall, until it touches the railing.

You have nice furniture. It just needs some accents and rearranging to look its best. You may consider one of these options for your space. Maybe #1 but with a sofa instead of love seat, plus the 2 chairs.

Stop. Draw the lanai. Put every dimension on it to the inch. Every door/slider/window. Take a photo of the drawing, or scan it to "camera uploads " . Indicate which nterior room is BEHIND it. You are shooting fish in a barrel with anything less.

LOVE that we have the option of reconfiguring the Ikea set if need be. I think its too tight to put a sofa then two chairs facing it.. but I have to analyze a bit more..

The only through traffic absolutely needed is from dining room sliding doors out to lanai AND from the exterior lanai screen door to outside.

Yes a color pop will happen! I do like the idea of possibly getting new cushion inserts if it means keeping the cream pillows..

Great drawing! Just one more question. Where are the opening parts of the 2 sliding doors and the screen door?

(2) I assume we need to leave only the green or the yellow area unblocked - which one?

(3) Does the whole red area need to be unblocked?

https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/categories/series/14213/
I think you have 4 armless section (~25" wide) and one one-armed
section 32" wide. All are ~32" deep. The table/stool is ~25" square. If a
different configuration works, can you exchange them?

The space is too small to be functional with that sofa. There's no way around it. I wouldn't even try to use that narrow part for anything more than perhaps a single chair in the back corner for reading or coffee. Putting two chairs in that space just accentuates its nonfunctionality.

So the room is 106" X 179" ( 8'10" x 14'11') correct?

Thanks!

Yes, we can block off the white and purple sections. The sliding door opens on the yellow labelled section.

The Ikea set cannot be exchanged we will have to work with what we have and or purchase additional pieces.

I have:

Three Armless (one seat section piece).

Two with Arms (corner piece).

One table/stool piece.

I would love to use what we have if possible. I want to and create a casual comfy inviting space so smaller sofa and lounge type seating would be preferred but again I'm open to whatever

SO appreciative of everyones help!

The entire red area must remain clear to allow access to outdoors

I wouldn't configure it as a sectional, because you really lose the corner seating. It also makes it a very massive piece, which I don't think suits the space. Instead, I'd make it a sofa and chair(s). Either a 4 seater sofa with one chair in the upper right corner of your drawing, angled towards the sofa. Or a 3-seater sofa with a chair in that same corner, and another in the opposite corner. The feet of all the seating should be on the rug - that is important.

Your drawing is not to scale so mine isn't either, but you get the idea. You'll have to scoot things around to see how they fit in the room best.

A lovely outdoor scene art work on the wall, make it colorful. A beautiful plant in a colorful pot that you place on the end table. A few smaller colorful pillows, yours are too large and look more like inside pillows.

Nice idea, but I believe the circled area is a 41" exterior screen door that needs to be accessible to get outdoors. It's in her original sketch and she confirmed that the entire area needs to be clear.

Great views and sketching!

I think I would rather have a comfortable sofa that is a bit large for that space (part but not all of that one) than a bunch of chairs that aren't that comfortable to lounge in.

This is a porch, not a main circulation path in a formal living room.

The least inviting aspect to me is that it's all brown and black.

I'd go with the 4 seater sofa, 114" long, facing the outside. If the room is 179", that leaves you with ~32" on either side so it should fit nicely. One section as an armless chair across from it.

If you want a more lounge feel, add 2 footstools. One for the armless chair and one at the end of the sofa.

Make it into a love seat and two armless chairs facing one another with the coffee table in-between.

And trust me black will show more than a color. It doesn't have to be either white, gray, tan or black. I'm getting green cushions on my chairs.