Awkward Living Room Space - Set up Help

5 years ago

Hello! I just purchased my first home in June, and am having some difficulty figuring out how to adequately place items in the living room. Currently, as you will see in some photo's, I am using the fireplace as the focal point currently but it creates a traffic flow issue when entering the home. There is an accent chair in the living room, and I have a second in a bedroom upstairs due to lack of space. The room dimensions are as follows:

Wall with Fireplace: 13' 10"
Wall with Front Door: 20'
Wall/Stairs: 8'6"
Wall with Arch/to Dining Room: 16' 7.5"

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I would love for this to become a place to entertain, to watch TV, and to be able to sit and look at the fireplace and windows flanking (they look beautiful during a summer rain and the soft sounds of crickets it's so peaceful at night). I'd also like to state that the "shelf" under the window is actually a radiator cover and so cannot be moved.

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Featured Answer

Manon Floreat

5 years ago

I'd try moving the sofa back towards the stair wall. It might make TV viewing better. You may have enough room to angle the second chair to the right of the fireplace. Adding a sizeable area rug will anchor the seating area. It'll be tight but I think it will utilize the space better.

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Comments (12)

PRO
Sina Sadeddin Architectural Design
5 years ago
Because its such a small space and the couch has to be that close the TV cannot be that high. That really is neck breaking. I'd get a low console to go under the window where the chair is and move it there. Move the accent chair to that area by the stairs so that i can be used when guests come over.
Coby Brubaker thanked Sina Sadeddin Architectural Design
housegal200
5 years ago
The big black TV over the black fireplace bring the whole room down. Move it to the side. If it's too big, get a smaller TV.

There are a number of other things you can do to make the room cozier:

--Get a carpenter to create built-ins on both sides of the fireplace with enough space for a TV on a side shelf as suggested above.

--Fill the firebox with chunky birch logs to lighten up the space.

--Put a painting over the fireplace instead of the TV

--Move the corner chair near the staircase and add a small table with a lamp. This is an inviting way to welcome anyone coming to the front door.

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--Add a long rug runner to create a "pathway" into the house.

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--Move your chair from the corner to the corner under the staircase near the doorway with the runner in front of it--an invitation to come in. Add a small table for keys, mail, etc.

--Get an area rug to fill the living room space and define it.

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We think you are on the right track, your design just needs some tweaking. Here are a few ways in which you can get the look you want. Get rid of the big chair by the window in exchange for something smaller, and put it next to the chair on the left. Change out the TV console for something longer and thinner. Then add some great artwork over the fireplace. Next add thicker window treatments to the windows, and get a longer coffee table. Perhaps when you get a coffee table and the TV console look for something in wood instead of black. Also we recommend taking down the four pictures above the TV. Instead you can hang two vertically on each side of the TV if you want to keep them. Note the set up below? We think this arrangement would work, except flip the chairs to the other side. Layout: Window treatments:
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It seems like a big enough space that it will always have two functional zones. However, I think you could widen the seating area around the TV, and then put something else at the fireplace end, like a couple of arm chairs with a table between them (for rading or watching the fire), or a game table with a storage cabinet. For the main grouping, I think I'd put a couch facing the TV (or at least the wall with the fireplace on it), and then a chair in front of the window and one or two more facing the window. You'll want a much bigger rug, and a couple of end tables with a lamp or two. You can push the couch a little farther away from the walkway to the bathroom (?) if it's not part of a sectional - the chairs work better for conversation too, and allow a variety of TV viewing angles.
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housegal200
5 years ago
If you get a carpenter in, a small window bench right at the bottom of the stairs would be inviting.
kaye1951
5 years ago
Paint the fireplace white, remove bookcase or put doors on it and replicate on the left side. Would it work to place the sofa perpendicularly to one side of the fireplace and both of the chairs opposite? (Hah, definitely not a pro!!!). Best wishes on your new home!
erinsean
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Paint fireplace white or the same color as the walls, remove bookcase that is on the right side of the fireplace. Get a corner TV console for the left side of the fireplace....maybe tv will partially cover the window, but that is okay. Get some pretty artwork for over the fireplace and take the colors from that for pillows for your couch and a rug if you want. An ottoman or upholstered bench in front of your couch to be used for extra seating when you have company.......should be on rollers, easy to maneuver. Where the shelf unit is now, get a tall green plant..nothing else. If room, I think your chair and a small table will be good by the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs you could put a decorative shelf or console with drawers under the window...facing up the stairs. with a small viney plant on it.
Oh, yes, I would pull your couch back as far as you can...without interfering with the door.

To bad the door does not open the other way. Have fun rearranging. I do approve of your curtains...white sheers but they should be twice as full as they are now and the door curtain should match.
Danielle Black
5 years ago
I think I’d do a thin table under stairs in triangle wall
A bench under window before stairs
A rug in living room
To the right of fireplace seems too busy
PRO
Nicola Interiors
5 years ago
We think housegal has the right idea. You should move the TV down from on top of the fireplace, add art above the fireplace instead. Then place the TV over a console on the left or have some do a built in for you. We don't see any side tables, so why not try some c tables. You don't have a lot of space, and those might work well for you. Also, a rug, and maybe a tall lamp by the entry door, or an arc lamp would help make the space even more. We agree with adding a chair, or even two by the stairs. You could make it into a reading corner with a lamp and table.
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Leeward Renovation · More Info

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mnmamax3
5 years ago
What's going on in the ceiling by the window? If it's possible I would consider relocating front door to either of the two window spaces near the stairs, and closing off the door space (or adding the window if needed for exterior symmetry.)
Coby Brubaker
Original Author
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
@mnmamax3 I had a pipe burst and it was leaking into the living room, that's just a hole that needs patched now. I appreciate the advice but relocating the front door is not in the budget, and would ruin the symmetry of the front of the home.

Thank you everyone for the advice. I was thinking of splitting the room into 2 different areas as I had found on another post: basically set up similar to this. Obviously I'll need to take some measurements of pieces and try it all out, but I think I prefer that idea to putting the TV on an entertainment stand in the corner and blocking out the window. The view of the two windows flanking the fireplace was a huge reason I purchased the home and I'd hate to detract from that.
Kim M
5 years ago
Here are some photos with living/tv rooms that are very narrow that you might get some ideas from. The key is to have a "complete" room eg w/ coffee table but not overly large furniture.
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Kim M
5 years ago
Here are a few shots that play with couch location re the door....

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You can see these do not try to force the couch "below" the line of the door (as I think most of us would instinctually).