How about an air deflector? Here's one kind. https://www.amazon.com/Dundas-Jafine-Extend-Vent-Deflector/dp/B005AZ5KM8

Or someone has a do-it yourself solution that looks pretty similar http://snewpy.com/2015/03/extend-a-vent-for-five-bucks/

Odd place to put the return.

You can try to a sofa or something over top of it. But do not be surprised if the sound of rushing air being sucked into the vent driving you nuts.

partim: Those vent covers are for supply vents (blowing out). The OP's is a return duct, which sucks air in, and you can't restrict it like that or it will starve the house for heat. And in the summertime, a restricted return airflow will cause the cooling coils to freeze over solid (which means turning off the A/C for 6 or more hours to let the block of ice melt and also dealing with the wet under the furnace).

Does a cold are return have a fan on it?

There must be a post about cold air returns on Houzz?

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For less than $5 you can place plastic air deflectors over the vents to direct the AC or heat in any direction and protect the furnishings.

You can easily use this product under skirted furnishings.

It looks like you have ample space and the console table will give you a place to add some table lamps so I think it is a happy accident. I actually prefer the look as well.

Get a deflector but the skirt will have to be pinned up or a sofa table with 4 legs not the one you picture

I see three vents in the photo, the large one in question and two smaller ones below the windows. Are the two smaller ones supply vents? Is the large vent a return for the whole house or are there others on the first floor?

I don't think the deflector that lies on the floor is going to work well. If this is a main return I think it will cause noise from the air flow.

Here is how far away a sofa should be away from a wall. I think if you would be OK if you left 8-10 inches of space and fold the skirt away from the vent. If you don't like that look then the putting a sofa table over the vent would be sufficient.

I've seen 76" slender consoles.

hooker-melange-console-table-casual-living-room-hoo63885201.html

Hooker has a lot of longer ones. Just check the heights

You have to love designers making comments about HVAC they don't know a thing a about. NO you can't block the return. Believe it or not they aren't just thrown anywhere and without calculation regards to their flow. It has to be unblocked

Maybe im blind but I do not see a return in that pic they are typically located at the furnace.

It doesn't matter if it is a return vent or a supply vent- they cannot be covered. If you cover a supply vent, you will super cool the area under the sofa leading to paint failure and likely mold under the sofa due to condensation. If you cover the return you are making the system 'suck through a straw' shortening the motor life. Neither is worth the risk.

The sofa table will be lovely.

Doesn't have to be a table behind the sofa; a wall hung shelf would serve the same purpose.

Return air vents don't have dampers; supply air vents do. Another tipoff is that return air vents are typically larger than supply vents.

And, no, you can not put a skirted sofa over a return air vent, not even with a $5 plastic deflectors. Deflectors are to be used only with supply vents.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with ths sofa table idea, and if it moves the sofa a foot closer to the fireplace, I believe that may be an advantage -- it looks like a very large room! Agree a wall-hung shelf wd also work, and/or once I had such a table made from a 2x12 and 4 legs purchased at Lowes, for very little. Admittedly that worked because I was going to paint it and you may not want painted, but the other consideration is that the table itself will be practically invisible once you add lamps, books, and/or other decor. The lamps will make for very good reading light and provide a nice warm glow at night.

The sofa placement may be a moot point because from the picture angle the TV will be too high over the FP.

The best place to install supply vents are underneath windows. Looking at the size and position I am confident the large vent in the middle the room is a return. I would be surprised if it was a supply, but HVAC contractors are known to do strange things.

This supply should have been installed on the wall near the ceiling. The wall installation will provide better air circulation and keeps it out of the way of furniture.

I'm not sure that the supply vents will even be affected by the furnishings layout.

That's why it's best to work with the room size FIRST and then worry about the position of the supply vents.

Here are two layouts that I've created that are only based on the photos. Unfortunately, no room size was provided.

You can seat more people with the first layout and the TV is to the right of the fireplace. Do not place the TV over the fireplace. If the vents have you stumped you'll never figure out how to get the wiring over the fireplace plus the room is too narrow to sit comfortably and see the TV when it's over the FP

First thing I would do now is put painters blue tape over the fireplace mantel in the dimensions of your tv to see how high the tv will be placed. I agree with jck910 that from the photo of your room it looks like the tv will be way too high placed over that mantel. It would be better wall mounted over a console table on the long wall as in BeverlyFLA's 2nd layout. That also eliminates the vent problem.

I'll leave the vent issue and furniture placement to the pros here. Ideally, the TV should be at eye level when people are seated. That would mean the center of the screen is about (give or take a bit) 42" from the floor.

I wouldn't purchase a table without a Master Plan for the room. Again, I'm not sure your sofa will even get close to the vents to be an issue. and require a table.

Following BeverlyFLADeziner plan, just move everything closer to the fireplace and leave enough room for a walkway behind the sofa. With 15' that shouldn't be a problem. Center the seating area around a 9'x11' or 10'x12' rug. Since they recommend you sit 2 to 3 times the width of the tv away for best tv viewing I think that would be a perfect solution. Your tv 50" seating then 100" to 150" away from it. Added bonus is people walk around your seating area not through it

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Cheryl - Yes! I'm such a visual person so seeing this layout in a real room - really helps me! And, I think this layout allows more seating space that if I had one single couch against the wall. Only thing is, I think the depth will only allow for a single chair on either side, probably not two. And, the isle behind the sofa, would allow for flow to kitchen easily too - right?

The fireplace mantel seems to be high. Installing a TV above it will be it high off the floor. The general rule of thumb of TV of optimal sitting distance is 1.5 to 2 times the TV diagonal width. For a 50 inch TV distance it 6.25 to 8.3 feet. You can sit further away but you can't appreciate the details of an HD TV display. You can sit even closer if you have a 4K resolution TV with 4K content.

You still may be able to use a sofa table or shelf with the arrangement I showed above but place against the wall behind the sofa. It will force people to walk around the grate on the floor. There are a lot of people that will tell you not to mount a tv above a fireplace. It will only be a problem with a sore neck if you are sitting too close. It's great actually if you watch from a recliner. It was my only option in my last house. Nice because you get less glare on the screen. When I grew up we basically watched tvs on the floor in consoles. best viewing laying on the floor And people were always in the way walking through. Another option with single chairs beside sofa

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If you already own the sofa, consider adding casters/wheels to it to raise it to enable air flow.