You posted 14 hrs ago and have received no comments. Betting it is because a picture is worth the thousand words and the picture you have provided just “ain’t doin’ it”.

Thanks, Judy. Not all of the photos attached. I'll try again.

Here are the rest of the photos. They don't want to attach (or Houzz doesn't want to take them).

While I've been waiting for replies, I had another idea, which is probably not a keeper. What if I found two complimentary rugs and placed one in the exact position of the current rug under the piano and placed the other one in a "mirrored" position (using the center of the fireplace as the axis) on the other side of the room, extending under the yellow chair and the church pew? It would make sort of a symmetrical trapezoid shape pointing into the fireplace (of which I've got to paint the firebox black and find something awesome (maybe a cool plant?) to put in there or in front of).

Your two photos make me want to rearrange the furniture. Where do the doorways lead - near the yellow chair, left and right of the sofa?

I would move the sofa from timeout and put it where the piano is. Put the piano where the yellow chair is, especially is that is not the entrance. Remove the pew if the walkway is too narrow. I can't tell if the chair will fit with the sofa in the new spot.

Thanks for the idea to move to swap the piano and sofa positions. I think I've played with a fabric cutout of the piano's footprint, and I it's too big of an obstacle to try to get in the entryway (to the right of the sofa as you look at it), but I'm going to try again.

The piano is much to large to put where the yellow chair is, unfortunately. Would block off entry to the dining room.

I'll think again (for the countless time) about furniture layout.

Do you use the dining room? Maybe you could have a music room. (Can you tell I have no idea what it takes to get a piano through a doorway.) If the dining table is small enough it could come in this room where the yellow chair is.

Edit -- Thank you. I can now see the other pictures.

Ian, can you give us a scale drawing and tell us the size of the piano? You aren't ready for a rug. That arrangement just isn't going to cut it, and until you have a workable arrangement, forget about the rug.

Also, keep in mind (whatever arrangement you end up with), a medallion rug has its own limitations and often just looks awkward when it can't be centered up.

Please stand in front of the bookcase and give us a shot of the alcove where you have the yellow chair.

For right now, I'd switch the pew and the sofa. The sofa belongs in the conversation area and a pew is more appropriate by the entry. That's not a total fix, but it's a start.

ETA: never mind about the photo toward the yellow chair. I see it's in the first photo you posted.

I would give up altogether on the idea of having a sofa in this room. I'd plan on, at most, three chairs. And I'd put a single large rug as shown below. In no case should the rug extend onto the hearth.

The missing view is from the piano/fireplace to the entire area behind the yellow chair, that doorway and corner where the stair-wall is. I think that as Groveraxle noted, room dimensions and furniture sizes are necessary.

Thank you, everyone, for your ideas. This is a rough drawing and set of measurements of the room. I didn't get the bend in the piano drawn right, but the length and width are drawn pretty much to scale. This is a grand, not a baby grand. Need at least two more feet for bench in addition to piano's dimensions for any piano. (Wondering about poking nose into corner and coming out at 45 degrees? Would prefer not to stare into corner, but I guess therthere are windows?)

Room behind yellow chair is a cozy 9'6"X10' dining room with bay window. I won't take pic now because it's full of kitchen stuff while I have plumbing updated in kitchen.

Thanks, everyone, for your ideas. The room functions now with sofa as seating while listening to piano with conversation area between pew and chair.

Nice ideas about swapping positions of some pieces, but you'll see my limitations now that you have dimensions. If an improvement can be made, though, I'd be on board!

I'd be willing to part with the couch if a decent chair arrangement can be found. I think you'll see the space limitations for that, too. I don't mean to be a defeatist, I've just been through a lot of this.

Also, I play the harp and have two harps, if that is an idea for any arrangement. I've tried one or both harps where the yellow chair is, but if you're seated at the harp with your back to the corner, you see the harp head on (rather than in beautiful profile) from the entry and it looks terrible. Yellow chair makes better look. Not really enough room to put harps where pew is. Could put them where couch is if other seating solution is found.

It is nice to have the bookcase in room witwith piano, but options exist.

Thanks, again!

Oh, and another arch opens from dining to kitchen. The room behind the sofa is currently the harp room. It's a (1938) decent size bedroom with bookshelves lining walls and the harps in the middle of the room.

Wow! This is really a great set of ideas! Thank you, Flo! I've got to take awhile to digest it before committing to anything. In my mind, I had to have the fireplace view totally unobstructed, but I can see a strong case for changing my thinking about it.

Thank you, again, for these great ideas!

I probably deserve to be shot for my heresy, but have you considered knocking out this wall?

Ian - the "star" of the room is your piano! not the fireplace. The fireplace is a nice addition, but surely not the key thing in the room. So focus on the piano.

Groveraxle: you're not a heretic! I actually got a bid last year to put French doors in that wall so you could see into the harp room from the living room. I ultimately didn't do it because I said, "Where would anybody sit to listen to the piano?" (I had the couch on that wall.) What an interesting idea to put the piano between the two rooms. Another thing to consider, albeit a lot more work and $. (I'd lose a wall of bookcases.)

Flo: great point about the room's focal point.

Thanks, again.

Thanks, Nicci, for this idea, too! All sorts of possibilities! A dining area on the other side of the fireplace would allow even more room, and I'd have views (between houses) overlooking the city.

Yes, it definitely seems worthwhile to be open minded about changing the use of your three rooms. If you'd like the FP to have its own "raison d'etre" you might slip a pair of small scale chairs and a chess table in front of it. Someone mentioned using a hassock under the piano, and I've done that with a client; a very appealing idea. I would tend to treat the "dog leg" room as more of a foyer or pass through space, although there is room for several conversation corners, and a reading nook by the window and bookcase, too. Consider angling a chaise longue between the window and fireplace, facing the stairs. You have lots of options but some different furniture may prove to be key.

OK, Ian, here a couple of scale drawings. They may be a few inches off, but probably close enough for government work. I scaled the piano to exactly what you said its measurements were, so you can cut it out and move it around the page. And that extra space on the right is so you can knock down the dining room wall if you want.

Wow, people on Houzz are nice! Thank you for your generosity!

Decoenthusiaste, these are really great ideas.

Grover, thanks a lot for the drawings. I'll definitely be playing with them this weekend!