help arranging furniture with a bay window seat?

5 years ago

Hi, all!

I’m making my way through upgrading our builders basic house and am currently working on the living room. (I just finished painting yesterday) The room is used as our primary play zone for our two very young children. But I’m also hosting a small group here and this will be one of the rooms used, so I was wondering if there’s a better way to arrange the furniture.

Requirements:
1) my kids play in here most of the time, so while I will remove the “eyesore” kids toys (scooters, etc..) from the room during the get together, they will be back. Our house is a home, not a showroom. ;)
2) I can “shop” other rooms, but I won’t be buying more furniture. We move often, and buying something for a specific space isn’t something we spend money on.
3) we are avid DIYers. Pretty much everything in the room (and our house for that matter) involved some sort of work from us. Please be kind, the room isn’t done yet. And I know I still have some trim that needs work.

I hope you can help me arrange the furniture and get this room put back together before the company comes tomorrow night.

Featured Answer

User

5 years ago

Ignoring the children's things, you have a sofa, possible media cabinet and a storage chest in the room. What type of group are you "hosting"? Do you have other sofas, tables, lamps, and art that can be moved into this room? otherwise, you don't have a living room, you have a dark playroom. If you intend to use the window seating for your hosted group, you should rotate the sofa 90 degrees and put it in front of the window seat, facing out the window. This will give you a conversation area. In other words, float the sofa.

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Comments (23)

katheros99
Original Author
5 years ago
Few more pics...
Lil S
5 years ago
My concerns would be seating and ample lighting. How many people do you need to seat? Do you have a couple of chairs and another lamp you could bring in?
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katheros99
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you for responding!

It’s a very small group, just 5 ladies will be in this room. I know it lacks lighting... hiring an electrician to install a ceiling fixture is on the to do list for a future budgeted item. In the meantime, the single lamp has been sufficient to light the room as long as the sun hasn’t set, which thankfully is late enough now that it works. (We had a second matching lamp, but the toddler knocked it off the end table one too many times. Native we no longer have the end table and the light is out of reach. Lol. Life with toddlers!)

I will be bringing art work back into the room... just wanted to wait until we get the furniture right.

I’m definitely willing to float the sofa, but where do I put the cabinet then? (It actually houses diapering supplies, not media at the moment.) it is HEAVY, so while I can move it, I don’t want to move it too many times. Should I also rotate the rug 90 degrees?
katheros99
Original Author
5 years ago
I do also have some other chairs throughout the house that I can bring in.

Options are:
1) the fog Eastlake chair currently in our guest room
2) the sea foam Claw foot chair set (one rocker, one not)
3) the yellow and white Cabriole Leg chairs (2) though the are currently in the family room and may be needed for the men’s side of the get together.

They are not often in the play room for obvious reasons. #1 of which is potty training. Hahaha. Although technically, I need to reupholster the seat of the non rocker anyway as it’s cushion needs some love.

Pics below
lizziesma
5 years ago
Love your paint color and the light from the bay. Kudos for painting with a toddler. If this group of guests are good friends then I think you'll be okay just providing a seat, a clean space, and a good cup of tea/glass of wine. I totally get the desire to have it complete and cohesive but decorating can take more than a day.
katheros99
Original Author
5 years ago
Here’s where I’m at so far... I’ve floated the couch, brought down the Eastlake chair, but I kinda feel like it looks like a throne now. Haha. The “media console” (which is actually a “linen press”, FYI) is tucked in the corner, but I’m not happy with it. I might move it upstairs into the guest room if I get the ambition. It’s solid hard rock maple and super heavy. Hubby is out of town, so I’m the only muscle involved in this right now.

@lizziesma thank you. Yeah, it’s just a small group of lady friends and their husbands. I’m using it as a catalyst to try to put together this room a bit more since I haven’t really liked it since we’ve moved in. The bay is my kid’s favorite place to play. So light and bright... and perfect for jumping off of. ;)
katheros99
Original Author
5 years ago
Maybe done? (For today at least) what do you think? Better, I hope! I know it’s still lacking light, but there’s not a ton I can do about that today, so c’est la vie! I’m considering moving one more painting in from the dining room onto the last big wall (near the chair) yes? No?
katheros99
Original Author
5 years ago
(Please pardon the wet spots on the couch; I did some spot cleaning)
lizziesma
5 years ago
Ta-da! Much better. Feels open and inviting. Baby steps!
decoenthusiaste
5 years ago
You're getting there!
- The piece you moved in to replace the linen press is the perfect size to sit under the mirror in your foyer. You want the piece to be 25% wider than the mirror.
- I don't like the stiff high back on the EL chair, so I would bring in the two lower profile clawfoot chairs.
- Take your sofa back to the original wall, put the piece from the foyer where the press and buffet have been, and float the two chairs angled and facing the sofa with all seats 18" or less from your storage coffee table.
- Hang the wide piece of art 5" above the sofa back.
- This arrangement may look better with the rug turned the other direction. Make sure the short end of it is at least 2 feet wider than your sofa.
katheros99
Original Author
5 years ago
@decoenthusiaste thank you! I’ll get on that and post pics in a few minutes. Little guy just woke up from his nap, so going to need to deal with him. :)
katheros99
Original Author
5 years ago
@decoenthusiaste Partway there... I’ll need to remove my son’s door to get the rocker out of his room, which I’m not opposed to doing, but I don’t know that I like the claw chairs in the room. What do you think?
katheros99
Original Author
5 years ago
Could this work? (Just so I don’t have to disassemble my house? Lol.
njmomma
5 years ago
following
decoenthusiaste
5 years ago
They're pretty overwhelming with the sofa. How about the lighter weight cabriole chairs? Also, straighten up that chest - cornering items just says you don't have room for all your stuff. Place the two lighter chairs with their backs to the entry.
katheros99
Original Author
5 years ago
How about this?
decoenthusiaste
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Better. You could lower the art more, but little hands might be tempted! I like the foyer now. Get an extension cord and a cord cover to run along the baseboard and add the lamp on the right of it so you can turn it on when you enter. Put your vase of hydrangeas on the other side.
katheros99
Original Author
5 years ago
@decoenthusiaste, yes, they are quite tempted. They’ve had more than one time out due to swinging that painting back and forth.
katheros99
Original Author
5 years ago
And bonus effect of moving the couch away from the wall... secret scooter storage!
katheros99
Original Author
5 years ago
Thoughts on the former hall console? I’m keeping the lamp on it as that’s our only light source in this room... also, thoughts on the now foyer table decor? I know the little jug isn’t pretty, but my husband loooves to keep receipts forever, and it’s our compromise.
decoenthusiaste
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
You're doing great, and even finding hidden storage! Loving the foyer! I suggest you plan on buying some floor and table lamps rather than going into ceiling lighting. The ambient ceiling light is only for getting into the room in the dark. Then it should be dimmed down to let floor, table, task and accent lighting make the room more intimate. You may even want to tie one lamp into a switch at the entrance so you can turn it on when you enter without crossing the room to that particular lamp.
katheros99
Original Author
5 years ago
Good advice re: lighting. Thank you! I’ll keep an eye out for lamps that I don’t mind if/when the kids break them. Sad reality, but better to be prepared for the worst and pleasantly surprised, I say! I pretty much begged the hubby to put in some wall sconces in the bay when we built the window seat, but alas, it was a no go. I can’t blame him, he works really hard and didn’t have the time to commit right then. And of course, steam roller me had to keep pressing on with the project rather than waiting until he had capacity to do the requested lighting.