Front door opens right into the middle of the living room
Hi, we are closing on this property and I'm having a hard time thinking of how best to use this space. The front door opens right into the middle of the living room. Not only that, the same wall where the door is has floor to ceiling windows. I really wanted to create a mud area where we can walk into but I don't think that's possible? Also what is the best use of furniture in this big room? The current owners has one side with the couch and coffee table seating area, and the other side is a dining table. I don't think this space will be used too much since the family room is right off the kitchen in the back of the house. There is a super tiny and not very deep coat closet that the past owners added, so maybe some kind of hidden coat closet idea would be great as well. Thanks for any help!
FYI - there are 3 sets of pictures here of the same space from 3 different past owners.
Comments (24)
PROPatricia Colwell Consulting
4 years ago
Kathryn P
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Help with Open Floor plan and front door opening to open living room
Comments (3)That really leaves you with the current arrangement, replacing the grey chair by the front window with kid stuff and leaving the floating living space opposite the TV. I'd really look into rerouting cable so the TV can be where the large art piece is. It's not usually very expensive and will be necessary in order to keep your walkway from running right in front of the tv....See MoreHelp! Front door opens to the middle of living room.
Comments (9)Don't center a rug in the room -- this is such a large room that it needs to be subidived into two spaces. Set up a seating ensemble around the fireplace and bookcases (put a TV in the bookcase if you want it in this room), with a couch (facing right), couple of chairs, coffee table, and your rug turned 90 degrees to unify that space. You could put a console table behind the couch to give it a more welcoming face (maybe even with drawers for mittens, or a tray for mail, etc.). Then put your bench under the window to the left of the door, with a coat rack in the corner, boot tray underneath, etc. -- I think this "mudroom" zone will actually just need the upper-left quarter of the space, and could have its own rug. That leaves the lower-left corner for one more functional space: could be a desk and chair, or a game/puzzle table, or a bookcase, reading chair, lamp grouping, or some storage pieces with art. That should put you in good shape. I'd consider reversing the door, as it would feel more natural for the mudroom purpose as well as being less restrictive of furniture placement......See Moreno foyer open into living room
Comments (29)A foyer that can be closed off from the rest of the house can help w/heat/ac cost -- in the most cold or most hot days that is especially useful ... for both having a comfortable temperature and for saving money. It is possible to create a hallway between garage and the rest of the living quarters that is USEFUL. If you're also adding a garage near the front door anyway, then creating a "hall" space that is both "mud room" and "foyer" between garage and kitchen and that extends 4'-6' more to include the front door could have a coat closet near the front door, could include a "side" door to the house on the farther end from the front door that leads to a stoop or porch leading to beside the garage where the trash cans likely would be kept in an outdoor closet (possibly attached to the garage) anyway), could include a closet for a washer and dryer near that side door, could include a door to a powder room beside that, could include and a half/half door to the kitchen beside that could include a glass French door to the living area "beside" that. Any/all wall space not a closet or door could be floor to ceiling cabinets for other storage -- vacuum cleaner, broom closet, cleaning supplies -- needed storage. The kitchen could be a part of an "L" shaped open floor plan or a "U" shaped open floor plan rather than having any part of the great room one wide center dark hallway needing skylights The front porch and living room could be shaped so that front entry hallway is beside the living room rather than in front of it, keeping the living room a rectangle beside the kitchen and dining room. The master suite could wrap around the side and back corner of the dining room and also open to that porch beside the kitchen (between garage and master suite) that leads to a small (private) side patio. An exterior door from the garage could also open onto that porch/patio. Two children's bedrooms could be on the other side of the living room accessible from a small square hallway and with a three room bath and a half in between. With the right roof line, steps between that front hallway (and over some of the entry hall closets) could lead to an upstairs bonus room (or depending upon the slope of the lot, a full or partial basement could house those things) -- perhaps the equivalent of a second master suite. If you design and place the main level master suit wrapping around the dining room so the bedroom can get natural light from at least two sides -- a pair of windows on each back corner then you can place the children's bedrooms on the side with the most desirable light and add a porch or a play yard (perhaps actually fenced or with a "green fence") -- leading to a patio behind the house (visible from the master bedroom) -- something that will age well as the children age and become teens with friends visiting regularly. All that said, your home should reflect your own taste and priorities....See Morefront doors open in middle of living room
Comments (2)Please post the floor plan to match the pic for sure. This is not a big space and IMO not big enough for 2 seating areas and in the drawng you show a single door but it is a double one. Is this entry used daily or only for guests ? The furniture you show id no to scale you need at least 13 ft to do the TV , sofa and coffee table and allow walkspace behind the sofa . Use graph paper draw the room to scale then use that same scale to cut out furniture and move it around to see what actually fits You need to be able to wak bewtween the sofa and coffee table and between the coffee table and the TV then you need space behind the sofa for the entry . I hate sectionald but maybe the only answer here only you can figure that out unless you post a real to scale drawing. Are there windows in the space for instance and where are the doorways to the rest of the house all those things affect layout of furniture ....See MoreWilly Non
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoKathryn P
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoI'd set up a couch where previous owners did. On the opposite wall you could do open or closed coat storage near the front of the house and then could put a small table or desk or reading nook with chair towards the back of that wall.
Willy Non thanked Kathryn Pdoods
4 years agohousegal200
4 years agoPhotos #3 & #4 make good use of the space in an inviting way. It's such a large space, you really need to divide it up. Since it's difficult to fit a rug on the sofa side, and you have an older house, stenciling the wood floors could look amazing. Then you could lay down a runner from the front door to the other areas. This stencil pattern is way too big, but something smaller could look great. You could also stencil a "runner" -- simple weathered white on wood--on the floor to divide the space.
Willy Non thanked housegal200njmomma
4 years agoGcubed
4 years agohousegal200
4 years agoA beautiful deep antique armoire in the same finish as the floors or a beautiful rich painted color could easily fit in the space. This would supplement your closet. Closet armoirs are easily available in Craigslist or antique shops. Another considerating would be to build in wood storage benches beneath the windows--elegant, upholstered ones with pull-out drawers. This is an elegant space with those windows, so you'll want to add "mud room" features--seating for taking off shoes, armoire for hanging up coats, that don't say "mud room" or it'll be a mess.
Armoire, entryway rug, colored door:
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4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
decoenthusiaste
4 years agoWith young kids, I'd guess you and your friends are young too and that your lifestyle is casual. How about a mudroom/game room for a fun social hangout? So many entertaining options; pool table, fooseball, ping pong, shuffleboard, game table, chess corner, video games, bar. I bet you'll be the most popular house in the whole neighborhood, especially as the children grow up (not to mention the men!) Ladies can escape to the other private areas you mentioned.
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4 years agoKendrah
4 years agoGcubed
4 years agoWilly Non
4 years agoSomething I don't have a picture of is that the back wall that is the exterior of the powder room now has doors to a closet that the current owners built in. It is tiny and the depth is only about a foot so you can't hang a hanger in there like a normal closet. It may be a project sometime later to expand that closet.
I don't think this front area will be our main entrance, as Kendrah you are right that we will be parked in the back and entering through the back door most of the time. We still try to walk around alot in the neighborhood as well, so the front entrance will not be ignored.
Just for reference, here are 2 pictures of the back space (from 2 different owners) which I'm also figuring out a mud space for. I just thought the front was harder to plan out.
Thanks again everyone for such great help!
Kendrah
4 years ago
Molly
4 years ago
Laura Villar
4 years ago
Kendrah