What is your overall plan? I can’t imagine you are comfortable in this room as you have furniture lining the walls and no place to sit and have a conversation. Purple and green are fine together but adding that beautiful M @ G sofa will not do anything to achieve the result of an attractive and comfortable room. Your lighting (cans) are dated and are not able to give you the lighting needed for this room. I’m certain you must be planning changes as you mentioned installing a marble floor...which can be lovely with Persian? rugs.

The sofa and chairs can work together IF you are committed to making them do so AND have a clear vision for your space. What colour do you plan to put on the walls? What sort of art? Rugs? Employing multiple deep jewel tones in a room is not for the faint of heart but your instinct to do so here seems right to me. It can definitely look spectacular. & Given all the seating you need, seems to me this space is never going to look great filled with timid choices amped up via "decor".

In this particular case, where you sound a bit tentative but with clear ideas of what is needed seating-wise and what you love colour-wise, hiring an experienced designer (one who works with bold colour) might be the best path forward.

I m a bit puzzled. I don’t know why I should be uncomfortable In this room ? why Could one not have conversation? Do u mean the seating is far away from each other? what other option can I do? Bring the furniture away from the walls and more toward the center?

I had a houzz designer come in once and asked her about colors and she said basically any could go since my palette is the same .. every room has neutral with colors in accessories.. I m not going totally bold in color anywhere , but every room is not all neutral either .

I have not thought about art yet. I have a designer working for me who I m still waiting to hear from . Also the mgbw designer also did not object to my plan as it was.

I do want more lighting in the room and waiting to hear back from electrician but first guy said it would be too much putting in a chandelier because of no provision in the roofs. We r waiting for a different electrician who may have a better idea.

I m thinking of marble because the rug doesn’t go with anything . The rest of the house ( entry, long hallway , powder room and kitchen all the way to mud room ) has beige marble. So one option would be to try to match it. we do love the white tones in marble but don’t know if it would transition well If we did white in living and the adjacent areas are beige?

The other thing about hiring a designer is that not all have the same taste as client . And not all can create that wow look either. and it’s v strange that I m not picky but the pictures I see in houzz I have never seen in a house in reality .. So in order to achieve that wow , attractive look, either a v top designer would be needed which we can’t afford ,

Funny but I think if you are at Mitchell-Gold, then they would have a designer that would make a plan and help you implement it?

Yes. i went there yesterday and we spent about 2 hours there and we chose the sofas and chairs and she put the pieces on her computer layout but never did she once say that my layout was awkward ... or that conversation would be uncomfortable . She did propose a few other layouts which included two sectionals but we do not like sectionals . So we didn’t go with that idea.

I also asked her about the colors .. she took swatches and pillows and put them around sofas to show me and said it would not necessarily look bad but she said taupe sofa would be easier to work with . I took some pics home to show my husband as well.

This was the other fabric in chair we loved ( my mil and me ) and we thought of going with this in two chairs instead of foreSt green we already have .. and in that case we would not go with wine colored sofa but will buy in taupe . However the chairs were too expensive so we dropped the idea too.

I also loved the taupe sofa with some pillows but the pillows were $400 each!!

Think about creating intimate spaces. Vignettes. Have you sat in those couches already in the room across from each other and tried to talk?

You have a very large room and you need to decide how you will use it. Will it be mainly for large gatherings of family or for work? How many of those do you have a year? Do you expect everyone to have a seat?

If you are not hiring a designer, the people on here would be very helpful and can give you great ideas. Post inspiration photos.

Looking at portfolios of designers is key to finding one you like. Alternately, you can find rooms on Houzz that you like, find out the designer and contact them. Some do e-consulting. Just an idea.

Also, when calling in a professional (such as the electrician) and they tell you something you do not want to hear, don’t fall into the trap of believing the next one who WILL tell you what you DO want to hear. They may deliver but it may be shoddy work that ends up costing much more in the long run.

Good luck!

I like the idea of conversation areas. That’s why I split the room into two zones.

Also I know ppl facing each other on opposite ends will be too far but anyway in a larger gathering not everyone is talking to everyone . So ppl may not be able to converse comfortably across the room but they can to ppl sitting next to them or adjacent sofas.

maybe I could angle the chairs a bit . The only other way everyone could talk to everyone is if I bring everything close together. But I don’t know how it’s possible in this room ( without sectionals which we don’t like)

about the colors I don’t like too bold colors everywhere. I like neutrals best with color in accessories. And I don’t like only neutrals either like restoration hardware . I like to glam up my neutral , However that couch looks so stunning I thought I would keep it as a statement piece when we enter the room .

lavender12145 Can you post a pic of the finalized furniture plan?

This room can have two complete seating zones by placing matching sofas back to back. Here are a couple of photos of this type of arrangement.

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Oh yes! I have seen this online too. However in this way wouldn’t be ppl in one section be totally away from each other?

Hello, all well-intentioned houzzers, lavender has another post going with responses from other well-intentioned houzzers….plus, additional posts addressing other areas of the house.

lavender, you are spinning wheels and nothing will be accomplished this way.

https://www.houzz.com/activities/user/lavender12145/posts

Love the use of color but the arrangement looks like a waiting room (sorry) Good advice here listen to the pros (which I am NOT)

JudyG designs: you mean to say that I cannot ask questions about different areas of my house at the same time ??

The other post about the living room was a while ago which kind of trailed off .. I posted in that as an update but no one responded so I figured that now my question is different and not about arrangement but only about color choices so maybe I should start a different post ...

Well if all of you think the arrangement is off , then I ll try to rearrange the furniture pieces to see what looks good ... I M surprised though that mg designer did not point this out to me .

Also maybe you guys are all not reading me in that for us the most Crucial factor here is “ seating” ...

i can compromise on style but not seating ... we have to have at least 13 ppl be able to sit here ... with that in view , If I am able to achieve a more stylistic living room , great!

You are talking about ppl not being able to talk to each other from a distance . That’s still better than ppl not being able to find a seat in the living room and having to sit split ...

while all the pics looks great , the maximum capacity I can see is 9. I would like to see pictures of my desired capacity in the style that is more “ Comfortable and warm “

"...and she put the pieces on her computer layout but never did she once say that my layout was awkward ... or that conversation would be uncomfortable.

Right, and for 2 reasons...

A. She's a salesperson, not a designer.

B. She's a salesperson trying to make a sale.

Your living room is laid out like a doctor's waiting room--everything smooshed against the walls. And it's just as inviting. Nobody can sit near anybody else and have a natural conversation (except 1-on-1 sideways). Talking to someone all the way across a room is not the way people relate to one another.

You're looking at furniture without any thought as to how it--and the space--will be used.

OP,what are the dimensions of the room?

It’s a 3 wall room. The back wall is 16 feet and two perpendicular walls are 20 feet

This is how previous owners had the furniture in this room.

This is a mid-century 144” long sofa which is not unlike your Mitchell Gold selection. It’s available at 1st Dibs and is priced at $3600.00 which is negotiable for bid. This is a good start toward seating 13 people in your room I believe.

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We considered longer sofas but ppl are generally not comfortable sitting next to lots of other ppl in a row .

Thats why we opted for 3 seaters. even the 2 seaters that are longer than 3 seaters, ppl don’t generally like to sit in cracks . So even if a two seater is long, ppl would rather sit on the sameness length 3 seater more comfortably .

Maybe however from style point of view , smaller sofas are not looking good in my living room.

The sofa is nice shape. I was going to order the mgb sofa but I think i will hold of on it and go home and try different arrangements.

Lets see Maybe I m able to get it into a more inviting configuration.

This one is $3895 ar 120” in a choice of velvets

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When seating more than 3 people on a sofa a curved configuration makes for ease of conversation you can’t get with a straight sofa.

And anyway when we asked her about the seating she said you could fit a max of 8 !

We dropped the idea of her designing the living room .. now she s helping me with accessorizing the dining , family etc .

I only count seating for 10 people in your current design?

When you have many people over, add chairs like the purple ones. Then you can have the sofas moved away from the walls with the front legs on the rugs for a more intimate conversation area. How often do you have that many people visit?

At least 7-8 times a year

currently according to my plan it’s 13 ppl seating. You are counting 10 in the picture, but in place of cream colored love seat and purple dining chairs will come two 3-seaters.

I moved the furniture way from wall and angled the chairs. Here’s the picture..

ahhh I don’t know .. i was so excited when I first got the new black and white chairs on Saturday that we spent half the day arranging the main floor... now nothing seems good to me!!

Can a designer come in just for one room ? as it was suggested here I will look for houzz pros .. but from my past search it seemed that a few I messaged , whose project pictures I liked were high end, didn’t want to take small projects , and certainly didn’t want to come in just for one room.

I

Hello, the room is well spacious enough. As per me the Sofa sets can be placed adjacent to each other and few of the chairs can be replaced with chairs such as

For More Information: Click Here

I think Sofa sets are good and even the texture and colors are fine, but still one can think for a second of some of the finest sofa sets such as

For more information- Visit

These sofa sets will reduce the number of sofa sets required and the room would be fine.

It still looks like it is set up for a meeting of some kind. In my experience, at parties people talk to each other in small groups. not to everyone at once unless there is an announcement of some kind. Think about how your guests interact. There is only one table and no end tables. Are you waiting until you get the chairs right before putting them in? I think Karen Paul and Irene have shown good ideas for comfortable seating areas. Only you can determine if the room needs to be set up all the time for your parties with that much open floor in the middle.

I agree but then I have found pics with similar opposite seating which does not look like a meeting room .. yes I will be putting in end tables but at least I should get my furniture placement right first .

Here is a large room with various seating areas. Table in far left could be used for games, etc. Smaller sofa in far right.

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Ashton’s photo reminded me of another type of arrangement.

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These pics look nice but it seems too complicated for me to achieve. E.g they r one huge area , living dining hallway all in one. My room is not like that. It’s a defined 3-walled room. In that particular confined space, i need to work with some of my existing furniture and some to be bought.

Just Pulling the furniture away from the walls didn’t make much of a difference.

I will try to make an 8 -10 ppl seating arrangement , with two chairs at back wall,

two couches facing each other. And that’s it. Let’s see how it looks ( I won’t be able to do that before Saturday )

actually the last photo you sent is something I will try to mimic.

some more similar concept pics like this would be :

Actually, it is one room with a game table and 4 chairs with a pair of chairs in front of the game table. There is an entryway, but you can still place a large round table to split the two areas at the center of the room. Lining up sofas and chairs is not a good solution for your room. Something needs to be placed at the center of the room to create a break between the 2 areas. Also, you need large oriental rugs to ground the pieces at each end of the room. All these patterns and colors are a mistake. What you should have done is to install seating that is generally the same hue which would have worked well with your oriental rugs. Right now you have different styles, colors and patterns which make for total discord in your room. Everything should play second fiddle to the people you are entertaining. Your furniture shouldn’t attempt to outsine your guests. Less color, more style makes for a room that exudes confidence and says welcome to your guests. In my opinion, you have spent time and money purchasing all the wrong things. Now you will have to live with the cacophony you have created. It’s a shame you couldn’t find a capable designer in your local area.

Have you tried drawing the space on graph paper to help you with furniture placement and seating? You can cut out proportional squares to represent seating. It helps to visualize a space and is easier than moving furniture.

To play off the above comment by Karen, you spend money on pieces that don’t work for you and spend your time (which I presume is valuable to you) on a set-up that isn’t working. If you could find a designer to help you, what you perceive as an expense will actually end up saving you money and frustration, which I think is valuable.

Karen Paul: what do you think of the way the original owners had decorated the living room? I posted a pic above .

Also what do you think of these two pics:

I didn’t like the owner’s layout at all and the rooms you posted look anything but chic. Both had color and pattern that look as though they were put together on the cheap. IMO

Ok . These are the two Mitchell bob settings I really like and was trying to see how I could get the look.

As far as cheapness, i Have never bought from them so don’t know about quality.

I think its the difference in style that you don’t like just like when I go to many designers portfolios their work does not appeal to me at all.

And my husband doesn’t like Mitchell bobs style either .. he likes the minimalist modern look which I like too but only if the whole house structurally is modern ...

i do like to bring in color in small amounts in accessories... so anything that’s just neutral I don’t like unless done exceptionally well.

An exercise in futility. Lol

No, you can post as many questions as you want about different rooms. The problem is when you post twice or three times on the same room at the same time. It is only by coincidence that a responder stumbles upon duplicate posts with different suggestions. Otherwise, the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.

Stick with one post for one dilemma. That way everyone is on the same page, so to speak. You benefit and the responders don’t reiterate suggestions you have already read.

Its been such a long while and since then I have redone the layout as suggested here in many different ways. Last December I hired ( and paid ) a designer who also suggested layouts all of which we tried but nothing looked good . I put everything on hold because of work in pandemic but 2 days ago I picked Up from where we left.

Now we are thinking of switching living room with family room. Perhaps the living room space as it is , is too complicated for a layout to work.