I have an idea for your room. it is perfect for two totally different areas. One for around fireplace and one for a wall of built-ins. You need two sofas and two rugs.

That leaves the bay window area one more space to assign furniture. You could have two reading chairs and two floor lamps; you could put a desk and chair; build a window seat...

Lexington Green · More Info

Will this space house the whole family for tv watching and hanging out?

I think part of the problem is the sofa's are too small. One larger one facing the fireplace with a sofa table behind it is the way to go. if you float it . if no tv goes in you can float a sofa and two chairs to face the fireplace and then make a desk area or put built ins on the back wall for the kids stuff and storage...

if a tv goes in i would make two spaces but still float the sofa and maybe builtins or shelving.

IMO just some ideas, not a pro.

Remember your not blocking the door way..

So you definitely need to divide the room into two spaces and set it up on how you need to use it.

Hi,

Thank you for the great feedback!

Judy, the bay windows are really low and go close to the floor so it is harder to integrate built in furniture into them. We could put a couple of chairs there similar to your last picture but it might be a hodgepodge. Right now our son's little chair is a place holder in that spot in front of the bay windows but it won't stay.

RL & Nancy, we also have a family room with a big sectional and TV with a play mat for the kids so this is meant to be a formal living room with no TV. My wife does want to buy one or two bookcases to display some family pictures and "art" but that is as far as we got in planning. We had thought about placing them near the fire place but that is only if we kept the current layout. The renderings you put together are nice but the room is meant for after dinner conversation when entertaining so the only other option I thought of was rotating the sofas like an L and putting the chairs closer which would A) block the door and B) minimize the fireplace.

First world problems :) I still need help though if you have thoughts.

Thanks!

I don’t know why my pics didn’t post.

I wouldn't use sofas back to back. You don't want to walk into the side of two sofas when you enter the room. You can keep your sofas as arranged, with your chairs grouped near the fireplace with a round coffee table. Or use the sofas in an L arrangement near the back side of the room, with the chairs by the fireplace. I would put a console table in front of the windows. The rugs should be based on each furniture grouping, not in between. So one rug under the sofas, and one rug connecting the chairs and coffee table. When you walk in, you will look at the windows and console table, and then have two seating areas to choose from.

I'm no help with the arrangement, but love your paint color. Mind sharing?

The paint color looks even better in person. Bone Black. I am pretty sure it Is from Benjamin Moore.

Calidesign,

Any specific reason for a round coffee table between the chairs? We were thinking of end tables next to each chair. Either marble to match the fire place border or something to contrast it. If we put a console table in front of the window we will have three different style of tables or should it match the end tables/coffee table of the chairs. I can’t easily match the coffee table between the sofas because it is older and a glass top with a nice walnut base.

You don't need matching tables. You want the room to look collected over time. They just need to be similar in style. Since your coffee table has glass, wood, and metal, you can use an all wood table or metal and stone table. Your home looks fairly traditional, and your coffee table is very modern. I would try for simple transitional styles for the other tables in the room.

The reason I would use one round table for the two chairs is to connect the chairs to each other. With individual end tables it seems like two separate chairs rather than an inviting seating group. Since the chairs aren't connected to the second seating area, they need to relate to each other.

Woodvale Drive · More Info

Thanks again! I just finished rearranging and tried this:

It leaves a lot of space behind the sofas on the back wall. We can put a bookcase and some plants along the back wall. That room looks really nice. Goals!

If you leave the arrangement like that, try the two chairs right next to each other in front of the window, so your room is a U shape instead of the square, and you aren't walking into the back of the furniture.

Ross Hills · More Info

We tried that too but unfortunately the chairs we bought are too boxy and it didn’t fit well. Might try again but uncenter the sofa to the fireplace. That rug in the picture is really nice. Any idea where to get it?

Did you by chance try putting the two chairs next to each other facing the fireplace and then flanking with the two couches so the area in front of the fireplace is open to the seating arrangement.

Theresa, unfortunately I don’t think the room is wide enough to do that. That would have been the choice if the room was rotated. Unless I am miss understanding your suggestion...

Jon we have an awkward yet large living room as well. I would put one sofa in front of the large wall with the other sofa facing towards the alcove. Like an L shape. Then the two chairs facing the sofa on the large wall. Near the fireplace I would put two chairs on either side to create a separate area for reading and relaxing in front of the fire. You definitely would need two rugs. One for each space.

Hi again, let me try again, sometimes explaining things can be hard.... I guess what I am trying to say is place the two chairs facing the fireplace then place the two couches facing each other with one in front of the bay window facing into the room. it would be a u shaped configuration with the fireplace as a focal point. right now it seems like the fireplace is an after thought... does that make sense... it seems like you have enough room but I may be wrong

duplicate the inspiration pic from calidesign and the 2 chairs would be facing the fireplace. maybe not wide enough to do this???

Hi. Gorgeous room! To me, it doesn't seem large enough for two distinct seating areas. Also, it has such beautiful balance that it seems a shame to break it into parts. I've tried multiple layouts with your two sofas and chairs. The bad news is that I couldn't work both sofas in gracefully. If you substituted a 72" (or so) love seat for one sofa, I think it would open up so many more possibilities. Here's one example, with the love seat in front of the bay window.

catliesl's ideas · More Info

Hi Hu,

Thanks for putting the design together. Unfortunately we just got the sofas made and are stuck with them. We did remove the doors so don’t have to take into account the clearance to get in the room.

Theresa,
I think I will try and copy Calidesign’s last picture next after we try the current layout for a couple days and see if we like it.

Marcella,
That is really close to our original layout which leaves an awkward open space.

All ways besides the original layout at the top of the post leave an awkward layout of about 6 feet by 14 feet behind the sofas I guess ideal for a plant and bookcase and perhaps a console table.

Here it is with your two 92" sofas. Still leaves rooms for console table and end table.

And here is the u-shape with bookcases flanking fireplace. I like this one because it doesn't block the fireplace and it leaves plenty of room for vacuuming around furniture.

YES that is it with the two sofas in an L and the chair flanking the fireplace. You can put a sofa table behind the sofa that faces the fireplace and or bookcases on that wall.

That looks like it could work. I will give it a try tomorrow.

Thank you all for your help and I will post a picture once I rearrange.

Tried the sketch. Now our coffee table looks small :( thoughts?

Looks so much better than the original 2 seating group arrangement. It's hard for me to judge the coffee table size. It does look a little small but I wonder if it could work if you put more side tables, a rug, etc to fill in the arrangement a bit. I might try angling the two chairs a bit so that they open up a bit more to the fireplace and then put a round table between them so there's more shapes, not just boxy, squared off shapes, in the room. end tables for the couches would help too perhaps.

I don’t really love the fireplace covered by chairs, isn’t the point of it to be a focal point and enjoy it?

Push the sofa back mor into the the bay window this wlll give you a little more space to pull the chairs apart and enjoy the fireplace. Most people would wonder why you blocked it when they walk in the room. The coffee table in this case, is not meant for all the chairs to use. you will need to pull it back with the sofa that faces the door way and add some end tables, a sofa table and a rug to the room.

I agree the coffee table belongs within reach to the window sofa. Add a small rectangular end table between the two chairs, and a round or square end table between the two sofas. Now you can see the right size for your rug.

I like your coffee table. As soon as you find a rug, your pretty furniture and room features will all magically come together for a beautiful, welcoming room.

It takes a village! Thanks everyone. I moved the chairs on an angle to showcase the fireplace more. Going to push back the sofa into the bay window and dedicate that coffee table to that. I don’t think I am going to put a table between the chairs since it would block the fireplace but I will get end tables for between the furniture.

The feedback has been great. I will post updates as we get more stuff. Thank you all again!

The next step is the rug it will define the space and give you a jumping off point for the rest of the pieces you put in the room. I also would consider a sofa table and some book cases on the back wall maybe.

love the new rug and window treatments... cant wait to see the art you pick... looks great! congrats.

Layout turned out good but where is the lighting? I don't see one light in the room...

Pot lights mostly. There is a light in the corner for now. Obviously not magazine ready. What do you have in mind? Suggestions?

Furniture and rug looks great! You can add a floor lamp behind the chair to the left side of the fireplace, and a table lamp to the end table between the sofas so you have some ambient light throughout the room.

You were hiding your lamp!! It's very nice, btw. My personal preference is that both ends of sofas and all chairs have lighting and a place to set things down. To me anything less is not comfortable.

That is some enviable ceiling height! I can’t imagine how much you spent on window treatment.

We have 10 pot lights in the room connected to three switches to give it a lot of control how much light and where you want it. There are two pot lights over the fireplace and chairs for reading and then two over each sofa so you never are lacking for light. Most of the time we sat there in winter with the pot lights dimmed and the lamp in the corner on which has a warm glow and the fireplace going. The lighting is perfect for us.

The plan is to put a bookcase to the left of the fireplace, a mirror on the other right wall, balance out some more plants and put up some art. If more stuff is collected over the years it will fill it in but we don’t want to go too quick on packing stuff in.