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Home Decorating Furniture Design Dilemma

Help with Arranging/Decorating Open yet small living and dining room

Cheyenne Stambaugh

2 years ago

I have a 2 bed 2 bath apartment that's about 1,066 square feet. I have previous furniture so I don't plan on buying new ones for awhile, but I'm having a hard time making the furniture in my new place feel like home again. The entry way, living room, and dining room are pretty much open and circles back around with the kitchen. The Layout in the picture is pretty much accurate furniture wise besides the main rug is white and I don't have a coffee table yet, so I just need to figure out the furniture before I start buying decorations and having no where to put them. Please help with ideas???

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Comments (5)

lydcrafts
2 years ago
Have you tried putting you loveseat with the back towards the window and moving your TV console to the long wall?
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
2 years ago
Get rid of all the scatter rugs and IMO swap the LS for a single chair and what is the black square in front of the sink? I am not seeing a long wall for the TV. I would like to see pics of the actual space.
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Do you own or is this a rental? The pix look a little stretched like realty ones. Since there is a rad between the doors, forget putting TV there. I'd keep the dining close to the kitchen and put the sitting/TV area to focus on the long wall. Start with the fun project of finding a knockout chandelier to hang from that pretty ceiling. Is there a fridge under the microwave? I see only one wall outlet behind the door and one above the counter, so you'll have to use extension cords and cord covers along the baseboards to have enough lighting here. Consider floating your sofa facing the long wall and TV. Then use a drop leaf table behind it for dining. You'll be able to open it all the way for entertaining. Anchor your seating area with a rug 2-3 feet wider than your sofa.
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Comments (38)
Placing a couch centered on the fireplace is going to leave little room to walk thru that area....but maybe that's ok... I really don't know. Unless you replace your current furniture with new pieces that are about the same size, and in the same place, you may be changing the traffic paths in the room. That's why, once you have an idea of what you want, you should move your existing furniture to the way it will be in the future, so that you will know whether you like the new arrangement, before you commit. 30 feet is long, but 13 feet is not really a narrow space for a living room. It's pretty normal. My guess is that your house originally had 2 rooms side by side in that space. If you think the space is tight, look for chairs and sofas that are not as deep, back to front. There can be a big difference. Your brown recliner is very deep. Apartment style furniture can be just as comfortable. Having a foot of padding at the back of a chair doesn't really make it more comfortable - it's just a style. You don't sink back a foot when you sit down. Here is my mock up of where the traffic path would be if you have a U shaped conversation area in front of the fireplace and TV. I gave you an ottoman instead of a coffee table in front of the sofa. And I made the upholstered furniture about 4 feet deep.
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Comments (3)
Don't have time to answer all of your questions but here's what I can suggest: 1) Lower the mantle on fireplace a little, as well as the painting in the niche. (See #2 here) Consider changing the mantle to something less rustic and paint in color A (see next suggestion) 2) Open spaces should be cohesive - which you can easily do with paint. Choose 2 colors or 2 shades of the same color and vary placement in different areas. (see #5 here) Consider adding a simple chair rail to the dining area. For example, with minimal effort, you could use color A below the chair rail in dining area, as the dominant color in window treatments fabric (I"d use draw drapes) , the back wall of niche, throw pillows, lamps ac, and maybe an area rug in living room, and in accessories (see #3 here) in living room and kitchen. I'd consider adding some of that color to kitchen also -- back of open cabinets for example, recovering bar stools and dining room chair seats to match drapery fabric and possibly slip covering one of the armchairs in the living room in a pattern that incorporates the wall colors with other colors in the space. You want to use coordinates, not just the same solid everywhere so look for different textures or patterns to add. Hope that helps. I've inclluded links to additional info about topics I mentioned that I think you'll find helpful. 3) see #2 - I'd choose lamps with either a base or shade to match color A. (See #7 here) 4) Add plants. If you aren't there often enough to take care of them, use artificial greenery.
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Comments (14)
I like your rearrangement. Now for suggestions.....The coffee table is too big. I would like to see a round ottoman there. I would put your little mirrors around the bookcase...three to each side. Get a end table with lamp for the end of your couch nearest the dining room. Maybe a tall plant on the other end of your couch. To soften the room, if you want to, I would get some sheer curtains for the windows Also I would pull your sectional out away from the windows...looks sort of shoved in. Pretty dogs.
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acm
2 years ago
yeah, that seems like it would help. having two couches in such a tight space is causing a bottleneck in the middle (behind the kitchen sinks).
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JAN MOYER
2 years ago
What IS that hon? Convert that drawing to plain black and white, take off all the little rugs, put the dimensions on the walls, so they may be read without a magnifying glass. : )
thriftyboho
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Where and how do you access the sofas? It looks like there is barely any room to walk around them to go sit down. And from where do you enter? Is that big round thing on the right supposed to be a hanging lamp from ceiling? If so, that space needs to be utilized. Or is it a round table?? Are those windows next to it? And the dark square shape in front of kitchen counter - is it a chair or... what?

First, since your kitchen counter and wall to the patio are both angled, could you angle your loveseat and place it where the TV is now? Then, we'll just have to help you figure out where to put TV and big sofa, haha. You do have a bit too much furniture for this space, if the dimensions are scaled correctly. Can you sell the sofa and get a smaller one? These pieces look gigantic in that space.

Photos of room would be helpful. I can see this image big and fine on my laptop, but room pics would help.

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