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Furniture Design Dilemma living room

Need open living/dining room layout help

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

I have a small condo that has an open living room/dining area and kitchen. It is long and narrow and awkward shaped and the entry way door is in a bad spot. I can’t decide if I should keep the couch (all the furniture in the pic is staged) or move it to a different wall. The way the tv was staged was to the left of the entry door. Looking for something really functional for a small space that has a lot of additional storage. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Comments (2)

Mazsola
2 years ago
How many people will regularly use the space? Just you? Family of 5? I think that makes a big difference.

I lived 15 years in a DC neighborhood where basically every house had this layout, so I feel like I know where you’re coming from 😆

If it‘s usually just 1-2 people at home, a dining room table with one bench and chairs on the other side works really well. Keep it pushed against the wall with the bench underneath, but if company comes you can pull it out and have room for them.

Another option would be to swap the position of the living and dining sections. Get a small round table that fits well in the bay window, and then you have the widest part of the condo for you sofa and TV. If you’re feeling handy, or have the budget to hire someone, you could build a banquette window seat into the bay, using kitchen cabinets (I‘ve done a version of this in every home we’ve owned, and I love it). That gets you both seating and storage, and it could look really cute in that space. Good luck!
Allie Lee
Original Author
2 years ago
Thank you!!! Yeah this layout seems to be common in city living 😆 This living space is just for two people so both of your ideas are great. I hadnt thought about switching the living and dining room areas and Love the bay window seating!
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It would be possible to put a play corner in the first two drawings but not in alternative 2. I would recommend a corner of storage furniture to corral the toys. I am usually a fan of built-ins but not in this case because eventually the kids will outgrow their toys and you won't need that storage there anymore. The built-in exception would be a window seat under one of those windows on the plans. Some of the storage could be cabinets or bookshelves for bins or toys underneath a window seat. I'm not a fan for toy box style storage because they either become a black hole or the kids throw everything out of them looking for what they want and then do't put the rest of it back. As for the kitchen placement, near to the deck would be best in you like to eat outdoors on the deck or entertain on the deck. We entertain a lot and the kitchen is on the other side of the house from the patio. It's a real pain and a big part of my design brief for the architect was for the kitchen to be next to the patio. I even wanted a pass-through window from the kitchen sink to the patio for ease of clean up but unfortunately I wasn't able to work that out.
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Your home is just so lovely, I don't think you should remove all that architectural detail. What are the dimensions of the laundry room? I'm wondering if there is opportunity to turn that into an efficient office space (not legal bedroom.) Maybe you could leave the living room and dining room alone and put that part of the budget into an efficient shower bathroom with stackable laundry so the laundry can become office space or guest space if there's room for even a daybed?
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Okay - did the corrections and think I have a close approximation of your space. Each block represents 1 foot. The gray area is the space needed around the island for walking with people seated - should be clear of furniture. Can you take a picture of the full wall where the fireplace and tv nook are - not sure I got their placements right. Do you plan on using the tv nook for the TV? How did you envision the living/seating areas when you designed the kitchen? How many people need to be seated - do you need a dining space and how many people need to sit at the dining table or are you just using the island for meals?
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If you want a TV in that room the only place it can really go is to the right of the fireplace (maybe to the left if you find that works better for you). It is never recommended to put it over the fireplace unless there is nowhere else for it to go. You have more than enough space on the right for a nice console. Maybe in the future you can do something more dramatic with the fireplace as it looks small in that large wall (or maybe you are already and it's not finished yet). Put a tall piece of art over it (something that is less wide than the fireplace). Face your sofa toward the fireplace and TV. The dining table should have the long side parallel to the slider. I can't imagine it fitting the other direction. I don't think it's a bad thing to have your old furniture in there for a while. It will help you get an idea of the right size for new pieces. You may also get better advice if you post a graph paper drawing of the space so the commenters know exactly how much space you're working with. The perspective in pictures is sometimes misleading.
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