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living room Design Dilemma Home Decorating

how to furnish open concept LR

Jennifer Svensson

3 years ago

Our Home is open concept. We sent to replace our sofa but cannot decide on the layout. We are a family of 5, but we also have a game room for movie watching etc.

We use the family entry most and I like the idea of having two sofas because it looks more inviting and open. However, that same set up looks rather uninviting coming from the main entry (only used by some guest) as you’re greeted by the back of the sofa.

Husband prefers sofa facing TV wall but I find it more closed in and not so nice for lounging and hosting.

Ideas, thoughts?

We will get a modern looking sofa and if needed, some modern chairs. I’ve included some inspiration photos for furniture and floor plan.

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Comments (11)

Jennifer Svensson
Original Author
3 years ago
More pics
Jennifer Svensson
Original Author
3 years ago
Possible sofa style
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So her concern is that if she paints the inside of the loft bedroom a color, say gray, and the stairway a different color, when you are in the bedroom, you will have a gray wall with two "windows" showing the stairway color. Honestly, I think this could give the loft bedroom some design interest. Just as the brick wall in the living room is an accent wall, the wall with the two "windows" becomes an accent wall in the bedroom. How does the brick wall tie into all of this? Is it visible from the bedroom? What I'd do is sort of a modern take on color blocking. Find a color for the living room that goes well with the color of the brick wall. Then find two more colors that coordinate well with the living room color. One color in the living room, and maybe that same color in the kitchen (a lot depends on how the space is laid out). Then the second color in the hallway and stairs. Then the third color in the bedroom. Good friends of mine did something like this in their very traditional house, with a center hall, a living room opening off to the right and the dining room opening off to the left, with large archways. The living room was a dark brown, the hall a mustardy gold and dining room a sage green. The colors all worked well together and clearly defined the spaces.
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Yes -- photos would be wonderful so we can really see your space! Is the woodstove necessary -- or can it be re-done or removed???? Of course -- the cabinets can be painted -- perhaps to a fresh simple white? And then add color with a black painted island? New flooring throughout the space would seem to be the first step -- and would change the look of the whole area and make it seem more cohesive.
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One way to make the space feel cozy yet spacious is to use color to help define the separate spaces. It helps make each area feel more like a room, yet seeing into what color defines as another room helps make it feel spacious. My lower level has an exercise room that's open to a music nook and the staircase. So I selected coordinating colors that I liked and defined the music nook with the beige wall and ceiling and the exercise area with the paladian blue wall and ceiling. I used the architecture and trim color to help define the tray ceiling and the column to help separate the spaces. The art helps tie the color scheme together. This way they relate, coordinate, but each provide their own separate purpose...cozy yet spacious. My mother's condo had a DR and LR open to each other so we picked a drapery fabric that had blue and orange accents in it against a taupe background. So we painted the whole area the taupe, and the lr wall opposite the dr a terra cotta, and the dr wall opposite the lr a blue. So again, with color the two rooms coordinated but the color scheme helped define each area making the coziness of two rooms with the spaciousness of one large room. I have my FR and kitchen and breakfast nook all in one open area, but in order to define the spaces separately to make the function clear and to lend more coziness, I again used coordinating fabrics and paint colors to define the separate areas. The FR and breakfast nook are in the beige/gold paint while the kitchen is in the rust. The valances in the kitchen and the breakfast nook contain both colors, but more rust in the FR and more gold in the kitchen. This way the color story gets told in both rooms, but in different proportions to define the spaces. The architecture of the soffit also helps to define the spaces. The arch in the soffit was repeated in the shape of the island and in the flooring which again are more visual cues to define separate cozy spaces while still having that spaciousness of a larger room.
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Great, Sally. Hope we didn't overwhelm you with too much information. Most of us do go for a holistic approach to space since no single element exists in a room by itself; they connect through layout, style, finishes, palettes. Sometimes the "problem child" isn't the actual problem, or the only problem, and getting a bunch of alternative suggestions can be useful. Your room is lovely as is, frankly. If you are getting wood flooring, that will definitely modernize the room without your doing anything else. Feel free to post again with all the details at the outset--i.e. not loving the paint, getting wood floors, etc.--then people won't chime in with too much information. Good luck with your new home. You have beautiful pieces.
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acm
3 years ago
Your blue couches look like they are too close together -- barely room for knees, let alone a coffee table or anything. Back of couch to door is easily remedied with a console table behind.

Living Room Spaces · More Info

I think that the orange diagrams are probably more realistic. If you have a couple slim chairs with a table in the window area, then they can be pulled forward when you need a larger conversation grouping.
Jennifer Svensson
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you - we’ve been going back a forth on this. I like the orange set ups too, especially if we can have the chairs (i just like the model very much and would like to find a ‘home’ for them). For blue set up with sofas facing each other, I think there would be around 80” between the sofas. Here’s a picture with current furniture and 80” between. (The tv-wall is 17” long, it looks smaller on the picture than it is. )
PRO
LilDesignWorks
3 years ago
A few options similar to your last pixs but flipped to not have the sofa obstruct the view
PRO
LilDesignWorks
3 years ago
Stunning choice of furniture style btw! If you go for my second suggestion the 2 chairs by the window can be swivel chairs to be able to enjoy the conversation area or if turned, enjoy the pool view:)
Jennifer Svensson
Original Author
3 years ago
First photo is from the main entrance/dining area. We rarely use this entrance. The second picture is from the family entrance that we use all the time.
decoenthusiaste
3 years ago
Scaled to your space, this could work well. The chairs all swivel.
Kiawah Family Home · More Info
lucky998877
3 years ago
I have swivel chairs combined with a large couch...the chairs are everyone's favorite (from Room and Board)! Nice to chat and face each other, can be turned to watch TV, and can be turned fully around to look out on the deck. Highly recommended!
PRO
LilDesignWorks
3 years ago

Your inspo is also a great layout, and you can use your chairs as well. This can be flipped every which way, the sofas being low will not obstruct the view. Eeven though I tend to agree with you, I would have the tv where the art is and the ottoman facing the kitchen island
Jennifer Svensson
Original Author
3 years ago
I had never thought of placing the sofa, or part of it, on the longer wall. I’m not against doing that. It opens up more opportunities. The challenge we have is that we want a lot of seating but that there are walkways around the whole setting making the ‘furnishable’ area smaller than it actually could be. Lots of good ideas hereZ

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