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Furniture placement for living room with 5 entries and fireplace

last year

Hi everyone, this is my first post.

We bought an old house (built 1913 and seriously remodeled down to studs around 2000) about a year ago, and have struggled with placing furniture in the living room. I've attached some pics and also a plan drawn up by an architect (we are remodeling the kitchen and dining room, between which the former owners had removed an interior wall). The former owners removed many coats of paint on the beautiful old woodwork, which we love. We were lucky to get the Percival Lafer coffee and side tables from a relative who didn't want them, and we found the pale green Ekornes sofa and side table on CL, along with the low-profile black leather chairs. We arranged endlessly, it seems, to try to make the two doors to the sunroom both openable, and not have something blocking any entrance. Because the former owners enlarged the area by adding a library (right now just storage, we're getting there soon), that window is pushed back and we may try to add two long thin windows on either side of the bay window (facing west) to increase the light. We will be redoing the lights in the ceiling to brighten things up and wash the walls where art is. The dark Cusco picture above the fireplace will be replaced by something lighter; the two gazelles on the mantel also may have to go. We have taken down most of the heavy drapes and will be removing the ones on the west facing window when we do the remodel.

Here are the problems:

1. To the left of the fireplace as you face it is the entry from the garage that we normally use. We can't block a straight shot through that door and by the library at the right, because walking ahead leads to the the oantry and kitchen.

2. The two chairs in corners look okay, but they will not be used.

3. I would like to open up the living room so there is more space to sit, and to work toward a brighter space (the mirror corner is one attempt), although I know that is hard without changing the furniture. We will experiment with a light colored rug under the coffee table/chairs/sofas, although I'm not sure about a bigger rug.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. We hope to keep the existing furniture but also have a few more pieces that could be brought in.

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Comments (10)

cubby14
last year
Wow beautiful space and nice work on restoring it. First comment I have is either get a bigger rug so that your main furniture has all of the front legs on it or do without a rug altogether. That small rug just looks like you are testing it out and brought it from a different space.
WA Jones
Original Author
last year
Thanks, that's something we are thinking about too. I have a very large light colored rug but would have to cut it down for this space, which may be possible.
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WA Jones
Original Author
last year
Anyone else have ideas?
Mary J
last year
Weighing in because our living room has a very similar layout! We made it trickier by hanging a TV on hte wall across from the fireplace because we want to use it for movie nights and sports too. We have two couches facing each other in the mdidle of the room with two chairs angled in front of the fireplace facing in towards the middle of the room. We also have two consoles on the sides of the opening towards the library (seriously, same layout as y'alls!) but our walls there don't have interior windows. On the end of the room farthest from th elibrary, we've squeezed a game table. Not sure if you have the space - would help if you just left that one door to the sunroom closed.
lmckuin
last year
I think your current arrangement looks good. What do you not like about it?
WA Jones
Original Author
last year
Thanks Mary J - the sunroom door is glass, exactly the same as the sides. The former owners put in doors identical to the historical doors that separate all the main level rooms. They had furniture in front of that door, but we didn't like it because it made the entry from the garage difficult.
WA Jones
Original Author
last year
Hi Imckuin, thanks for your positive comment! The living room seems kind of cramped to me. It may help just to get rid of the two extra chairs that no one sits in anyway. No matter what I do, I can't seem to take advantage of what is a medium-large space, but perhaps it is the best arrangement possible, I'm not sure. Usually taking things out improves a place, right?
Nancy R z5 Chicagoland
last year
It's wonderful the way the former owners were able to restore the woodwork. As for more light, I think a light-colored rug would help, but probably not be enough. Would it be heresy to suggest adding some recessed lights to the ceiling? And/or you could add some sconces to the walls.
WA Jones
Original Author
last year
Yes, I think we should add some recessed lights, espeically because we want something to wash over the walls - thanks for that idea, Nancy. Sconces are also a good idea and it seems like we could add them to either side of the fireplace. For light during the day we are thinking of adding two narrow windows next to the bay window - that seems to be the only possibility. The other one I was thinking about was taking out the door to the right of the fireplace as you face it, and putting in a large picture window, which I think would let in more light. But they doors are historical so maybe that's a bad idea, not sure.
WA Jones
Original Author
last year
Mary, yes I think we should leave that door closed or better yet just take it out and put a big window there! Can you post a pic of your room?

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