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living room Design Dilemma entry

Living room, dining area, and entryway in one rectangle?

6 months ago

last modified: 6 months ago

Hi, first time here! My previous apartments had very obvious “rooms”, but I’m stumped with how to deal with this one large rectangle for a living room, dining room, and entryway… the opening by the door leads to a small kitchen.

We have a friheten couch, byas tv console, and a kallax shelf. Should I get a 2nd kallax to make a “wall”? A wall to separate the entryway to living/dining room or to separate the living and dining area?

I am struggling with imagining any layouts, especially because we weren’t given any floor plans. Any ideas or examples of similar situations?

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Comments (7)

blfenton
6 months ago
Do you know the length and width of the space?
ffpalms
6 months ago
For long, narrow spaces, think about separating it into zones.

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hi i need help with my living room and dining area
Q
Comments (5)
I'm sorry, I don't really understand what your question is, exactly? Are you asking what more you should add, or looking for advice on whether you should add another couch or a table, or...? How big is the room, first? Do you have or can you do a quick sketch or photo, and post it to give us some idea of the layout (like, where are the doors, are all the walls square or is there an angled wall or a wide entryway into another room or something)? Where are the windows and how big are they? Do you want lots of sunlight to enter the room or do you want blackout curtains? What color are the walls, or what color will you be painting them (or are you looking for advice on that, too)? What type of flooring is in the room now--tile, wood? That's a lovely little sofa (my couch is also from Macy's! I love it) and rug; it can definitely be the start of a lovely room! Going just by the info you've given and nothing else, I'd pick one of the light colors from the rug--maybe the palest spot of orange--and paint the walls that color, with ivory curtains (or ivory/cream walls and orange curtains, you choose; I'm currently painting my own living room orange so I may be biased). Get a nice print or painting for one wall; a beach scene, maybe, with lots of blues, yellows, and oranges. You could get a coffee table and a side table or two in the same wood as the sofa legs, or get some painted or finished in either a pale or a bright color, depending on what look and feel you're going for. Like, a bright yellow or orange coffee table, maybe in an interesting shape, would make the room look more cheerful and modern, whereas a plain, solid rectangle table in ivory/cream or palest blue would be more cozy-looking. A bright solid or patterned throw will give it one look whereas a soft, thick, fuzzy throw in a solid pale color will give it another. So what look are you going for? What have you done in the rest of the house? Good luck! There are a lot of great people here with great taste, so if you can provide more info you're bound to get some excellent advice and ideas!
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I would say you have enough gray already, and with the floors you would be much better off with an ivory or off-white paint color. Gray has been terribly overused and is now a dead trend, even though not everyone is aware of that. By that I mean gray used to excess and with everything else in a gray/colorless range. It seems to be very easy to fall into that trap, but with off-white wall you'll be encouraged to introduce more warm, vital colors into your home. Your rug sounds a bit colorless also, but you won't know until you see it in situ. I would encourage you to think in terms of the whole color wheel, and using some warm colors to offset the cool to give your scheme more complexity and interest.
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Thanks for the rug suggestions, I would have never thought to do a striped carpet. The other 2 look very nice too. I really like the suggestion for the coffee table. For the TV stand, I don't think I can get a taller one given the large picture we have above it. You pictured 2 wood TV stands, can I have a dark wood piece given my open concept and very white kitchen? We had ordered a dark wood coffee table but are returning it because it just didn't seem to go. I guess that's what I'm really stuck on, is the style of furniture we need to look for. I completely agree the console table is too small, that one was perfect in the tiny entrance of my previous home. If anyone has recommendations on dining tables and chairs that would go well in this space I would appreciate the insight. (excuse the dining room mess, all those plants are headed outside as soon as the weather warms up) As well as backsplash ideas would be great.
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I‘m not sure what you mean by ”hidden home office”or how doors on the TV furniture would facilitate this. To be honest, IMO the wall of heavy black shelving is depressing and unattractive, and I think the glass table and lighter chairs made the space look less cluttered. You might consider replacing the black TV unit with a pair of these on either side of a wall mounted TV: https://www.ikea.com/au/en/p/hemnes-desk-white-stain-30354207/ and possibly wall mounted white shelves above each desk.
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Jenny J.
Original Author
6 months ago
A very rough estimate would be 12 x 25’? I will take some measurements when I visit today.
Maureen
6 months ago
last modified: 6 months ago
Article below may help as a first step.

https://roomfortuesday.com/5-tips-for-styling-open-concept-spaces/

If you want defined spaces, use art, a piece of furniture to visually separate, and rugs.

Then suggest finding an on line plan and based on the dimensions/structural components, your needs, and the furniture you already have, you’ll soon find what will work. Suggest not buying additional furniture or rugs until you have decided on the above.
acm
6 months ago
I guess you'll want the table near the kitchen, so give a little space for coming in (entry table under the window?), then dining table (see if you can swag a light to hang over it), then use the rest as the living room. You can probably have the table closer to the wall opposite the kitchen, so that there's a natural walkway from the front door to the living space. The idea of separators seems nice, but 12 ' doesn't really leave room to separate that direction, and I think you won't have any difficulty keeping a dining space distinct from the LR.

At the other end, probably the TV on the thermostat wall so that you can put your couch (with an end table + lamp) in the deeper side. A couple arm chairs complete the sitting area (backs to dining zone), and a rug to define and finish that space. Coffee table too. You'll probably find that those two zones, plus the buffer near the door, take all the length. Hang art over the couch and again on the wall over the dining table, and it will look right.

Here's a similar setup, although the kitchen is at the other end -- imagine that replaces the sliding doors.

Red Brick Rehab outtakes · More Info

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PRO
CDR Design, LLC
6 months ago
last modified: 6 months ago
Basically you will be laying out your space with the living area on the sliding door end, dining toward other end.

Area around the slider should be free. The living will be defined by a rug and perhaps chairs or sofa.

Keep in mind the area beyond the red line is unusuable for furniture. This is a foot traffic area.

Please provide measurements from red line to slider and I can help further. Thanks!
PRO
Everything Home
4 months ago
It might be the best idea to try having a small entryway near the front door, then the living room area near the slider and the dining room in the middle, but if you feel you want to flip the dining and living room you can. Try to define each space with a rug. It looks like your best bet might be using a couch and two chairs, even apartment sized ones if needed. Then a small round table with four chairs max for the dining area. Below are some visuals from our portfolio we thought might help more:

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