Help me design my living room!

14 days ago

last modified: 13 days ago

Just bought my first home and I am terrified of buying new things as I am worried about doing a layout I hate or just does not work! Anyone want to assist on what type of furniture / layout? We have an open concept living kitchen space. We have a pendant light over the designated "dining area" and a chandelier over the living room space. I want to somehow break the space up. There is only really one place for the TV without having backlight of windows. Please see attached J peg and the only idea I have come up with so far.

This is my first post so let me know if you need more info and I will edit accordingly. Desired aesthetic is modern organic, and we are ready to get rid of all of our current furniture (which is all black brown finish. Thanks in advance!

Please note: my Diagram is NOT to scale. I did this in publisher for visual purposes only.

EDIT: Added photos from the Staging to get a better idea of the space.

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partim

13 days ago

last modified: 13 days ago

I drew in the staged furniture in green. Even without measurements, you can see that the chairs don't extend past the living room windows, on the long wall. The staged table is quite a bit shorter than the island.

So you can see that the staged furniture is much smaller than the furniture you have drawn in. The staged living room seats 4, maybe 5 in a pinch but only if 3 people get very cosy on the not-that-long sofa.

The staged table is still too close to the island and you couldn't use the table and the island chairs at the same time. If you are entertaining a crowd, you'd probably turn the chairs to face the seating area so be sure they are comfortable.

Choose the type of living room furniture that the stagers used, i.e. this is condo-size or apartment size seating. Not as deep or as wide, so it looks more in proportion to the room size. Relatively low backed. Furniture has legs so you can see under it, so it looks lighter and more right-sized.

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Comments (7)

ptreckel
14 days ago
I would opt for a couch, not a sectional. It will give you more flexibility. Instead, add two or three chairs. Two matching and, perhaps, another different one. That will give you more room for a dining table. Do you need one as big as you indicate? Wait until you are in the home and can do accurate measurements. An area rug will anchor your living room. Start there. Then build your rooms around it. Congratulations! Take your time! Enjoy the journey!
partim
14 days ago
You need 3 feet all around a dining table so people can pull out their chair and walk behind other diners. Same for people sitting at the counter. Your furniture is too large.
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Yes there are many , but many are a PITA to use. I find it is just as good to draw your space to scale on graph paper then cut out your furniture also to scale I use cardboard for the furniture to make it easy and then play with the drawing and the furnitiure until you get the layout you like. I do this lots of times and it works great.
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In my home, I placed rectangular canvas photo over my tv. It might be nice to have art or photo in the room. Koetsier: "While working as an x-ray professional, he continued his passion for black and white photography on the weekends while living in the Netherlands, France and eventually settling in California. This eventually prompted him to combine the two specialties creating some of the most amazing x-ray photographs using plants, flowers, shells and other inanimate objects." You can purchase the E-FILE FOR ANY IMAGE, AND HAVE IT PRINTED YOURSELF IN ANY SIZE YOU CHOOSE -- from this website: https://susanspiritusgallery.com/artist/albert-koetsier/
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Thank you so much, Beverly and decoenthusiast! The house is under renovation so I don’t have access to clean photos but here is some info about the room: It’s north-facing, and you see the room from the front entrance (front door is south facing). The back wall is an outside wall to the backyard and there is a fireplace and a ledge along a giant window, so there is really only 1 wall in the living room & that’s where the piano goes. This sitting/living room is half of a great room that also has our “formal” dining room—it has a 96” cherry live edge table & 8 walnut Knoll Nakashima chairs. The table is perpendicular to the backyard, with a big sliding glass door. The fireplace is in between the sliding door and the big window. Behind the table, against a wall that faces the piano wall, is a walnut sideboard that we are keeping. There is a light fixture over the table that is also staying. Thinking that the sofa will go parallel to the dining table and piano, (perpendicular to the windows & fireplace) and hoping to squeeze the a mid century style recliner (black leather & walnut) between the window & the piano, & 1 or 2 swivel chairs facing the backyard window. The space for the just the living portion is 10 feet wide (the wall against which the piano goes) by 13.5 feet long. The dining room opens to the kitchen which is getting redone. Oak floors will continue & we’ll have a walnut floor to ceiling cabinet along the wall that is the kitchen side of the foyer. The kitchen faces south & has 2 big windows to the front yard…dishwasher, sink, lower cabinets along the window wall in SW Gale Force (a dark navy w hint of teal). In the kitchen next to the walnut cab we’ll have an oval (37x60”) walnut table w black iron cylinder base. Chairs tbd. Cabinets around the rest of the room all same navy. Island (60x70”) will be in the middle between kitchen & dining space. Will have 3 barstools. Cooktop in island. Counters are Yosemite Falls Quartzite.
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So sorry this happened to You will get lots of support and help here. Can you draw out a floor plan with dimensions of the rooms? Do you want help with bedroom and kitchen as living room?
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partim
14 days ago
Maybe a coffee table that rises to dining table height?
chloebud
14 days ago
“You need 3 feet all around a dining table…”

Agree…at least 3 feet.
S J
14 days ago
I really like how you have it laid out...BUT it appears that your room sizes may not handle the furniture that you have indicated on the images....especially in the dining/bar stool area.

Do this: using graph paper, draw out the rooms according to actual dimensions - include the island as well as windows, doors, other openings, fixed lighting, etc. And then find the dimensions of the furniture you like, cut out pieces of graph paper according to the dimensions, and arrange them in the room.

A few general considerations:
- at least 3' around all sides of a dining table
- 18" for bar stool seat, plus 2-3' clearance behind
- 18" between coffee table and seating (some cheat down to 12", but no closer)
- at least 3' for main passage ways between large pieces of furniture
So - using the average sectional depth of 40", and the average width of each chair of 36", and space between everything, your furniture will land much closer to the tv.
Kt Dc
Original Author
13 days ago
Yeah, I was not thrilled with the LR staging felt like when ppl move the furniture back to accommodate a kids party. What size rug should I be looking at you think? Probably better to consider a sofa, Love seat and chair max? We are only a family of 3 and have a separate family room upstairs for the extra living space. However we do have large extended family that get together frequently.

Any Brand recs?

Help me design my living room!

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