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| I am re-requesting feedback on layout help for a living room of a house that we are purchasing. Original thread is linked below. But to recap, we are downsizing from a newish suburban home to a 90 year old home, complete with awkward shaped rooms that make furniture placement a challenge. I measured to the best of my ability yesterday, used this software to the best of my ability today, and here is what I came up with. I'm including some pics of the living room as it exists with the current home owners things. I am planning on purchasing new furniture for the room, so am open to any and all suggestions, consider the room a blank slate. To answer some questions that were raised earlier, this is the only TV area in the house, my husband is in love with his way too big TV (48"), so it needs to find a home in this room. We aren't formal people, we just need a comfortable and functional room since this is where we will be spending the majority of our time in this house. The room to the back is a "bonus room", the room to the right is an enclosed porch area currently (and likely will be) used as an office, this living room is open to the entry, so that door is the front door ... stairs directly in front, to the left side of that is the dining room.
So, here is your challenge GW, any better ideas? I understand that this isn't perfect but seems to be the best mix of form vs. function that I can come up with. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Original thread
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Have you considered putting the tv in the sunroom? In new homes, it's a bonus room. In older homes, it's a sunroom. Our last house had a very similar living room/sunroom combo to what you are moving to. The sunroom worked well for us...seating for 2 and the tv...it was very cozy. Are all the interior doors that were removed part of your purchase? |
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| I like the TV there better than above the fireplace. Do you and your husband prefer to sit in chairs or on the couch while you are watching TV? If it's the couch, I'd consider swapping the pieces of furniture. Then I'd use a shallow console table and a shallow bench to create an entry area. Can the TV be mounted to the wall? I'd also consider that so it can be flat agains the wall when you're not using it and angled out to any position when you are. |
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- Posted by kellienoelle (My Page) on Sat, Feb 2, 13 at 11:32
| Thanks for the responses. I don't want to place the TV in the sun room because then that completely removes any option for more than 2 people to watch at any one time, so no friends over for movies, sporting events, etc. We currently have a sectional, so we both sit on the sofa, but I think that is a habit that can be broken easily enough with new furniture. The reason for the sofa where it is in this plan is so we could do a sofa table behind it to place drinks on instead of a side table which doesn't seem to fit in any configuration that I have created. I think that the TV could be mounted on the wall. Although I do like it on a table (as it is in our current house) to have a place to store the other cable boxes and other equipment so that table will likely be in that corner anyway. The table could be placed flat against the wall and the TV just swiveled for viewing so possibly the same effect. What do people who mount the TVs on the wall do with all of their "stuff"? What are thoughts on the clearance between the sofa and the stairs? Is that too tight? Realistically there wont be that much traffic into those other rooms, so the fact that the sofa will be partially blocking that opening on the right won't be a huge factor (I hope) There are no interior doors in this space. We looked at a lot of homes that were built approximately at the same time. These rooms were created from closing in original sun purches so they have a lot of great light. I don't recall that I have seen a single one that is closed off by a door. For the one at the back, I like it open because it is a wide opening (65") for a small room (10'8" x 7'2") and it has a lot of windows so really brightens up the room. The one on the side I can see may possibly benefit from a door if it is to be used as an office. I would consider a pocket door maybe, but don't think that I would want a "traditional" door. |
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| We have a similar issue in our family room. We have a bank of windows, a doorway that leads into our dining room and the space opposite the fireplace is open to our kitchen area. I am not a fan of TVs over the fireplace. I just don't think it looks good. We have windows on either side of our fireplace, so we really didn't have many options for TV placement. We moved to the home with the furniture (sectional and chair/ottoman) and we really didn't want to purchase new seating. I had a custom table made to run the length of the sectional and we had a sisal made to fill the entire space (which actually made the room appear larger) We just upgraded our TV from a 46 to 50 inch - we are considering a wider corner unit to better fill the space, but for now, it works. Could you still do the sectional, with the sofa table behind (as shown in your plan) and then have a chair (maybe swivel) in the corner (along the wall where the TV would be) -- similar to what we have in our room.... |
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| another view... |
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| Your plan at the top of the thread is probably the best you are going to come up with. A table behind the sofa will look nice and give you a place to set lamps, but will not provide a place to put a drink, etc. Small movable tables, maybe the kind that nest, would help when company comes. I would still wait until you move in to buy furniture. I would get the shortest sofa I could live with. |
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| Janice, your room is lovely. I do love a sectional in a smallish space and it seems like you made what you already had work very well. |
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- Posted by kellienoelle (My Page) on Sun, Feb 3, 13 at 20:56
| Thanks for the comments. I think this may be the best layout for the room. The sofa I used for the mock up is on the smallish size (at 76" long and 34" deep - link below). I had also planned on using a sofa table, and think that this could be used to put drink glasses on based on the sofa selection with a fitted back. I hope at least, if not a loveseat or apartment size sofa may be more practical so I can include a side table. Janice - thanks for sharing your room, it's lovely! We are actually planning on getting rid of our current sectional, but will be moving it in until we can decide what works. Maybe in the end, another sectional will make sense! Where did you get your rug made? I am obviously going to have to go that route as well since the sizing is off. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Sofa
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| Thank you... I think the sofa table will work just fine for drinks. We have used the table behind our sofa to place a glass or mug. But we use the cocktail table more for that. We purchased our from Sisal Rugs.com - link below. They were incredibly helpful and provide free samples. I researched A LOT (like way too many hours spent looking at sisal rugs... ) and found that their prices and quality were the best. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Sisal Rug Website
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| Even if your TV is mounted to the wall, you can still have a console below it for all the "stuff". It looks better that way anyway, imo, becasue otherwise it's just a TV hanging on the wall. The only thing I would be concerned about in your layout are the tight turns from the stairs into the dining room. It could get cumbersome and I would forever be stubbing my toe. This is more along the lines of what I was suggesting. Forgive my terrible Paint skills. The sofa and chair on the right could also be a sectional. |
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- Posted by kellienoelle (My Page) on Tue, Feb 5, 13 at 7:43
| That just may work! I wouldn't need the sofa table if I was able to have a side table for drinks, that would set apart the "entryway" area, and still provide a compact conversation area, but doesn't require such tight clearance around the couch. And my existing 9x11 rug may work with this layout. Thank you! Now I an looking forward to moving in and figuring this stuff out. I am not so hopeless about a floor plan as I originally was. If that chair by the fireplace is brought in a bit, it may actually allow for an extra conversation area in the back, With very small chairs, of course Thanks! I like having 2 options over none! |
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| Kellienoelle - This is such a smart layout. |
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| Post pictures after you move in! This photo is in my inspiration folder for a living room layout and it is similar to your first layout idea. Just to give you a real world example.  |
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