Hi, What a great house/floorplan! I hope you don't mind me making a few suggestions to your kitchen. I love this stuff and I've spent the last few months on the kitchen forum during the building of our new home. We just finished! Here's a few thoughts, for what it's worth- What if you turned the island 90 degrees so that it extends into the living room space. The island could then be one level and more of a table shape (not as long and wider). Then you could make the end with the ovens a corner/L shape. You could still have a large space opening to the breakfast area. I'm thinking this would improve the flow between your kitchen and living room. It would also shorten the space for the living room area and make it cozier.
Just a few thoughts! Best of luck to you!
Jill

I think this is one of those living rooms that works better without a TV. I'm guessing you'll have a big TV in the family room. Are you absolutely sure you want one in the LR? Assuming you do, and assuming you keep the furniture layout similar to the plan, you're going to need a really large TV because of the distance, whether it is over the FP or to the left.

Consider wall-mounting a flat screen on a swivel in the kitchen area, backed up to the master closet. it could swivel to the nook or the kitchen, so both of those areas would have a TV when needed. If you really want one in the LR, consider floating it in one of those chests that TVs rise out of. the TV could be smaller because it would be right in the seating area. Maybe put the TV chest between the chairs flanking the FP. With something like a 30" TV, the chest wouldn't need to be too tall. You'd have to factor in the wiring in the floor, and probably get a piece custom made, but it would preserve the elegant nature of your LR.

My living room is narrower than yours, but it's set up similarly. We have a wall of sliding doors adjacent to a fireplace and built-ins. I also have an island with seating situated like yours. I have an old photo of the space from right after we moved in just so you know what I'm talking about.... but my room is only about 14' wide on the fireplace wall by about 17' on the door wall.

We didn't have a choice but to put the TV above the fireplace. We have it tilted down so it's easier to see. I am sitting 22' away from the TV at the island currently. The TV is 55" wide..... It is incredibly easy and comfortable to see our TV from the island.... Thus, I imagine your furthest seating from your TV would also be just fine, assuming your TV is large enough. If a TV is mounted high like that, those furthest chairs are probably the ideal for TV watching.

Also, if our TV was lower on a side cabinet, I wouldn't be able to see it from the kitchen..... the couches would block my view. If this isn't a goal of yours, nevermind. :)

{{gwi:1587036}} (For the record, there are window treatments and different furniture now! ;))

{{gwi:1882462}}

Our living/kitchen/breakfast is laid out in a similar fashion, but on a smaller scale. We have a 55" tv that sits to the left of the fireplace and you can see it fine from the back of the kitchen 24 feet away. The only suggestion I have is to consider the viewing angle of the chairs closest to the windows, with your larger room it probably isn't an issue, but the fireplace mantle blocks the upper right corner of the television. Hope that makes sense. Good luck, beautiful floorplan. That is amazingly well thought out!

That tv placement will not work. I think you need to do the whole furniture placement again. It's not inviting to walk into the room from the entry to the back of a sofa. If you keep the room the same, I would place the tv over the fireplace.

Sorry to those who have seen these photos before! Our room is similarly sized, but our staircase eats into the space.

Right side:

Left side:

Hope this helps!

I think that's the best place for the TV & FP, as long as you have the built-ins to hold the TV.

You also have ample space between the foyer and the first sofa.

You will need several floor outlets though since your furniture will float.

You'll also need good lighting because lamp light will float also.

Which room is mine? Love love the plans!

I just hate to see a TV over a fireplace. So you cozy up to the fire while gazing upward at the tube? Say...."how does my mantle arrangement look?"...looks like a TV to me. Put the TV in the cabinet.
Also I think your furniture arrangement is pretty "closed"...looks like it might be hard to pull up a chair and join the conversation....somehow it would be nice to make it more open to the kitchen. I am envisioning a party where some are sitting at the counter chatting with the cook and others are sitting in a circle in the living room...need to open that room to the kitchen with furniture arrangement.

My daughter has a slightly smaller LR with cathedral ceiling, and had all custom wainscot installed and ornate FP surround, mantle and pedimented over-mantle, fancy crown, etc with built-in LED 55 or 60" TV over the mantle. She LOVES it and it looks fabulous. I'm glad she knows exactly what she wants, and goes for it despite strong opinions many people have about how they think other peoples homes should look and function.

well said, peegee. :) you expressed what I was thinking exactly!

Momto3kiddos-meant to add previously that in my daughter's case, you can comfortably slouch down on her furniture, which makes the higher angle of the tv perfect...the larger the room the less that becomes a potential issue, I imagine. Hopefully others who have a room your size and enjoy having their tv over the FP can weigh in if type of furniture makes a difference - Good luck with your beautiful home!!

Peegee, the difference is your daughter didn't ask for opinions/feedback over her TV placement...momto 3 kiddoes did.

the fireplace is the focal point of most rooms where one exists.... It just begs to be embellished, with candles a mirror pictures plants, a brass fender.....not a TV...
Look at Hoosier Girl's lovely room..
And mom to 3 already has the cabinet for the TV and it's not over the fireplace.

Momto3kiddos,

First of all, let me say your floorplan is spectacular! Every room is a great size and thoughtfully laid out.

I think that if you place your tv in the cabinet it will be hard for anyone to enjoy it. I see nothing wrong with placing it above your fireplace.

We have a 19x 20 family room adjacent to an 18 x by 22 kitchen, with a 42" inch tv on the far wall of the family room. Our kitchen island is rotated 90 degrees from yours, so our stools are about 24-25ft away from the tv. The viewing distance is okay, not great. We plan on getting a bigger tv down the road.

To get an idea of the space, I'm enclosing a link to the virtual tour of our floorplan:

And not to hijack the thread, but hoosiergirl - I love your green walls. What is that paint color?

Here is a link that might be useful: virtual tour

She has a cabinet for a TV on that floor plan, but it is in a place that would make it very hard to watch TV. The chairs and sofas, as arranged, aren't facing that direction. Momto3kiddos, what are your thoughts on that? I'm guessing that is one of the reasons you posted in the first place...? How much do you think you'll use that space to watch TV?

I think peegee was just making the point that every family is different. For my family, we value the function of the space over the aesthetic. I'd rather have a TV I can see while cooking than a mirror over my fireplace (if I had to choose.) Aesthetically, I don't think it makes a difference if the TV is displayed next to a fireplace or above; there is still a TV there. Again, that is just how we live and my opinion.

Hopefully, Momto3kiddos will be able to get the best of both worlds since she seems to have lots of space.... :)

Lindac - Of course my daughter didn't ask anything here; I'm using her as an example that some people consider the TV to actually *gasp* BE "the embellishment", and you know what? It"s OK that you don't like it, along with many others who don't either. I just wish we could all be a little kinder when voicing opinions. I feel badly when people post disparaging remarks about things that surely impact many people who end up reading theses posts and read something negative about something they have or do...like the earlier comment made about how approaching a room seeing the back side of a couch is uninviting, etc. especially since someone had already responded with pictures of a lovely room showing the backside of a couch...it just seemed mean to me. But maybe I'm just too thin skinned. I feel I'm hyjacking Momto3kiddo's thread.

peegee,
I made the comments about the backside of the sofa. It is uninviting to walk into a room and into the back of the sofa. I didn't invent that observation but it is a common design rule taught in design school, such as the one I attended. This can be remedied by placing a table in the back of the sofa like in the one hoosiergirls's room. I'm sorry if that offended you but I don't think we should take these sorts of things so personal.

Thank you for the compliment, Lindac!

Southernfrenchie, the paint color is Porter Paints' Prairie Sumac. We love it too!

And to continue the thought, originally I mentioned walking into the room to the backside of a sofa which is not the instance that happens in Lolauren's arrangement. I actually think the floorplan for that space is fine. They watch tv so it makes perfect sense that they placed the sofa directly across from it. They didn't ask my opinion but honestly I probably would have suggested they do such a seating arrangement.
Now, the original poster is in the process of building the floorplan so I thought I would pass on the info. In their case, I also suggested they place the tv over the fireplace and then it makes sense to place the sofa across the tv.
I do have design rules that I adhere to because that is my educational background. I can assure you that they do get challenged but it's good to know the rules before you break them.

peegee, fwiw, I don't think you're being thin-skinned. I think sometimes people post without realizing they sound a little on the blunt side. For the most part I think they're just wanting to help.

I really disagree. I might be direct, honest and succinct but I don't think I was being mean. I said it was uninviting, not that it was ugly, to a person who was solidifying their floor plan.

nancybee 2010, and yes, I am just trying to help. I come here to offer my professional opinion to those here for free. I don't need thanks or anything but I don't think I should be persecuted for giving an opinion.

Thanks everyone for your feedback - I appreciate it all. Anything that makes me think critically at this point is good. Peegee- I think your daughter and I might get along beautifully. Now to get this thread back on track... here's a little more about our family and our home. We have 3 kids ages 1, 4, & 6. The rear room will be more of a playroom (AKA kids space) and the living room will be the adult hangout. Not that we don't hang out together... we are thinking more for times we entertain it will be used this way. So, we definitely would like a TV in the living room. We don't watch TV 24-7. We don't even have cable or sattelite, just over the air TV. We all actually agree on what to watch when we don't have too many choices. :) With that said, we do watch the news nightly and a couple of regular shows each week and I like to watch while I cook - mainly b/c it is the only time I get to see what is happenning in the world.

I am thinking, we should wire and plan so that we could use either location for the TV - the fireplace or the TV cabinet to the left. I am thinking to improve viewing should the TV ever go in the cabinet, I should shift it to right beside the fireplace surround. This room will have 12' ceilings with stained or reclaimed wood beams in the ceiling with a stone fireplace surround to the ceiling. I would like a hearth, and I have seen some unique shaped fireplace inserts - more horizontal and less vertical, that perhaps would help the mantle and TV position lower. I think we will need to do around a 50' TV. We don't even have a flat screen now, so we do not need and 'immersive viewing experience.' I am very enticed by framemytv.com They have TV frames with art that scrolls away for TV viewing. The only problem is that it costs more than the TV itself. It sure is tempting. See link.

As for furniture placement, I am thinking of moving one of the couches to where the pair of chairs is adjacent to the kitchen because i have a lovely antique 4' round table I could use between a pair of chairs. I think that will fit best on the long side of the seating, adjacent to the foyer, since there is more room for foot traffic on this side. Perhaps it will be more inviting. It may make it easier to see the TV if placed in the cabinet as well. It may also allow me to use a sofa table behind the sofa adjacent to the kitchen for lighting, decor and drinks. Avoiding a few side tables may make this area easier to navigate or get into. As for not being able to 'pull up a chair' for conversation. I feel this area seats 10 (granted 8 comfortably), and that is much more than my current area seats even when we pull our dining chairs into the living room.

Other than wiring below, do you all see any other problems with floating furniture?

Thanks again for your feedback. I would love even more! No offense taken by any of your comments. I just sincerely appreciate you all participating!

Here is a link that might be useful: Frame my TV

I mean 50" TV, of course!!! Funny - I think you ALL would disagree with a 50' model. :)

momto3kiddos,

Oakley oak mentioned floor outlets for table lamps and floorlamps - that's a big one!

Honestly, your house is so open I don't see the current furniture arrangement being a problem. People will be drawn in by your back doors and breakfast room...

We have some elements in our floorplan that are similar to yours:

Our two sofas float on the "non" walls. The TV is in a cabinet on the left wall. When you come in to the family room from the foyer, you see the back of the sofa. But when people walk in, people's eyes move directly to the kitchen and breakfast room.

I think people will be so wowed when they come in to your home they won't notice which way the sofa sits!

It would never occur to me, upon entering someone's home, to think negatively if I saw a back of a sofa. Anyway....

RE: The TV frame.... I have seen some in person that were very lovely. I wish we could do it to ours, but we can't because the TV is tilted down as much as possible. Because of the angle, a frame would look silly from the side and wouldn't fit on the bottom. If your TV ends up at a high level and needs to be tilted, the frame might not be an option. The examples of frames I've seen were not tilted.

There are other setups for TVs over fireplaces with decorative doors that cover the TV. We use our TV often enough that that would be inconvenient.... but it would also be a nice option to hide the TV if you want. I couldn't find a better example than this:

{{gwi:1882465}}

Wow! I spend several hours every few days browsing floor plans and I really like your floor plan! Did you completely design it yourself?

I found this floor plan on Pinterest, but I haven’t been able to find the second-floor plan. Do you have the full plans or just the first floor?
I modified the floor plan to include a media room, pool bath, larger master closet, and exercise room.

The green spiral in the living room is where we’d put the xmas tree. The green table in the game room is a poker table.

Can someone tell me what are the overall dimensions of this plan. Its not stated

I came across your floor plan on Pinterest, I really like it so I rendered the living room area, also re configured the west bedrooms ensuite, instead of a partial jack and Jill bathroom, have two full bathrooms, one for each bedroom. I'm only partially finished the drawing sorry for the lack of detail in the render.

What software did you ise for this?

What does the outside look like?

Also can you email me.better plans and pictures. I think this is my dream house! April . Glassmeyer @ gmail . Com no spaces all lowercase.

I'm sorry I don't have any suggestions, but was hoping you might be able to share where I could find this floor plan? Many thanks in advance!