In previous posts, I have mentioned our lack of space and design in our quaint living room. We have lots of stuff in a small space.
View from front door
View from kitchen
The Windows
Wall Leading into Hallway
My main concern is that there is no other place to put the furniture. It's an awkward room. We also don't know what to do about that wall where the TV is, we like the TV at an angle so that anyone sitting on the loveseat can also see the TV. But, it is the first room that you come into as you enter our house. I have plans to do all four window treatments in the same color.
Help! We don't know what to do!
I had to sketch this out on a little scrap of paper to try to figure out the layout of your room. It is a hard room to arrange.
ReplyDeleteFirst, will the big sofa fit where your love seat currently is located?
Second, could you pull the big sofa away from the wall to make a walkway from your front door behind the sofa?
My other thought is to angle the tv but that would block what looks to be a closet door.
Good luck! I hope you find something that works.
BTW - We live in the same town!
Thanks Paula, I am so glad to find a fellow friend in the same town!
ReplyDeleteThe sofa is pretty long, my husband hates it, but we wanted to maximize seating with both the sofa and loveseat. We could possibly pull it away, I will have to experiment. The closet serves as a coat closet, and home to the vacuum. It's such a small place!
Hi, Amanda! :) It's kind of hard for me to tell, but have you tried putting your rug in the center of the room, or is it already there?
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Paula's suggestion of moving the large couch to create a walkway and more of a seating area. I am sooo guilty myself of just making "walls" of furniture all lined up.
If storage is an issue, you may want to consider finding a small/low cabinet to put the TV on top of. You could use the area underneath and/or behind doors for baskets of mail, magazines, DVDs, etc. If you check out this post by Centsational Girl, she has a cute cabinet in white towards the middle of the post:
http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2010/02/hometown-pride/
For the wall next to the opening to the kitchen (last photo), I'd add some more artwork...more large pieces. :) Maybe add a large basket next to one of the couches for throw pillows, blankets, etc.
Thank you so much for linking up! I hope you're having fun "mingling." :)
Hi! Yep, I agree with most of the other posts. Rug in the center of the room, move the sectional either UP closer to the TV, leaving walkway behind from the front door OR on the wall where the loveseat is now.
ReplyDeleteMy other suggestion is to move the loveseat to another room. You've just got too much furniture in there. Does that leave you enough seating? If not, maybe look for a couple of sleek (not bulky) chairs on Craig's list to pepper in to your new arrangement.
You can do a killer picture wall on the wall where the sofa is now. This will be a nice entry to your home!
I agree with everything. Though the room is so small if we were to put the couch up, I think it would likely still block the doorway. I will have to go home and rearrange some things to see what we should do!
ReplyDeleteThanks
I took Paula's idea and sketched this out, although I'm sure I didn't get the scale right.
ReplyDeleteCould you switch the TV and the loveseat? That probably isn't ideal to have the TV in front of the windows, but then the couches would be facing each other for conversation, and you could still see the TV from both.
This reminds me a lot of a couple of houses we lived in, and you're right, there just isn't a whole lot you can do.
But you only have 2 main pieces of furniture (3 if you count the TV) and if your hubby would agree to help you out, you could spend an hour or two one evening just moving everything around in every possible way, and even in ways that you don't think would work. You might be surprised to find something you never thought of before!
For instance, what if you kept the loveseat where it is, and moved the bigger sofa to face it, and put the TV on the wall where the sofa is now? It looks like it might be a squeeze, but it wouldn't hurt just to try it and see.
I think I need to experiment. Though, this has put me in the mood to go buy all new furnishings.
ReplyDeleteHi, here's a couple of ideas:
ReplyDeleteHang window treatments as high to the ceiling as possible. This will make the room seem bigger. Perhaps take the door off the closet and hang a curtain there or pretty fabric. Because the door is close to the window you could do an inside mount of a rod or use a tension rod to hang the fabric?? If you do this, use rings on the fabric so they slide easily.
I also did a sketch, thanks for the idea up there. Do you have enough room to put the sofa like an L so that when you walk in the house the back of the sofa acts like a "wall". You could put a small sofa table there for keys, etc.
Place the rug either in the middle of the room or in front of the sofa. You will have to remove some of the furniture. Can you mount the TV on the wall on a swivel? They have those available. I know this means spending money. Sorry. Just trying to come up with different suggestions.
Wish I could draw a pic for you! Hope some of this helps.
~Kolein
new to blogging
Hi. I'm from Amanda's party. What fun! Can you swap the large sofa and the TV? I'd then get rid of the small sofa under the window and replace it with a chair. Then your seating arrangement will be the view from the front door. Wall mount the TV(where the big sofa was) and use a narrow table underneath for all the gadgets. Accessories the TV Wall with pictures and artwork so the TV looks purposeful not just hanging there.
ReplyDeleteThe three items on the hallway wall are arranged nicely but are too small for the space. Either add more to the wall or move them, perhaps by the tv.
You have a lovely home.
So arranging a small space is always difficult. Especially when you have all the openings coming into one room.
ReplyDeleteFront door,hall,dining/kitchen and closet.
Not to mention all the windows to consider.
So you didn't give the dimensions of the room...but I'd guess based on the rug which is probably 6X9- that your room is about 12X13.
One tip you gave is that your hubby hates the big couch. That is good.
So instead of getting rid of the small couch /loveseat. I'd say get rid of the big one.
First, I'd turn your rug across the room (from tv to couch) length wise.
plan A-
Put the small couch in the position of the larger one- ONLY bring it like suggested to allow for traffic.
Sell the big couch on Craigs list and get a couple of comfy (not chunky) chairs. Slipper chairs or arm chairs.
Place them in front of the big window with small table between. All your chairs don't have to see the tv. (some are for conversation)
plan B-
Keep the Love seat put it where the big couch is. Selling the large sofa and replacing with two chairs.
One would go in front of the big window.More toward the corner.
The second would 'float' with it's back to the kitchen (flanking the couch)
You could still have the option of having the loveseat drawn in toward the tv for smoother flow of traffic.
As for everything else...
Ideally, you could mount your tv with a smaller narrower console for componants mounted too...this frees up floor space.
You mentioned window treatment plans.
I'd treat them the same, the same length, and the same distance from the ceiling.
I hope that helps.
post pictures so we can see what you come up with...