Help: Solve a Tricky Living Room Layout
This room has me stumped! The angled fireplace, the empty wood floor near the mantel, and the rug that’s just… there. I’ve tried a bunch of layouts, but nothing quite works.
Photos are attached—how would you approach this? I’ve tried a few different things and none of them are comfortable. I also posted what the staging was, which isn’t realistic for how we live.
Here’s what I’m figuring out:
✔️ Keep the space open and easy to walk through
✔️ Surfaces by every seat
✔️ Ottomans or footrests at seats
✔️ Lighting that’s cozy and glare-free (I’m not a fan of overheads)
✔️Something forget weird open wood areas (another rug?)
I’m willing to buy, remove, change, or swap any of the items in the room. I’m thinking we’ll at least need one more side table, 1–2 ottoman-like “square cube things,” and another floor lamp.
Comments
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Oh this is such a fun space! I’m in transit so forgive this janky sketch over your photos, but hear me out! What if you positioned your seating toward your fireplace and gallery wall? Is it a working fireplace? I think your fireplace and TV are currently completing as focal points, and I personally think it would be more interesting to shift the focus to the fireplace mantel. You don’t have to lose the TV altogether, especially if that’s something you use when you’re in the living room. Something like this:
Color key (😂): White = seating, blue = runner, red = TV, green = bookcase divider
I don’t know the dimensions of your space, so this is of course dependent on whether you have room to try this, but moving your sofa where the white rectangle is (so the back is in front of where your TV console currently is), you create a hallway effect leading to the rest of the space where the desk and kitchen are. I’d then add a runner where the blue highlight is and move the TV console zone. Do you need the console for storage? If not, you could lose it altogether to free up space and get a TV easel to place the TV on the wall where your gallery wall is. I love the idea of having it on an easel because you can move it when you aren’t using it to free up space to entertain. You could move the gallery wall to the other wall it’s facing if the artwork placement doesn’t work with the TV. I would move a lounge chair where the other white rectangle is to create an L-shape with your seating (the chair + sofa combined). I’d also add a tall bookshelf behind the lounge chair (where the green highlight is) to create a divider between the living space and your desk — but I’d keep it open shelving so you still get light in from the window. I know you mentioned keeping the space easy to walk through, but I think the L-shape seating will make this open space feel like more of its own little “zone” and the divider helps create another zone for your desk. If you don’t want the sofa to create that hallway effect, you could always switch my suggested placement of the lounge chairs and it would open it up a bit! As far as lighting goes, get some plug-in sconces and small table lamps with warm lighting to help create a cozier atmosphere
I hope some of this is helpful!
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Wow!!! I never thought of this—thank you so much for your comment. Your switch-up is kind of blowing my mind! In your suggestion, it still feels like the little area around the fireplace would be completely empty. Do you think we could add a bench or maybe a console table there to drop things on when you walk in?
It seems like in this new layout, we’d have to sacrifice one of the chairs—do you agree? Truth be told, we splurged on the camel velvet chair as a statement piece when we first moved in, and it looks amazing. But since we use the living room as our dining room for 99.9% of meals (with TV trays), we don’t tend to sit in it. Plus, it’s not as comfortable as the giant fuzzy chair (a grief purchase after we lost our cat, and it’s so cozy).
We also can’t get rid of the console since it holds our large TV. I played around with the space today and here’s where I landed. Not sure it looks that different, but my thinking was we’d need to add a rug where the brown chair is now (the green circle in my photo). Would that space be empty in your suggestion?
(Blue = runner; white = couch and camel chair; red = tv; yellow = console); green = ????).
Thanks SO much for this—it’s been so helpful! Lastly, do you have any additional tips for the desk area? It’s where my husband works, so it has to stay as a functional office space.
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Also, how would you arrange the striped blue-and-white rug in this layout? We’d have to pull it forward to make room for the walkway, so would you put the console, couch, and side chair fully on the rug? The rug isn’t wide enough for the couch, with only about 6–10 inches of overhang on each side if it’s centered, so side tables next to the couch don’t fully fit on the rug (ugh, one of my biggest frustrations!). I’d love your suggestions for laying out the console, couch, camel chair, and any side tables you think could work on the rug in this new setup.
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I'm so glad you found this helpful and not overwhelming haha. So yes, with this switch, I would recommend adding a small table next to the entryway (the wall with the piece of artwork between the opening and fireplace). It looks like you might even have one to use that's currently next to your console, right? I would also move the shearling you have on the ground in front of the fireplace for some cozy feels. If the camel chair is not comfortable and it's not being used, it's probably best to part ways with it!
I would try moving the blue rug closer to the wall next to the fireplace is to make room for the "hallway" that you're creating. A runner is typically 2-3 feet wide, so that should help you figure out how much space you'll want behind the sofa — but you will also know as you're passing through whether it's too tight. Is the rug large enough to fit the sofa, console, and a lounge chair on it without it feeling too cramped? You might have to consider having one large furniture piece on it and only slight off. So for example, push the rug closer to the wall, place the TV and console entirely on it, measure out how much space you'll need for a coffee table/ottoman situation (a coffee table could be useful especially if you like to eat at the sofa!), and then place the sofa according to that. It might come slightly off the rug but I think that's okay. I would move those side tables you currently have (the white and black one) in front of the sofa but slightly to the side so it's still on the rug and feels grounded rather than floating off the side
For the desk area, I would recommend adding something that makes it feel like its own little nook. Without a divider between the living room and desk, it all feels part of the same space. What about some floor to ceiling bookcases on that sliver of the wall where the desk is? You can hack the IKEA Billys (examples here) to create a really luxurious feeling area! You can do something like this so the desk is part of the bookshelf:
Or something like this where your back is to the bookshelf and it serves as your backdrop:
Both options would give your husband more storage in this area and make the space feel more intentional
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I’d try a sectional around the fireplace. Floor lamps will definitely help with comfort
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