Help! Living Room Design
We are having a bit of a dilemma with our new home. The plan is to add storage options on either side of the fireplace and put the TV in the middle. However, the sofa on the left will be too close and the view won't be great. Ideally, we don't want to block off the bay window. Any ideas are greatly welcomed as I am stuck :(
12' 2" x 11' 9" (3.71m x 3.71m)
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Oooh I see what you mean about the sofa feeling too close with your initial plan. Do you need to keep the door to this room? If you like the privacy, maybe you can add some curtains or find an alternative to the existing door. I suggest this because the way the door opens into the room takes up a lot of real estate! Would something like this work in the room? This would leave you with space on the walls for bookshelves or artwork, and leave the sofa in direct view of the TV above the fireplace:
Post-holiday once the tree is gone, I'm imagining a nice lounge chair or somewhere to kick back and read a book or enjoy a beverage in the window nook. Or you could have a little bistro table with chairs to give it more of a lounge feel
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is wall mounting the TV above the fireplace a viable option to achieve before the Holidays?🤔 Those wall mount kits are almost all VESA(?) normed and should be available at every local retailer.
Given of course you don't want to FIRE that chimney🫣😅
Heat is not the main problem but the dust and ash from the fireplace plus static charge create a mess on and inside the TV
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design practices say that you place your largest piece of furniture on the longest unobstructed wall. It’s difficult to tell if you have two couches, but the longest one should be on the wall opposite the fireplace. Mount the tv above the fireplace and build your storage areas on both sides of the tv. Or fill those corners with plants, floor lamp and armchairs facing the couch. Put any children’s toys or pet beds in front of the bay window (when the Xmas tree isn’t there).
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Congratulations on your new home! I agree with the other commenter that if you can do so, remove the door. I really don't like a TV above the fireplace, not only for aesthetics, but it will hurt your neck to watch it that way. Plus, it keeps you from using the fireplace. Instead, consider this (sorry, I lack the skills to draw a diagram here): position the couch perpendicular to the fireplace, facing away from the window; leave space behind it so that the side of the couch is somewhere on the right side of the fireplace, overlapping it a bit if necessary. Put the TV on the opposite wall. Behind the couch, angled on either side of the window, put a comfortable chair (or two.) This gives you two seating areas. Add plants, as this room looks perfect for it. Good luck to you.
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This is a challenging room! I agree, get rid of the door if you can. While I also am not a fan of a TV above a fireplace (I feel it competes with it, plus too high for comfortable viewing), I also like the main seating (ie, sofa) to face the fireplace. Is the fireplace a woodburning that you use, or a gas / electric? That might affect TV placement (ie, heat and ash).
I totally understand about not wanting to block the window! One option I like to provide comfortable seating without blocking a large window is a chaise — long, but with the back on the short end, and generally a lower arm partway down the long end — in this room, on the end of the room by the window, long way paralell to the window, arm on the window side, backrest to the door side of the room. This would allow you to lounge, put your feet up, and enjoy the TV, fireplace, without obscuring the view. I also think chaises are great alternatives in smaller rooms — the provide a decent amount of seating (or feet up area for one : ) ), but because they don't have a full back, they visually don't take up nearly as much space as a sofa. I have used a chaise right in front of a sliding glass door (just far enough to one side you can still get in and out), and it worked just great. Good luck!
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I really like the idea of floating the sofa in front of the fireplace. That makes for very cozy close-to-the-fire and hopefully not TOO close to the TV seating. Overstuffed swivel chairs are great for watching TV, then turning toward the sofa for conversation. If you can afford a Frame TV (or fake one by putting a picture frame around your TV) you can have a beautiful piece of art on the screen at all times and no more worries about the somewhat tacky TV over the fireplace placement.
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Maybe a pocket door? Solves the door issue taking up space in the room.
Also maybe a curved sofa that feels intentional in front of the bay window - not up against the window of course… but that way it wouldn’t feel floaty in the middle of the room.
it’s a great space and builtins on either side of the fireplace is a terrific idea.
Maybe a gas fireplace conversion so the soot and dust isn’t so much of a problem…Of course all of these ideas cost money… 💰
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This fireplace is low enough that the tv will only move up a few inches higher than it is already. We have a tv sitting that height and no neck problems. The fireplace appears to be electric so no real issues with the tv above it. If you can change the door to a bifold door then you can move the sofa on the left several inches from the wall to have more room for the built in storage. Or make a pocket door although those are more complex to install! These are lower cost changes so you can spend the most on the built in storage, which is a great idea! Replacing the curtains, or adding a solid grey panel at the bottom, so the curtains reach the floor, will be a better effect.
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This space has a ton of potential. Are you planning to do new paint? flooring? Love the idea of storage on the left and right of the fireplace. Can you consider built-in shelving there? Feels like the sofa is too big for the space - is there an option for something smaller? If not, would center as Daniela described. I'd add a comfy reading chair — not too bulky — by the window to enjoy that space and make it more inviting. Looking forward to seeing where this ends up.
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First, I really like your wooden animals on either side of the hearth! And I also appreciate the multiple photos that make it easy to visualize the room.
I agree that if you need/want to keep the couch you have, probably the best placement for it is floating in the center of the room facing the fireplace, with either a skinny console table behind the couch or a shelf unit on the wall behind it, if room. I don't see other options, because I agree I wouldn't like to block off the beautiful bay window, and there seems to be barely room for it on the left wall, especially if you're adding built-in storage. You could put the couch against the wall facing the fireplace instead of floating it, but then it might be too far from the TV, plus the door would open into it. (Could you rehang the door to swing the other way?) Other options: a smaller couch or loveseat, or no couch at all, substitute two easy chairs (with a table between them and a single hassock in front for sharing).
The fireplace is your obvious focal point, centrally located opposite the entrance, and reinforced by putting the TV over it, storage on either side, and orienting the seating toward it. Just as a thought experiment, the windows are beautiful enough to be a focal point, so you could orient all the furniture toward them and "ignore" the fireplace. But this seems to be going against the grain of the room.
I love the bay window! I vote for adding a small desk/table and chair in the center of the bay (if you would actually use such a thing), or adding a reading chair, hassock, and end table towards one side or the other.
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Probably because I'm fairly large, I detest negotiating around furniture in small or overfurnished rooms; hence, contrary to favoured trends, have a preference for arranging furniture around such walls. Thus, one could walk around in straightish lines and not risk falling over that oversized sofa etc. Tastes in privacy permitting, the door should open from the corner of the room, moving the light switch (or going for smart/Alexa switches?). You then might find there's enough room to actually 'live' comfortably (incidentally nobody could select a book from that bookshelf without moving that sofa right up to the fire with the current layout).
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Congratulations on your new home!
I see a lot of comments about the inconvenient door. However, this is probably non-negotiable because it's a room, and rooms get doors so they can keep warm and private. I'd live with it myself - especially as the light switch is beside it, accessible as you enter the room, and switching the door around for appearance sake is going to involve a lot of hacking about by an electrician to move that light switch - expensive!
I'm going to suggest a mirror on the wall the light switch is on. Just because it's always nice to be able to spread a little light around a place, make it look more open and brighten it up. Nothing to do with the main works, just a suggestion that might appeal to you.
Is the fire a gas fire? I recognise the pipe to the side of the fireplace as being for a gas supply. What confused me is that there is no connection between fire and pipe. If it is no longer used, you might want to get that capped off below floorboard level before building your storage units either side of the chimney breast. It would be in your way, both when you were making your storage and when you want to access it. In any case, you definitely don't want to risk damaging a live gas pipe you don't even need!
Your idea of built in storage on this wall is going to be perfect for you here. There is already an electricity supply on both sides, so integrated lighting in your cabinets or among your shelves, depending on your designs, will be easy to arrange.
I would suggest making them look as similar in build as possible, and can promise you that two mirror image builds can look identical even if the width dimensions differ. It's a trick of the eye.
Maybe cabinets below and shelves above? I know it's been done a million times, but the cupboards are a blessing for hiding stuff that is going to look messy, like game consoles and controls with all the cables etc.. Or spare blankets and cushions that you don't need in summer - all of that gets hidden away. Building it out to just beyond the chimney breast would still not block the light from the window.
Have you checked out any of the Ikea hack sites on the internet? They have loads of brilliant ideas for classy looking units, the designs of which are not Ikea dependent. There are also some clever 'tiny home' ideas I have seen for consoles behind couches which are great for storage without having to move the couch away to reach inside. That would also provide a handy shelf area, while moving the couch a little nearer the screen so you don't have to peer so hard to watch the TV action.
The idea of a hassock or footstool in front of the sofa is appealing. Or you might want a recliner, if you find you have space for it? Otherwise you might be a slob like me and use a sturdy coffee table to rest your feet up.A lot of how this room turns out is going to depend on your style and colour choices. It's exciting to be let loose on a new home and I wish you so much fun with it!
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