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No idea on how to furnish our living room! Help on layout needed :)

6 years ago

Hello,
Many thanks for reading my question.
We have been lucky to buy a house bigger that we hoped :)
However our old furniture seem inappropriate & quite small for the house and we are planning (along with lots of work and decoration) to change them. I am planning a bit head for our living room but I am stuck in terms of layout and I would really like some advices and suggestions.

The room is really big and is used both for gathering/discussion with family and friends (mainly weekends) and for watching TV (every day).
There is a fireplace (huge red brick monster at the moment) that will be keep as an open fireplace but change to a quite classic fireplace in style and more neutral/light colour.
Floor will be updated for light oak wooden floor.
Room will be replastered and repainted (out with the artex ceiling).
I have a good idea of colour and tone I would like: neutral and warm, grey/cream in country house style that match the period of the house 1920/1930.
Curtains will also be changed and the dark built-in shelves from previous owners will go too.

However I am completely at lost on the layout and what furniture to have and where.
I would ideally have 1 or 2 sofas, maybe couple of armchairs and a coffee table. We also have quite a big TV that I would like to make less proéminente, if possible, as I would prefer the fireplace as the focal point (There is second TV on pictures that will go) but the room still need to fonction as a TV room every evening.
I would something cozy and family friendly.
Any suggestion?
Many thanks!! :)

Below floor plan of the room, current pictures.

Featured Answer

Carolina

6 years ago

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Comments (10)

Jonathan
6 years ago
Personally I think that it is always difficult to have two competing focal points but having bought such a large TV (likely more expensive than a fireplace) perhaps this should have pride of place.
This means either turn the dining room into a TV room and have this space as a living/ dining room or perhaps you dispense with the fireplace and have the TV in its place and arrange the furniture in a U shape around the TV.
C D
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks Jonathan.
Just to note, I did not buy the big TV - my other half did ;)
I understand your recommendation to not have 2 focal points, but as mentioned I would prefer the fireplace to be the central focus (not the TV).

I am really struggling with where to put the furniture without having quite a lot of empty space and still be able to see the TV, so help would be appreciated :)
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Carolina
6 years ago
Hi, lovely room. How about something like this? Sorry, images are small, but if you click on them, they will enlarge.
PRO
Celery. Visualization, Rendering images
6 years ago
So nice bay window! Use it for seating area with chairs.
C D
Original Author
6 years ago
Many thanks for your suggestions! Very much appreciated.

Carolina - many thanks for the suggested plan, it really looks good and helped me visual the arrangement. I also really like the second picture you included - I did not thought of painting the wall behind the TV a darker colour (to blend it with the background) while keeping the chimney breast a lighter colour. It is such a good idea to draw the attention away from the big TV to the fireplace - love it!

Celerygirl - thanks for your suggestion - it is true that I have not really though about how to use the current features of the room (like the bay window) to their full potential- I like the suggestion of sitting area in it.

I think the main sitting area make completely sense as suggested, but i am just a bit concern that the other side of the room (the side closer to the door) may feel a bit empty. How would you suggest to use/furnish this area?

Many thanks
Camille
PRO
Amanda Clothier
6 years ago
In some ways it’s good to have such a large TV. Let’s face it you are sitting a very long way from it in your lovely big room! You are wondering how to make the door end of the room look used. I think we are talking trade offs with the design here, in terms of cost and layout. If you can spend a bit of money it might be worth investigating how to design a new fireplace that incorporates the TV. Sounds horrendous I know, but because you have a large tv it might work, though you’d have to be VERY careful about balance in the positioning and get specialist advice on insulating the tv from the heat from the fire. You also need to consider how much time you spend watching tv and if the upwards angle of view might give you a stiff neck from where you place the sofa...BUT... this would enable you to bring Carolina’s room layout back towards the door, making the room look more occupied, you could then also use celery girls idea to put a sort of separate more intimate seating area in the bay window - two statement chairs and a little table, maybe flanked by a pair of enormous table lamps in front of the curtains to fill the corners and highlight the curtains at night.
PRO
Amanda Clothier
6 years ago

Photo from google here
Carolina
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I don't think you'll have such a large space left and also don't think you need to fill all empty spaces with furniture. But... you could put your bookcases on either side of the window and perhaps one on the long wall too (I think you have three bookcases?), Comfy chair, small table, floor lamp and you have a nice reading corner. Or perhaps you'd like a desk in the living room?
Carolina
6 years ago
As a side note: if you're getting new curtains for the windows, raise the track/pole to the ceiling, as high as possible. It will make the ceiling look higher and look more luxurious. For the other window, the one with the radiator, I'd go for Roman blinds. And I would get a radiator cover.

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