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Design Dilemma Living Rooms

Please help - sofa and chair arrangement in a very long living room

6 years ago

After living in boxes for months, we are now finally coming to the stage of the more exciting part I.e. getting furnitures for our new house. But after some serious brain damage we really struggled with what to do with our living room. It is a long room measuring 6.5m long x 5.3m wide, sitting at the back of the house opening out to the garden through a big sliding door. It is the only living room of the house so we hope it can serve multiple purposes including being a place to watch TV, as a sitting room for family/friends gathering and a reading corner for ourselves. And In the future we would also like to be able to have some space for kids to play.

I tried to sketch out a few rough design but are not happy with any of them. I attached one of them as an example below (probably one of the better ones I came up so far but hubby is not impressed) So please give me some ideas how we can best design and use this room. Thanks a lot!!!!

Featured Answer

Ivana Ćurčić

6 years ago

It’s a nice big space! You mention many activities and in this space you can actually create zones without visually separating them: eg bring the sofa closer to the fireplace and there will be space behind for a tv area or something else, place a reading armchair or two seater by the window for reading? A table as a communal desk for play/work/study is often handy. I apologise I did not understand what your budget or style is... but if you sit in the room and imagine all the activities you might want to do there, a pattern will emerge. I am sorry I don’t have images.

Comments (10)

PRO
User
6 years ago
Maybe a concept planner could be of use to you. I think Ivana is right, zoning is good in a room of those dimensions.

For instance:- Lounge area, reading area, little chill area over looking the garden. A desk maybe?

Definitely a lot more furniture.
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A B
6 years ago
I love the big open feel you have created, but agree with Ivana it sounds like zoning different areas would work better for you. I'd consider splitting the room in half with a sofa like this. Good luck!
Sunny Day
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks a lot, everyone! Zoning sounds like the most sensible option. What do you think is the optimal distance between the sofa and fireplace/TV? I thing the main issue I struggled with this room is that it is wider than most of the living room space but not quite wide enough so that there is space to create another area/zone behind the sofa. Plus we have two big radiators on that wall behind the sofa which may be tricky for placing any furniture close by. Hmm....

The room is open to the dining room where we have a big table so I don't think we will need another table/desk in the living room. So it sounds like we will mainly have two zones, one for lounging/TV watching and one for reading.
Ivana Ćurčić
6 years ago
My experience for the distance between tv and point of watching is how big the tv is. You could also try and see what distance suits you.

In my experience, you as a dweller create how you intend to use the space: watching tv / reading / entertaining / kids playing / guests sleeping / playing an instrument/ plants or a collection exposition / writing / paying bills / printer & IT hub... I am just brainstorming... In my case, I like to create piles: out of my books and magazines for projects, library books to return so separate from the many books we have, so I tend to welcome long shelves or tables. Sometimes it’s convenient to have separate dining and work tables - if you have space - because you can keep the surfaces dedicated for different activities. But again, it all depends on how you (want to) use the space.
Sunny Day
Original Author
6 years ago
Again thanks everyone for the great tips. I went back to the drawing board this weekend and come up with two revised potential options. Any feedbacks would be highly appreciated!

Note that A means the door to the living room from the corridor. B is the opening to the dining room. It is a fairly small dining room so the dining table ends about 20-30cm from the living room border. C is the sliding door to the garden.

Option A pics attached
Sunny Day
Original Author
6 years ago
An here is option B:
PRO
User
6 years ago
It's an odd layout of rooms, which throws things off a little. Having a door in a half wall and an opening for a dining room is somewhat peculiar. I can't help thinking that maybe it would be better to block the door up, or put the wall back in, is that an option?

If the door wasn't there, the layout would be a lot easier, as currently it creates a thoroughfare to the patio doors.

I do like your option A, don't like B at all. I would have the sofa with the L'shape on the other end though, as currently it blocks off too much of the walkway through the dining room. I think also, that due to the size of the room, you need more sofa space for it to look a little fuller. Thus i'd go with this:-
Ivana Ćurčić
6 years ago
Some people like to have more than one option of entering a room, in this case the dining room and living room - if I understand correctly. Not sure whether A or B is better, both have some logic; so it depends how you and your partner feel and act in the space.
Sunny Day
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks for the tips and comments everyone! After agnozing it over the weekend, we decided to go with plan B in the end. The main reason that sways our decision is that 1) having chairs closer to dining room leave more empty space for kids to play in th future and easier for us to supervise from kitchen/dining area 2) having Sofa at the other side will allow better TV viewing the experiences (less chance of view obstruction when people enter the room via the door from corridor).

Now it is furniture shopping time!!!

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