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dreame

Just not happy with this furniture arrangement

dreame
11 years ago
Not happy with furniture or the arrangement. Any suggestions?

Comments (46)

  • Lori_Tartaglia Volpatti
    11 years ago
    What a great space! I would turn the sofa so it faces the fireplace. Put a nice low bookcase behind it, or a sofa table with a lamp to bring some light down to where you are sitting. The chairs could be moved to the where the sofa is now, Add a new large square coffe table, and an area rug under the table to ground everything with some warm colors to liven up the space.
  • dreame
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    Thanks for that! Wish this space had an embedded electrical outlet :( It's sp monocromatic and not in a good way. Do you think leather coffee table/footstool would work? Thanks!
  • lefty47
    11 years ago
    HI --- Have you tried with the sofa facing the fireplace and a chair on each side. I think the chairs appear a little too big for the room.
  • backbonemountain
    11 years ago
    I agree. Turn the sofa to face the fireplace. Lose the table between the chairs. Let a new coffee table serve all seats.
  • dreame
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    I'l do that and probably ditch the blocky wood tables. too matchy plus I don't like the mnatching chairs either. Need to mix it up. But with what? sigh
  • dsnguru1
    11 years ago
    Totally agree with Insideout. The scale of the chairs work with the weight of the fireplace, this is the arrangement I would try first.
  • ccwatters
    11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago
    The first thing I thought of for layout was what your last poster drew beautifully :) Fireside seating is so cozy, and you have a great space to do that!
    If, however, having more seating for "television-viewing" matters to you, you could turn the sofa toward the FP and then have a chair on each side of it. This is still converstional and everyone can see the TV. I'm not sure your chairs are too chunky for your space, but they do seem too chunky to be side by side/so close (esp with the chunky table in between)
    If you are going to replace your furniture (your original question said you weren't happy with the furniture?) You could do a sofa and loveseat (forming an L shape) and then two smaller-scale chairs across from the L. Mixing up the style a bit could be fun too. Slipcovered with formal with rustic, etc.
    I would absolutely add a rug to any furniture/configuration you choose. Your room is so generous in size, you need a rug to ground it. I would choose something soft/cozy underfoot yet light in color to brighten up the space/add some color. Then I would put a large square leather or fabric ottoman (or chunky rustic wood table that has some iron components to it) in the center as a coffee table. If you do the ottoman, add a rectangular serving tray on top to hold drinks, mags, etc., and to add visual interest. Put a sofa table behind the sofa, and then smaller side tables next to the loveseat/or chairs to hold lamps. The lamps can be another textural element that add some character, depending on style and material (rustic iron, tinted glass, etc).
    Love your space!
  • Kathy Martz_Walsh
    11 years ago
    beautiful room, but the sofa and chairs are too big for the room.
  • Darzy
    11 years ago
    What a wonderful room! This furniture arrangement works fine...if it works fine for you! I agree an area rug you love is needed. Get the rug and play around with the sofa facing the FP. Also, I'd "break up" the end table matchy/matchy and put a wonderfully unique round table between the chairs and straighten the other one with the sofa. The furniture is lovely. Throws, pillows for extra color/texture would be a nice touch too.
  • Darzy
    11 years ago
    PS...sometimes matching chairs work in a room and in your case it does! But, why I suggest unique tables to "mix up" a bit. You have nice furniture.. just tweek and accesorize.
  • Le Java Woodwork
    11 years ago
    Having stayed in OK for quite a while, and i just missed y'all over there. Looks great already. Add a rug with a hard ottoman u can use as a serving table in the middle, or as a storage space for those family games etc. The layout can be as what INSIDEOUT suggested or keep it as is.
  • beautifulmaryland
    11 years ago
    I think the arrangement is fine, you just need a rug to make the furniture unified! I could also see an oversized leather tufted ottoman/coffee table in the middle. Also think the end tables are too bulky and squared off. They may work against a wall, but create too much of a barricade in the middle of a room.
  • PRO
    karen paul interiors
    11 years ago
    From what I can determine, the wood bookcases diminish the white fireplace substantially. I would recommend a lighter looking sectional, so as to re-establish the visual limits of the fireplace. By using a lighter sectional (both in scale and color) you will be creating a much needed reference to the colors in the fireplace. What you have in the room now substantially overwhelms the focal point of your room. If you can manage this change, then the rest of it can shake out from there with a minimalist touch and an eye trained on scale, so as not to overwhelm your fireplace again.
  • bprince300
    11 years ago
    With the sofa opposite the FP - it just lacks a place to kick your feet up - a shared ottoman or table/ottoman for when you're watching the TV. (I cant see the details, but can you cut the legs down on those two tables and put a soft upholstered top on them ? or just shorten and pair them up for a coffee table in the center ??) The furniture is a good scale for this large open room. Its beautiful and looks so comfortable.
  • charon70
    11 years ago
    I love your space! I strongly agree with Insideout! Her idea would look fantastic. I arranged my living room/family room the same way. I have a gorgeous beautiful rug by the Samad Brothers. It has a lot of color and is very soft. My sofa is facing the fireplace and I have two chairs flanking the fire place. A picture is attached. I am not finished with it yet...still need side tables for the chairs so that I can put lamps on them. The furniture is Hancock and Moore.
  • kimkay_628
    11 years ago
    Gharris8, I am having similar issue w furniture placement and was considering put the tv above the fireplace . Can you tell me size of your TV and approximately how far the sofa is from the fireplace ...it looks very nice and love your leather sofa. Thx
  • charon70
    11 years ago
    Hi skeetie219, the TV is 42 inches and the sofa is 106 inches from the fireplace.
  • inkwitch
    11 years ago
    Actually, given the volume of space (you can't discount that high ceiling), the furniture is fine both in bulk and design, although if you wanted to mix it up a bit, a leather chair (and NOT a recliner style) would be a mid-century style in carmine, oxblood red, if reds are what you love, or black if you want to keep the monochromatic theme. They would look better flanking the sofa which should face the FP.

    If you plan on keeping the chairs (which I realy like), a BIG leather ottomon would work very well as a coffee table/footstool/extra seating (kids love sitting on these things, especially if they think it's almost a table).

    You really need an area rug to anchor all this furniture. Oriental would be classic, but if your tastes run to more modern/contemporary/mid-century, pick something with colors you want to modernize the room.

    Ceiling fans in such a large volume of space sort of get lost, and you almost can't drop it far enough to make it really useful. I recommend replacing it with a dynamite light fixture. Something that isn't so spindly that it disappears in the air, but nothing formal (not crystal) or too large. Remember, it is also visible from the juliet balcony, so you have the opportunity for "aerial art" in your fixture. Search houzz for ideas; there was an ideabook devoted to this issue.

    I have to admit that I don't like the units flanking the FP or the stars. They detract from the room's elegance, from the FP and generally look cluttered. If that's where your plug-ins are, something else to hold a lamp (one, not on both sides), cherished keepsakes, etc., but done in a lighter medium (bleached ash, pickled oak) that are only as high as the actualy fire place. Then put some long artwork on either side, something that gives the room some color. Classical repros or modern, as long as you get some color in this room.

    Since there is only one photo and I can't see what's opposite the FP, it's hard to know what else is going on in this room, if it's open concept or what. A long "sofa table" behind the sofa (if it's facing the FP) with a lamp would be attractive. It's hard to live in a room with no lamps. I recommend putting a dimmer on the switch for the ceiling fixtures.

    This is a beautiful room with elegance and classic appointments and contemporary atmosphere. Take your time; the right thing will show up.
  • PRO
    KM&M Designs
    11 years ago
    Call your electrician to put in 3 floor plugs, this is not as difficult as you may think and will give you options you don't have presently. The plugs should have brass plates and covers for when they are not in use.

    Large/heafty lamps on side tables and a console table behind the sofa will help.

    You need a great area rug with a lot of color or movement, I like gharris8's photo, but if you are in Texas as it appears you may be, how about a great cowhide? They actually take hides now and sew them together in squares if you don't like the natural form. You could get an area rug like a sisal and put the cow hide on top. Make sure one is large enough to place all the upholstered furniture on.

    Moving the sofa to face the fireplace and the wing chairs to either side is always a nice way to handle the situation, but I don't know what other view you might have that you are trying to take advantage of. Personally, I don't like the tv over the fireplace. I would place it on one of the book shelves and put a great painting on the fireplace. A really large painting if possible. All of your accessories are small in comparison to the size and scale of the room, you need to consider scale everytime you purchase something for it. The 2 Texas stars are way too small for the wall space they are required to fill. Take them to the frame shop and have large frames built for them to give them more heft, or find a lot more of them in different materials and hang them all over that area. Have someone make you a larger wood mantle to cover the too small one that I see in the photo and deep enough to be able to hold nice decor at holidays and all year and add large scale items to the mantle like great candles, or colorful local pottery. You might have the bookcases restained in a deeper color to give them more presence next to the huge fireplace or have a local cabinet maker beef up the moldings surrounding them to give them a better scale.

    The room is architecturally rich, so you already have a lot going for you, but you have not done yourself a favor by painting every wall the same beige color that matches your furniture. I would have the ceiling painted the same color as the wall only choose the color that is 3 or 4 times darker than the wall color on the paint strip. Pick out a color half way between the wall and the ceiling for the Juliet balcony curve to emphasize it. This will bring the room into a more human scale. Make sure the vents are also painted to match so they don't call attention to themselves.

    You are so lucky to have such a beautiful room, don't be afraid of the scale, just match it with your accessories.
  • User
    11 years ago
    Needs a rug, LOL!

    Turn the sofa towards Fireplace, like others have said, chairs at 90 degree angle, side tables on each side of the sofa, big wooden coffee table, rustic looking with lots of candles.
  • mapeggy
    11 years ago
    Well you certainly have gotten the 'full Monty'. Everything from getting rid of what looks like good furniture... to do nothing. So I will venture in. First I think you, have set the room up according to function..walking past fireplace to get to other areas of the house..rather than weaving around your great room furniture? Yes or no? Without enough information about the space, you are getting overwhelming but good suggestions. So, what does the other side of the room consist of? I gather, entrance on right, den or study on right, and left of fireplace is master. Then behind chair is kitchen? What is at other end....maybe dining or bank of windows? Suggestions say room is small. I am not sure about that. Either supply approx room sizes or a rough floor plan. Then you will get the designers best advice...now we are guessing. For what it is worth ... Definitely need large rug, in a lighter colour. And your "star" should occupy space on fireplace, and third set up room so you can entertain 6 people, even if one has to sit on an ottoman. Looking forward to knowing the other half of the room!
  • sue3
    11 years ago
    I love the room! The color scheme is exactly what I'm trying to achieve in my space. Any chance you could share the paint color with us? I also agree with someone who suggested an area rug. I think you have gotten off to a really good start just keep adding layers :)
  • sdwolk
    11 years ago
    I would arrange it with the sofa facing the fireplace and a nice timeless sofa table up against the back of the sofa. I would remove one chair completely or put one on the other side for balance. A nice coffee table/ottoman would also be very nice.
  • Judy M
    11 years ago
    You need an area carpet large enough for all the furniture to sit on and a large ottoman to put your feet up.
  • Suzanne DeTurris
    11 years ago
    I agree with Karen Paul interiors...the bookcases were the first thing I though didn't belong. Without knowing what lies fully around the room it's difficult to say but I would think the sofa needs to be facing the fireplace. and chairs where the bookcases are... coffee table in the middle and I would lose the two end tables if they confined the flow. You should be able to walk around freely.
  • Christine W
    11 years ago
    Sofa facing fireplace. Those 2 box like things serving as your coffee tables (Remove legs first). Remove those hutch things on the side of the fireplace and opt for a low modern glass and wrought iron table on each side. Highlight them with down lights and put either 2 commanding art sculptures on them or large lamps and books and things like a hour glass or pottery collection. move the chairs to just off the hearth and facing the sofa. Add an area rug that picks up some of the colors in the hearth and chairs. You need a little glimmer and sheen in the room. It is very rugged. Restoration Hardware has the Strand Mirrored Coffee Table that would add a touch of contemporary to the room and the sheen needed as well.
  • PRO
    Roots and Rafters
    11 years ago
    As others have mentioned, I would turn the sofa to face the fireplace, put the chairs on either side of the fireplace facing the sofa, and center the whole group over a beautiful area rug.

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  • jwilcox17
    11 years ago
    I love the room! The furniture arrangement suggested by Insideout is perfect. You need a beautiful, colorful Oriental rug on the floor. Then pick a color from the rug that you like and add accessories in that color. I would paint the backs of the bookcases the same accent color.
  • sharleeg
    11 years ago
    Many opinions on furniture arrangement, several good ones. The think i would really need answered before commenting on that though is the use of the room. Is it primarily a TV watching room? I don't think so. So, take that into account when considering placement. I agree with Karen Paul, the cabs need to go. Consider taking the uppers off and paint the bottom storage cabs to match with FP stone to ground it better. Color color, color is needed!The rug and pillows, throw, etc. I've had floor outlets done from below, especially easy if it is just a crawspace. Super easy. Good luck! Lovely room!
  • PRO
    Distinctive Mantel Designs, Inc
    11 years ago
    Definitely add a rug.....Most people suggest sofa facing fireplace. I agree but if that doesn't look good in the room, exchange the sofa/chairs and put the end table by sofa at the other end.
  • Jess @ homevolution
    11 years ago
    This is such a great space! The fireplace/tv area should serve as the focal point of the room, so as others have mentioned I would turn the sofa toward it and take away the bookcases (or paint them so the color works better with the room). I think you could make this work well with your existing furniture and a new rug, but if you're considering new furniture, what about a sectional? I like the scale of sectionals in two-story family rooms (plus they are comfy & functional!).

    http://homevolution.blogspot.com/
  • Tammie Kim
    11 years ago
    You have a wonderful space! Agree with everyone, re-arrange the couches to focus on the fireplace would make it a cozy and comfortable area to entertain friends and family.
  • PRO
    Marie Hebson's interiorsBYDESIGN Inc.
    11 years ago
    Hi dreame, Marie here. Your home is gorgeous! You need to make it cozier. I'd add an area rug,
    then play with the positioning of the furniture. You also need a central coffee table.
    But the layout looks good from the photographs, what are you not liking about it? It's a tough room because you have so many entries/exits in and out of the space.... would help to see more photographs.
  • Sharon Veenhof
    11 years ago
    beautiful fireplace! I agree with the others that the sofa would be better placed facing the fireplace. I would not get a leather ottoman because it would just be another block of dark color. Placing glass or metal tables would provide some reflective surfaces to bring some of that light lower into the room. I think the room needs one pop of color like maybe blue. Use pillows in that color family for the chairs and/or sofa, and place a rug with the golds browns and blue underneath. I also think an animal print (zebra) ottoman would really dress up the room. Don't angle the end tables, and put some books, candles or flowers on them. Finally, the chandelier should be grand. The volume of the room is expansive and the chandelier you have gets lost in it.
  • dreame
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    Lots of great suggestions that I am taking on board. The room is 17 X 20 and behind the sofa opens to a screened porch that adds another 16 x 17 foot space. It's a great area for parties but seems carvernous at times. It does indeed need a lot more light and something grand instead of a ceiling fan would be ideal. Why is it that every light fixture I like is a fortune? I hate that!~
  • dreame
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    About a rug: the irony is that DH is a rug designer so I could have anything really. We have some rugs in transnsit and this is one that I am thinking of using. If it is too small, I can have it made in a larger size.
  • PRO
    CASTLE Design Studio LLC
    11 years ago
    Wow! You are wild and crazy...love it! From my sketches 36 hours ago, I would keep the layout but with this rug I'm changing your style to ”It's a mod, mod rustic world”. Therefore, I'd put every element to the litmus test of being mod or rustic. In my mind I am spending a ton of your money hee-hee. Have fun!
  • User
    11 years ago
    I think your space screams area rug. I would go on Targets website or Capel. They have so many and it needs to be something you will love.
  • PRO
    ALLDECOR Home Staging & Design
    11 years ago
    If you are using the existing furniture - place the sofa across from the fireplace,place the 2 chairs on opposite sides of the fireplace. If you are buying new furniture - have you thought of a sectional (sofa/chaise style)? Sectional opposite fireplace, ottoman or coffee table, rug, 2 smaller chairs (I think your existing chairs are a bit large.) Its always best to have a console table behind the sectional back. (softens the look and a great place to add more personality - options: 1. Add lamps, accessories, books, trays, etc 2. Place stools under the console for additional seating when needed. 3.Or use it as a desk - add a chair.
  • judithjudi
    11 years ago
    move the sofa across from the fireplace, move the TV on the to the side unit, it it doesn't fit purchase one that does, hide it with doors. Don't put a picture over the mantle just a few things on the mantle but not so much to distract. move the side chairs where the couch is
  • pattyvaughn
    11 years ago
    Paint the bookcases white to connect them to the fireplace. Put the chairs on either side of the fireplace; put the couch facing the TV/fireplace; add a big neutral and white striped rug for a bit of flair; add a console table behind the couch and add 2 good sized lamps.
  • dreame
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    I like the idea that it's a mod mod rustic world - funny that! Those wood cabinets really bug me too, painting them white would work. Thanks each and every one of you for your thoughtful ideas. I really appreciate your input and hope to post a rejuvenated space in the future. Cheers!
  • Good Taste
    11 years ago
    Dear friend, I would be happy with your furniture, but in your house, your furniture should be positioned here:
  • dreame
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    LOL!
  • Jessica Young
    11 years ago
    ^ You should see all the lovely things she writes in her idea books. Your fireplace is beautiful and I actually really like the shelves. I personally don't think they would look half as nice white.