Because the wall it's on is the new location of the TV. I WILL GET A NEW TV stand or cabinet. The new sofa / chair arrangement works better for the view and conversation. Plus, while sitting on the sofa one is not looking down a long entry hallway. I was wondering if a sofa table with tall lamps on either end would help the proportion. If so, I would not use the table lamp at the end of the sofa.

Once you allow about 5" clearance above the back of the sofa, is there enough room remaining? Looked like it was hung below the top of the table with the old arrangement. It's a beautiful piece.

OK, mrobert575, let's address a few things before we address the art.

In your old arrangement, the room looks fabulous: warm, sophisticated but not fussy, well-balanced with appropriate walk space. Your new arrangement, at least in the limited view you've shown, looks crowded and dowdy. (Sorry, gotta tell the truth here.) Those wood chairs don't seem to fit; they look to me like they belong in a cabin, an elegant cabin, but a cabin nonetheless.

And, if I read the space right and the sofa is now on the former TV wall, when you put the new TV on the art wall, you will have a traffic corridor directly in front of it.

I think you had the TV on the correct wall initially. My suggestion is to go back to the old arrangement except flip it, so the sofa faces the window instead of obstructing it.

Yes, you can get your golf course views without switching tv area. I thought it was soooo much better the original way, but face the sofa to window as grover suggested.

I'll answer several questions/comments in one fell swoop. The photo with the wooden/koa chairs is ancient history. I now see it was a mistake to post it, but I meant to just show you what the sofa looked like. Yes, there will be a traffic corridor in front of the TV, but only my husband and I live in this big house, there is an opening directly into the kitchen and--with the sofa and chairs facing each other, there is a "corridor" along the window wall that leads to the dining room and kitchen as well as the lanai. The room is not wide enough to have the sofa face the windows. I've attached a pdf floor plan which includes the Living Room. Hopefully you can open it.

Here's a photo of my Living Room. The entry hallway is bottom left, into the Rotunda.

Do you feel safe propping the art on the back of the couch and posting a pic for us? That will give us AND YOU a feel for if this is a good fit in your room.

I think this photo was a start on your optimal arrangement. When you enter the rotunda you want to look through and see the windows, view and some inviting seating. I'd reverse the sofa and chairs, as they won't block up the view so much as the sofa does. Leave the TV on the end wall with a credenza under it (25% wider than the TV.) Put a shorter piece of art where the tall one is by the table and chairs with its center point 5' from the floor. The longer piece will have to find a new home. I'm thinking if standing in the center of the rotunda and turning right or left, at the end of one of those halls would be a nice spot for the tall slender piece.

I am posting more photos which I just took of the proposed/current rearrangement of my Living Room. I am trying not to have the TV be the focus of the living room. In fact, I tried not to have a TV in the living room at all, but it didn't work for daily living because all our living spaces are downstairs, guests are upstairs, etc. Then I was faced with a big blank wall and put the TV there which meant no chairs in front of it. Given the limited furniture options in Honolulu, I considered having a TV/media cabinet custom-made with doors to hide the TV, but that was going to be $7000. (In the former arrangement, only one person could sit/recline on the sofa to watch TV.) Also, I was never happy with all the seating focused on the TV, the L-shape conversation area, and the lack of views when seated. So, in the photos below, you see the current furniture placement. The chairs swivel toward the TV or conversation area, and we can also watch TV from the sofa further back. I intend to purchase a TV console/media cabinet but leave the TV exposed. I envisioned a bench for extra seating--maybe with a low back--where the old trunk and flowers are. Yes, I CAN move the Hopper serigraph and prop it up for a photo when my husband is here to help--it's not heavy just big. The painters' tape on the wall marks the position of the serigraph which you see behind the TV. To answer a previous question, the small console piano is in a niche at the right end of the sofa.

OK, now we're talkin'. The sofa looks to be several feet away from the wall, so you could put the tall serigraph there, but the bottom will have to extend below the back of the sofa. I think it might be too narrow though and look lost on that large wall. Let me Photoshop it in the space and you can see what you think. Back in a few.

Sofa is three feet from the wall, and I have considered backing it with a narrow table and maybe placing small but tall lamps on either end of the table to help with balance. Also needed to leave space to bring out the piano bench. Or, whatever. Considering all options.

Here it is:

I would not do a sofa table. I don't think you should put anything in front of the art.

groveraxle Got it. Yes, it does look lost, especially on the right side. The sofa back is 36"h and I had taped the bottom of the picture frame at 40". Could you place it a little higher? I suppose I could hang it there "temporarily" and might get used to it or just enjoy it there until I find a horizontal painting. Humm. . . see that table/lamp in the foreground of the photo? Would it help to place it behind the sofa with the lamp on the right end? Or, I have a floor lamp I could put between the sofa and piano.

OK.

Sooooo smart to open up that window to see that view! This is a great arrangement once it gets tweaked.

Few things to consider.....place the coffee table 18 inches from the couch and not centered with the seating arrangement. I apologize if it is already and just does not show that way online.

When the couch gets moved back and the table moved back, I think I would move the ottoman around to the front of the chairs and maybe even place beside one of them to be used. Is there room for that?

May we see the piano wall?

Here's the piano alcove--it's to the right of the rotunda as you enter the living room.

The piano is perfect there, isn't it! Thanks for showing that!

I think a floor lamp to the right of the sofa would help separate the two spaces and stop the eye so that wall would not seem so large. Care to put it there and take another pic? Sorry about all these requests tonight!

Here is the art raised. I normally wouldn't hang a piece this high, but it doesn't look too bad. Actually, it might work if you put a very narrow sofa table on the wall under the art. It has to be wider than the art, though.

With table against the wall and candlesticks:

abbyjean groveraxle OK, I got that picture off the wall and set it up on a couple of boxes. It's leaning, so the ceiling lights are reflected. As Abby suggested, I placed a floor lamp; I have a different one as well that has a black base and a burlap-y shade. The table candles look pretty good. Anyway, comment on this pic.

I gotta' learn PhotoShop! If I go with lamp, I'll get rid of the lamp on the piano. The round lamp table is the wrong thing there, I think. Need something to better hide the wiring.

Maybe with a swing arm floor lamp next to the piano:

That's a good idea, too. Different lamp style, though. I live in Kailua, Hawaii, a beach town where Obama spends his Christmas holidays. I like turquoise, ocean, driftwood colors and things more in keeping with casual Hawaiian style.

I think this will work, mrobert. When you hang it, it looks like it needs to go a hair to the left. It should be dead centered on the sofa. You may have to nudge the plant to the left, too, but it looks good. While you were rounding up lamps and boxes, I added a lamp by the piano and removed the one that's there now.

I used a swing arm because I thought it would be more useful for the piano.

Thanks much. The painter's tape is centered to the middle row of ceiling lights which is just about the center of the sofa which I can shift a little either way. I think I can work with this and, should a piece of horizontal art appear I want to pay for :-) I can always change it. Mahalo/Thank you!

The art, in the right place, does look good behind the couch, doesn't it. Just be careful with a floor lamp near the piano bench so the person sitting on the bench has room to stand up and sit down without bumping the shade.

That "person" is me, and I don't sit there as often as I would like or should. Thanks for your help, abbyjean and groveraxle and all the rest. So nice to work with folks on Houzz!

I definitely think that a large horizontal painting would work better, than a vertical one, above any large sofa. Check out my houzz page with my paintings.

Love the whimsy, but the colors are a bit too bold for me. Thanks for sharing.

Looking very nice! Plant and floor lamp did wonders to cozy up your art. Your trunk would make a great drink table between your chairs so you can use your ottoman and still not block the view. Looks like you have room to slide back your chairs a bit. One of those rattan chairs that was where the TV is could also share the round table with the sofa.

Also appears that you could actually separate the chairs more to provide a more open view to TV. Pulling the one closer to the window and back would give more room for the ottoman. A floor lamp behind it would provide a perfect reading spot. Use your trunk for the table for that chair and get a small round drink table for the other.

I know....my piano does not get used as much as it 'should,' either.

Have you considered hanging many smaller framed pieces? This would allow you to adjust the size by adding art or increasing the space between them all.

I don't think this arrangement is as welcoming as one with the chairs at the window would be. The coffee table is not useful for any of the seating and the box and plant at the window need to be replaced with a bench if you keep this set-up. TV looks to be in a traffic path. I'd consider putting the piano there, TV with credenza on the large wall. Then I'd, close the niches flanking the entry from the rotunda, and add a pair of demi-lune tables, consoles or drop leaf tables right and left of the door. With the right sized pair of pieces, art may work very well above them.

I already addressed the traffic path issue. One of the living room niches next to the rotunda was sized specifically to keep the piano inconspicuous. The square coffee table will likely be replaced by an upholstered/possibly leather, multi-purpose ottoman. Everything related to the chairs must take into consideration that they swivel. Last year, I tried two chairs in front of the windows--they could swivel toward the TV but, with a table and lamp between them, they blocked almost as much of the view as the sofa. I do like your furniture selections.

I also previously mentioned placing a bench in front of the windows for extra seating.

artzila I considered a collection of art pieces but want to keep it simple. Maybe a triptych or diptych, but not a framed collection.

Finally got around to hanging the large print. Here's a photo update on my living room project. It is now possible for more than one person to occupy the sofa and watch TV; the swivel chairs work fine for close-up TV viewing. I placed the open-back chairs in front of the windows for extra seating, although I'm looking for a low-backed bench. The photo taken from the corner of the sofa shows the much-improved view when sitting there, as opposed to the sofa in front of the window facing inward (and down the entry hallway). Eventually, I think I would like to move the sofa back a bit and use a rectangular table in front of it. My old but fairly nice square table is of no use to chair people anyway. Let me know what you think. I'm going to post another question asking for help with the TV end of the room. Thanks in advance.

Looks great.

groveraxle I thought so, too, but I'm insecure :-)

I am in love with your room. Adore the fact that you did not add anything else to your art wall. Let the art speak for itself.

Room looks great, not sure about picture, needs to be more out there. I love these ideas and more personal

Thanks for the suggestion, Irene. Perhaps in a room other than our living room.

It's been quite a while, but I thought I would update you all on my living room with some new photos. To fill in the blank space on each side of the large Hopper serigraph, the turquoise vases with berries and long twigs were for Christmas, along with the tree center stage. The fishtail palms are what's there now. Both chairs are swivel for TV watching; they get rearranged--either both facing the sofa or as you see now--when I need space to set up the card/game table for Mahjong, the round dining table being way too big. Thanks for all your help with this project. Feel free to comment, one way or the other. Always looking for good ideas.

I really like#2. I like where the tv is.

Great job....Thanks for updating us.