Oh Barb, it looks great! I love sofas at angles. I quite often did that in our last home which had a living room very similar to yours. Only we had sofa loveseat and just one chair.

I would place the chairs side by side facing straight on toward the window with the cute round table between them.

A sofa table would be great behind the sofa. If not the floor lamp since we moved the round table and lamp away from it.

I'd angle the secretary in the corner it's in at the same degree of angle as the sofa is.

I have a few more ideas, one being angling the rug with the chairs at a right angle to the way the sofa is now, but don't want to overwhelm you with all of them at once.

Well, I decided to draw up a couple of the ideas I had. Not sure about the left side (as in drawings) of the rooms walls so I used how ours where. To three piece against the short wall I drew in the lower left of the drawing is the sewing cabinet. The secretary desk is on the lower right side of the drawings.The floor lamp is by the sofa and the round table and lamp are between the chairs in both drawings. I added a sofa table behind the sofa in each drawing.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

JGTBM -- I like the idea of angling the desk, but, unfortunately, I don't think that will work. Just to the right of the desk is a 1/2 wall and on the other side of the 1/2 wall is the front door. The first thing you'd see after entering the house is the unfinished back of the desk. Good thought, tho. When I can get some more help moving things around, I'd like to try shifting the rug and placing the two chairs together. A few more ideas will not overwhelm me! Keep suggesting!

Dee -- I HOPE the former window treatments are leaving. I think they need to. Do you think they need to leave? DH thinks they're just fine, but what else would he say?

I saw the half wall, but thought your home, like ours, was a split entry so no one would be able to see the back of the secretary.
What about switching the secretary with where I have the sewing machine. IF you have a wall there. LOL.

JGTBM -- Thanks so much for the drawings. They do help clarify your suggestions. The short wall in the lower left has a piano on it, which is the best place for the piano as it is the only inside wall.

If it would help in figuring out the space, the "living room part" of the L-shaped space is 18'9" from the long wall with the picture on it to the 1/2 wall and the space between the windows and the wall with the piano is 15'. The windows are 10'6" wide.

I forgot to mention, I like the idea of a sofa table behind the sofa. I thought about that, too, and am kicking myself because I HAD a sofa table that I sold on CL last fall! Why did I do that???

Oh you don't want to move your piano Barb. It's not biggie to not angle something in the front corner. Just thought it would be nice so have something else angled. Really either position I drew up the rug and chairs would be just fine with the desk just the way it is.
By the way. I'm Becky. Much shorter than my nickname.

" DH thinks they're just fine, but what else would he say?"

right...men always say that!

I love treadle sewing machines!!

Steph -- the treadle sewing machine has a lot of sentimental value to me. My dad bought it from the Sears store he was working at shortly after my parents were married more than 50 years ago. It was a trade-in on a new sewing machine someone had purchased. Don't you just love it? A trade-in on a sewing machine. Anyway, my mom, still to this day, says she was so thrilled when he brought it home. And I learned to sew on that machine!!!

And thanks for introducing yourself, Becky!

Oh Barb what an awesome story! My Grammy had a treadle sewing machine. I think hers was a Singer. Not sure though. Boy she could make that machine stitch fast. I wish I had it. My uncle sold it after Grammy quit sewing! Grrrrr..... I doubt he got Grammy's okay either.
And trade ins on sewing machines are common.

Like the change & love the idea of gold panels~ :)

Barb:
LOL re: husbands. They tend to take in the whole picture rather than details. I think your new drapes will give a more updated, elegant look to your room. Your former window treatments are fine, but your new ones are better. :)
Dee

I like the new arrangement very much and really like the gold drapes.

My DH also thinks things look "fine". He thought the house was fine with white walls. He thought the 1st set of curtains I had for the LR were fine. etc. :)

I really like the new angled arrangment. I also like the new drapes you are considering but not sure about the color. I dont know if it is the gold I dont like or just that specific gold tone, I dont think it goes well with the wall color but I do like the panel idea and the solid fabric, patterned would be too much.

I'm off for the day to shop and have lunch with my mom. I'm hoping to pick up some more silk panels at Bed, Bath and Beyond. They're on clearance and if I want to use the 95" panels, I'm going to have to pick them up wherever I can find them. The store near my home had only one left in the 95" length. Plenty of 84" panels, tho. Deciding on which length to use is another decision I have to make, but I want to have the 95" just in case.

I just painted my living room a color similar to yours (it's called Bungalow Gold) and changed from valances to panels, but in crimson red. The red would pop against your wall color and bring some of the red from your rug up onto the walls. Here's a pic of mine. Granted, my style is contemporary while yours is not, but I still think a rich color would look great. The gold is pretty, but blends in with the walls.

Today I picked up another 95" panel in gold as well as another panel in a color called pearl to see what an even more neutral color looks like. I'll play around with them in a little while and then try to post some more pictures.

I'm back with a picture, but I'm not sure how helpful it will be. I'm really not sure which way to go. I think to be on the safe side, I should try to gather up as many panels as I can while they're still available at the Bed, Bath and Beyond stores, so that when I finally do make up my mind, I'll have them. They are the Elizabeth Silk panels and are lined and interlined and are on clearance. If I change my mind, I can always return them. Is that crazy???

On one hand, I like the idea of the drapery color blending in with the wall color, but on the other hand, I think a little contrast would be nice.

I'll be curious to see what everyone who liked the gold panels thinks of the pearl panels.

Blondpegasus -- thanks for the pictures you posted. The panels really do update the room, don't they? After seeing your window arrangement, I'm wondering if I, too should add 2 additional panels. How wide are your window? Mine are 10'6".

Well, here's the picture. One thing I like about the pearl color is how it works with the lighter color in the border of the rug.
{{!gwi}}

Thanks, everyone, for all the help!!!

I really like the new layout and I think the chairs would look good if the one on the left were pulled away from the sofa so that it's more in line with the opposite chair. Not sure if that will work since it's difficult to get a feel for the whole room.
I have a similar layout of wall/window/sofa in my FR and I put a tall, faux plant in the corner behind the sofa.

On the draperies, I'm sorry to say I'm not crazy about the silk panels. Sorry...just being honest. :)
I think draperies that are close to your wall color will look great, as will something that contrasts with the wall, but I think the fabric needs to be softer and with more texture.
JCP has some nice selections on sale now and I've included a link to one at PB that may look nice.

Here is a link that might be useful: Panels

Annz -- I appreciate your honesty. I know I want panels, but need to take my time chosing a fabric and color. I think I'll work on tweaking the furniture arrangement this weekend when DH and DS can help move things around, tho. Thanks for the link to the PB panels. I love paisley.

Barb, I'm not sure what I think of the silk panels. Are they as shimmery in person as they are in the photos? As for color I think you could go either way since the one goes with walls and the other so well with the rug. I know how lighting can make such a big difference in fabrics in real life compared to pictures.

Love the gold OR the pearl...
Can we please see a long shot of both of them up???