Please help me put this family room together!(pics)

15 years ago

I apologize for the picture sizes. I forget how to make them smaller?!?

Anyways, we've lived in our new house for four months now, and I'm having trouble creating a cozy, comfortable feeling in our family room. It's an open floor plan for starters. We intended on buying a chocolate leather sofa and loveseat, but just haven't done it yet. And, I would LOVE to put a flatscreen on the wall where the ent.center is now, with a console beneath it that would enclose all of the "machinery" which I hate having out in the open.

I need help with:

* furniture arrangement (I feel so stuck here, I don't know what to do. The carpet, wood floor break runs at a diagonal (you can see it in one of the pics) and I just have the recliner there.

* suggestions of pieces I should purchase- 2 loveseats? 1 loveseat/1sofa? coffee table or no coffee table?

* piano in or out? we do have an office I could put the piano in. I play, but not often. I don't really like this piano. I think it looks heavy in this room and just "takes up space".

* what to do decor-wise on the wall behind the sofa?

* end-tables and lamps suggestions. light wood tables? painted wood tables? floor lamps or table lamps?

I love my woodwork so I don't plan on doing window treatments other than wood blinds like I already have in the two smaller windows. The sofa is part of a sectional. The other part is in my garage. We plan on getting rid of it once we buy new furniture, but I'm not sure when that will be now.

I appreciate y'all's suggestions, comments, criticisms. Whatever it is, I can take it!

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Comments (5)

justgotabme
15 years ago
Working with what you have now I'd put the sofa along the angled line of carpet. Then move the piano to the wall where the sofa was, but possibly angled in one of the corners so the player wouldn't have their back to the room. I think the TV would work well in the corner where the piano was. Then place the two larger chairs at right angles on either side of the sofa (facing each other) with the ottoman in the middle. The smaller chair can go in the other corner of the oringinal sofa wall to make a reading area.

This might give you an idea of what to purchase when the time comes to buy your new furniture. Personally I would prefer a full sized sofa and two chairs. You could always turn them a bit while watching TV.
ronniroo
15 years ago
I love your woodwork too, but the windows would be a great place to put a pretty fabric. You could do inside mounted roman blinds, and I think that would actually make your woodwork more prominent.

I agree with putting the sofa on the angle and the tv in the corner where the piano is now. I also prefer a sofa and a couple chairs. I'd skip the coffee table and get an upholstered ottoman with a tray, both for extra seating and a place to put your feet up. However, I'd probably get an ottoman that is smaller in scale than the one you have now, or get a grouping of smaller ottomans you can either put together, or take apart as you need.

~~Veronica
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cindyloowoo
15 years ago
You have a very pretty room with a lot of potential. I really like the color and the natural light. I think the piano could be a beautiful focal point. Will it fit between the windows? If so, move the piano between the two windows and put the collage frame over the piano. Move the sofa in front of the window wall and the large blue chair perpendicular to it with the back facing the edge of the wood floor. Then put the ottoman in front of the sofa and chair as a coffee table.

Put the entertainment cabinet on the large wall with the wood chair in the corner near the window and the leather chair about where is currently is. I would also move some of the accessories from the top of the entertainment cabinet to the top of the piano - maybe the red vase and a basket.

I think the basket table is too light feeling for the other furniture. If it needs to stay in the room, I would move it to the far side of the sofa so it is not as visible from the room's entry point but it will still be functional as an end table.

I would also suggest breaking up the pillows. Keep three on the sofa and put one on each chair.

If you can't move the tv, I would still recommend the same arrangement but swap the recommended tv and piano positions.

For future furniture purchases, I like the idea of a sofa and two chairs also. It will give you a lot of flexibility to have different arrangements.

I really like your windows and blinds. I would suggest putting blinds on the quad window too to cut down on glare as you watch tv and to give the windows a more cohesive look.
mls0520
Original Author
15 years ago
I like the idea of a sofa and two chairs. I'm thinking leather sofa, fabric chairs. Now, what style? I don't like the matchy-matchy look, but I haven't figured out how to blend mixed pieces and make it look purposeful instead of just "this is what I had left over". That's how I feel about my room now.

The TV can't go on the quad window wall in the entertainment center it's in. The EC is too big. BUT, if I had a flat screen, would that quad window wall be the optimal placement over placing it between the two single windows?

I didn't have a cable jack placed on the sofa wall when we built. I never picture myself placing the furniture with our backs to the window. I like looking outside more than I like watching TV anyway. :-)

I'm liking the idea of the sofa on the diagonal. I think I'll try that this afternoon. When shopping for furniture, should I go for something rather large in scale to even out that crazy ottoman? I love the ottoman, it hides all the toys for now and has a hydraulic lift so that little fingers are less likely to get smashed.

Any ideas for lighting? Is something like the lamp in the link below way off?

Here is a link that might be useful: How 'bout this lamp?
midwestmom
15 years ago
I love your ceiling fan, can you share where you got it at? or what kind it is? thank you.