Software
Houzz Logo Print
celticmoon_gw

Is a sectional the answer to this LR layout?

14 years ago

I've been fighting with this room for 14 years.

A couple designers have helped along the way, but it has never been great. Lately I've been using a pair of short sofas, one facing the fireplace and one below one of the angled windows - I keep moving that one to open and close a walkway. Maybe the answer is a custom sectional that wraps the bottom..?

Basically the room is a hexagon, 20 ft in each direction. Contemprary. Large TV just right of the fireplace. Entry can be either side of the post on the right side.

We just resolved not to move, so I am really wanting to try to get this space right.

Have at it! WWYD? I'm open to anything.

Comments (30)

  • 14 years ago

    Here's a link to a PB sectional .... just for ideas, thoughts, measurements etc. to help with the discussions .....

    Maybe float a sectional -- facing the fireplace/TV area?

    Just a thought ....

    Here is a link that might be useful: PB sectional -- just for illustration and measurements

  • 14 years ago

    Thanks teacats.

    I think that because of the many 60 degree angles, a typical L shape sectional won't fit. I would need something custom with a really giant wedge section in the middle. Or get really lucky and come across a fab MCM curved one.

    And since I have a knack for buying "wrong" sofas, I am feeling pretty paralyzed- this would be a doozy to screw up. I also need to replace the carpet, but first I need be sure the floor outlets are where they should be. I've already moved them twice - ouch!.

    This room drives me crazy...

  • 14 years ago

    Oh, wait, I get it. I could float a "normal" L sectional.

    But neither section would face the TV. DH has a neck injury history and much prefers to sit sraight on toward the TV. As drawn won't work...

  • 14 years ago

    Starting at $5300, this had better be right...

    But I don't love how the arm at the top blocks the view of the fireplace.

    Side tables and lighting might be a challenge. And I'd have to move those floor outlets. Again.

  • 14 years ago

    Have you thought about going the other way, and instead of one really large piece of furniture, have several smaller ones?

    Like one sofa, floating in the middle of the room facing the fireplace, and 3 or 4 armchairs? The room looks large enough to create 2 sitting areas, one centered on the fireplace/TV and one behind that, maybe for reading or with a game table or the like.

    Besides watching the fire and the TV, what else do you do in this room? How much seating do you need on a regular basis?

  • 14 years ago

    Can we see a photo of the actual space?

    Is the TV in a permanent position?

  • 14 years ago

    I like camlan's idea the best so far if it will offer you enough seating for your daily life. Float sofa, one chair between sofa and FP, another between TV and door, then two comfy chairs and a table or a chaise or backless settee behind the sofa. Or if you don't need the extra seating, a console table, dresser, sideboard or desk (with two X benches beneath it if it will not be used regularly) behind the sofa. If you put a table-like surface behind the sofa you don't really need end or coffee tables for the sofa, and the chair seating can get away with a tiny 13" diameter garden stool or table if they really need it.

    I feel your pain. My LR is really hard to arrange too.. it has too many traffic patterns, an off-center triple window and patio door that I can't center the sofas to because of the traffic patterns, all the furniture has to float because the room is too wide otherwise for conversation, the FP is off center to the huge opening it faces so I have to center the sofa to one or the other.. etc.

    I do use floorplanner.com, which is a free internet-based program and much easier than Google Sketchup. I plug in room dimensions, add doors/windows/posts etc (it will show the doorswing too, just like you have drawn), pop in the furniture (including measurements) I already own or am thinking of buying and then just scoot everything around until I have something that looks like it will work. You can also put "people" in to make sure it looks like enough walkspace, etc. Younghouselove uses this program too.

    I don't think the program has anything like your custom sectionals, so you would probably have to get creative with by overlapping 3 sofas or something like that. Tip: once you get that arranged once, hold down the shift key and click all 3 items at the same time. This will "group" them so when you move them around all items will move together.

    I think it would also be more helpful if you gave us more measurements. It's hard to tell how the lines of a sectional would line up to the angles of your room. Specifically, what are the interior (ie, floorspace) measurements of each wall or opening? Like this:

    Patio door wall 10'
    TV wall 15'
    Angled FP 4'
    Top left window wall 8'
    Bottom left window wall (to post) 10'
    Left post to right post 4' (open area)
    Right post to Patio door wall 9'

    Hope this helps.. good luck!

  • 14 years ago

    Here is what I was thinking without looking at any dimensions or reading responses so may or may not work

  • 14 years ago

    Try rotating the orientation 90 degrees (give or take) so that one side faces the TV and one side the fireplace (those are the two places everyone wants to look), then adjust the length and placement of a chaise if you have one. I think I might reverse it so that the chaise would be over nearer the fireplace. Or do a U shaped sectional with ottomans -- what we call "the pit. "

  • 14 years ago

    I'd be thinking about floating a curved one and then filling in from there.

    {{!gwi}}

    Here is a link that might be useful: Curved sofa possibilities

  • 14 years ago

    We don't need much seating, usually it is just two of us.

    For years I had a sofa facing either the fireplace or the TV with a couple chairs, as you suggest. Several sofas in sequence. The end tables though kinda squeezed the traffic paths. The room is funny that way. It is big, but furniture placement is really hard because of the shape, traffic and sight lines.

    For now, I am using 2 short sofas, each is 6'3". They are an awful color and wrong style, but they are so comfy, and we can both stretch out to read. And they fit.
    Maybe I should have these reupholstered...?

    I have them piled with DH's knitting projects now

    Here are pix of the space today.

    Ignore the giant coffee table on its side by the door. Too heavy for me to move further... we are liking the swivel chrome ones. This week anyway.

    What I show in this drawing is enough furniture for us and for the space. Again, it is deceptively challenging.

    Any brainstorms?

  • 14 years ago

    Some rearranging using paint

  • 14 years ago

    my immediate thought was like lyfia but you could do it with the 2 love seats that way you could try it out first and see what you think if you put a square table between them you would get the L shape.

  • 14 years ago

    Thanks for the responses!!

    Yes, the TV is permanently placed.

    I'll check out that program, Tracie.

    Here are the measurements:

  • 14 years ago

    If your couches are comfortable, good quality and you like the layout/size, then I would reupholster them. We just bought a custom sectional, about 9'x12', and it was around $14k. We didn't want a chaise or too many sections/pieces, so we had to go custom. Never thought I would buy a sectional, but it was the best use of space in our LR.

  • 14 years ago

    lyfia and I are thinking alike on both counts -- I had my reply on screen while I was on the phone before posting, but what she posted in the first diagram was my starting point. I also agree with the rearrangement of the existing pieces. Whether you want a sectional or separate pieces, I would definitely move around what you have to get a feel for the placement and flow before buying or paying to recover anything.

  • 14 years ago

    soon as the naughty dog reappears here in the woods, I will try pulling the furniture to the center...

  • 14 years ago

    I like what Lyfia did.

    You could replace one sofa with an extra-long sofa (the one that faces the TV.) Then, keep a smaller sofa in front of the windows.

    It really depends on what you want out of this room. Obviously, you want DH facing the TV and comfy.... but what else do you need to accomplish?

    I like your sectional choice that is $5300 in terms of shape and filling the space. That is probably the route I would go to make the room comfy for the family and get some extra seating.

  • 14 years ago

    Interesting.

    Pulled the couches a couple feet toward the center like lyfia's plan. And duh, there is more room to get around them, since the room is so much wider away from its edges.

    You'd think I would have realized that at some point in the last 14 years, LOL.

    So we will go with this for a bit. Hard to see the change but quite a different feel. The room seems more balanced now :

    Plenty of room to walk around the left side now and about three feet on the right as well

    Very Interesting.

    THANKS!! This is why I love Garden web.

  • 14 years ago

    I like it! And now you get to see the fireplace better, as well.

    The old arrangement seemed to all be squished to one side of the room. This fills out the space better.

  • 14 years ago

    Well....I liked it until I sat down.

    And remembered that the couch there blocks the view to the back.

    Table and chair does better on that side. Doesn't look it but the table is pulled forward enough for the door swing.

    The couch is back on the other side of the room left of the fireplace. But it is angled now 60 degrees so the fireplace view isn't blocked.

    Better. Not perfect but better. It's hard to get a photo that captures the whole space. Definitely helps that the furniture is more centered in the room. Makes a huge difference.

    I think I have moved that darn couch 10 times in the last 4 days. Now I remember why we started thinking about moving...

  • 14 years ago

    Yeah. Better. Maybe a wider couch and a pair of chairs on the left instead of the second small couch?

    Stepping back from the money abyss of buying/building, I am feeling pretty flush.

  • 14 years ago

    How about four chairs (maybe swivel, so DH could turn the chair in whatever direction) floating in the middle with a round coffee table?

  • 14 years ago

    Would a sofa like this work with the angles of your walls? If so, you could do a pair of chairs on the opposite side.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Sofa with Angled Chaise

  • 14 years ago

    cyn, four chairs, hmmm. Don't know if that will fly. DH is lying down reading as I type...

    jlnick, that shape is promising, but the reviews are not so good. Wonder if there is a name for that shape?

  • 14 years ago

    Yeah, I really loved the look/shape of that couch but was also worried about the bad reviews. I didn't have much luck googling around to find similar shaped couches though. : (

  • 14 years ago

    Huh. Lookie what just popped on Craig's list. A Clayton Marcus angled sofa. Just under 10ft long.

  • 14 years ago

    jlnick, hope you see this.

    Flexsteel has a similar angled chaise sectional in their thornton line. I got a quote of 1689.95 in standard fabric for loveseat + angled chaise.

    Here is a link that might be useful: flexsteel thornton angled chaise sectional

  • 14 years ago

    Thanks for posting! It turns out that shape isn't going to work well in the family room of the house we ended up buying. So it's back to the drawing board for me LOL. But one of those options you posted might work for you, allowing you to work with the angles of the room while still keeping it open enough for walkways and your back door. I think the angles and dimensions will have to work with your room, which was the hard part to figure out for me. Any ideas yet on which direction you're going to go?

  • 14 years ago

    The problem I see with the angled sectional is that it would be awkward to lay down on. I like to lay down on my sofa to watch TV, and it looks like you would have to bend in an odd way to make it work with the angles.