Family Room layout help requested

11 years ago

We moved into this house last summer and are in the midst of renovations.

Before we do anything permanent to the family room, I would love some input and ideas on arranging our family room. It's in a state of chaos at the moment, but I can try to snap some pictures when it is a teeny bit more orderly. (We are in the midst of dismantling our temporary kitchen that was in the family room and putting things in the new cabinets right now.)

We have a family of 9 and we'd like seating for everyone since we love to read together in the evenings. It would also be nice to include a spot for the kids to do their schoolwork so that they don't need to take over the dining room table for this. (We're eating all 3 meals a day at home.) I'd like a spot for them to keep their schoolbooks and projects as well.

We don't watch t.v., but we do pull out a 3' flat screen to watch movies on once in a while. I'm not sure where to put this. It might be nice to mount it...somewhere.

We happen to have 2 pieces of countertop available to use to make long work areas, a 12 foot piece and an 8' piece. I'm considering running those along the wall on either side of the doorway into the family room. Then the kids could each have a dedicated spot for their work (desks in the bedrooms are not going to work here.)

Our furniture is flexible, and plentiful. We currently have 3 full length couches, 1 love seat, a cozy chair with ottoman, 2 recliners that are hanging out peaceably in our master bedroom...some tall pine cabinets...if you are wondering if we have something, just ask. We probably do. : P I'd love to know what to keep and what to pass on. If we need to be looking for something different, I'd like to know that, too.

On the left side, under the window, is a wall heater that furniture must remain 9" away from. On the right side of the huge window is where I placed a cherry armoire that's 2' deep by 54" wide.

Here's what I was thinking of, but would like some other eyes on it. I can try to get a measured drawing later if that helps.

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laughablemoments
Original Author
11 years ago
Here are pictures of the room. What is a good workable layout for this space? How would you zone the activities that take place? I'd love your input. : ) (We still need to finish the drywall, vault the ceiling and put down flooring, hopefully later this year.)

I love this big window, but how do I arrange the furniture around it? It's almost directly across from the entrance to the room, and lays slightly off center on the back wall. (Those blinds are on their way out as soon as DH can get curtain rods hung up!)

Stepping back so that you can see the view from entrance to the room:

Note, this room has been multi-multi purpose. It currently houses some building materials, in addition to our temporary kitchen and dining area, while other parts of the home are in process. I can't wait to settle in, clear the clutter, and really decorate!

The table, chairs, and benches will be headed to the dining room ASAP. The little cupboard with the tall carafe looking thing is our water filter and will also be moving out. The dry sink is a stereo cabinet, and we sometimes hook our screen up to it for watching movies. I like it, but if there's not room for it, it can go. It takes up a lot of real estate, and newer technologies are more compact. The couch can stay, unless something else would be a better fit.

Nearly all of the furniture you see in this picture was making-do for our temp. kitchen. The pine cupboards are great for storage, but I'm not sure where to put them. Same with the tall oak dresser. The micro cart is doomed. But it was great while we needed it. ; ) The dresser with the mixers on it can stay or go. I have 2 rockers, so they could be incorporated somewhere, (other rocker not pictured.) The vertical blinds will also be replaced with a rod and grommet topped curtains soon.

How do you like that sponge painting, LOL? That was there when we bought the house. Here are the residuals of our work horse temporary kitchen. The "corner cabinet" is really nothing great. It's 2 uppers that we pulled out when we demolished the old kitchen. I don't plan on reusing them. The oak table to the right of the stove is very special to me, and I hope to find a good spot somewhere for it, perhaps in the dining room. The stove will be moving out, obviously. DH put up the shelves for the temp. kitchen and they will be coming down, too. (If you look carefully, you can see him working on our pantry door in the background. Go DH! He's awesome! : ) )

We've now come full-circle around the room. It's a big space, I just need to know what to do with it. Thanks for any help you can offer.
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