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pandalion

Need help with living room floorplan

9 years ago

I am struggling to figure out the right furniture arrangement for a narrow-ish central living room which connects the foyer (with powder room), dining room, kitchen/family room (open plan), as well as the office and staircase. There's a central fireplace and several traffic paths, so I'm not sure what to do. We have two armchairs we're likely keeping (dark wood with dark brown leather) but otherwise are getting all new furniture (rug, couch/loveseat, accent tables, lamps) to fit the space. Suggestions would be appreciated!

Comments (5)

  • 9 years ago
    I am not a professional - but you do have a problematic living room layout. If this is a brand new home, I would live in it for a while to see how the traffic patterns actually work. This living room almost functions like a wide hallway to the rest of the house. Offhand I would have two seating areas: one in front of the fireplace with two chairs and another in front of the windows by the porch - either two chairs or a smaller sofa facing into the house. I would spend the bulk of my money on furnishing the family room. Use blue painting tape to decide where you would put pieces in the living room. Then see how the traffic flows around the taped off areas. I hope some of the pros on Houzz will comment - you need good advice!
    Panda Lion thanked janekel
  • 9 years ago
    I would put the living room in front of the house and the dining room in front of the fireplace (not sure that is a good spot for the fireplace). Is it too late to re-work the layout?
    Panda Lion thanked jdtm1
  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I agree, it looks like a wide entry way to all the other rooms. Actually, the entry in my previous home was almost identical in size. I agree with janekel's advice to concentrate on furnishing your family room first. It looks like a more "usable" space. I would live in the house for awhile to get a feel for how you want to use that space, it almost looks like the builder decided to include the obligatory "living room " without regard to its placement or if really needed....

    Panda Lion thanked hbfn
  • PRO
    9 years ago

    My first thought would be to flip the dining room and living room. Maybe add a little seating area at the bottom of the now dining room. I think it might give you more options.

    sfgirlbybay · More Info

    Panda Lion thanked Madden, Slick & Bontempo, Inc
  • 9 years ago

    Thanks, everyone! Yes, too late to change the house and we have been living in the space now for awhile. The main traffic is between the kitchen and powder room, and the kitchen and the stairs. I've tried a few arrangements so far and the one we've settled on is working ok (see pic), but would be better with a smaller couch, bigger rug, smaller coffee table, etc. Before we invest in anything I wanted to get fresh ideas! Swapping the dining and living is interesting, hadn't thought of that before. We do primarily eat at the kitchen island so the dining room is only for larger groups, nice to have it off to the side. Also true that the family space is much more heavily used (we have it divided into a seating/tv area and a play area for our kids (ages 2 and 4). Right now we use the living room basically as overflow space when someone wants to sit quietly and read or play.