Decoenthusiaste Thank you for the feedback! I love this idea of lighter furniture! I agree, the dark leather doesn’t really go with the other decor. So, I guess the biggest obstacle for me in this room is figuring out what pieces of furniture I need. A big sectional? Couch, loveseat, and chair?

It’s also difficult because the tv is on one side of the living room, and there’s still so much space on the other side.

The bar area is cute, but I think it would be better suited in a kitchen or man cave. Looks like you have room for a couch or sectional & two arm chairs.

What color is the couch & recliner?

Thanks Lisa!

I’ve been contemplating taking that bar down so I could add more living room furniture, so I’m glad I’m getting this feedback!

The couch is black and the recliner is an espresso color (we just have old mismatched hand-me-downs)

I think it is always worth the money to move TV connections to the right spot so your room can function well for you. That might be a consideration here.

Where would you move the tv to?

I agree that much lighter seating would work so much better for you, and I can't believe that people want to gather at the little counter and stare at the wall? Also I'd love to see real art behind the sofa instead of the non-clock, and a taller, more interesting lamp.

https://fineartamerica.com/products/ominous-east-coast-barrier-islands-betsy-a-cutler-art-print.html

Thanks Rina!

I think part of the problem is the traffic lane is in the middle of the seating space that you are trying to create. I would think about moving your TV connection to the big wall and then creating your seating arrangement facing that direction. You'd have to take down the bar.

I'm not a big fan of sectionals because they eliminate your ability to tweak the furniture arrangement. A less bulky three seat sofa and two comfy chairs will give you more versatility.

To try it out, I would flip the couch to face the big wall and see if that arrangement makes the room look more cozy.

I would move the tv to the bar area, place a love seat along the wall where the tv currently is. Move the sofa kind of where the chair is only straight across so you would walk behind it down that hallway and to the front door. Then I would have a swivel rocking chair on the wall where the sofa currently is. Another option - if you don't use that back door consider putting sofa or love seat in front of it.

I agreed with moving the TV until you asked where, and I saw that there isn’t anywhere that is a better choice. The large dining/kitchen opening and the outside door make it best left where it is. So I am inclined to agree with the earlier poster who had the idea of moving the chair to the bar corner and moving your couch farther to the right. That will let you see if it feels right while you look for the new lighter furniture.

Ideally, I would bulk up the TV area with a faux mantel or an electric fireplace with mantel to complement the bulk of a sofa. A nice shelving buffet like your own is great but it needs to be bigger to allow some sort of art added to the TV wall surrounding the TV.

I’d also consider the perfect sectional or a longer sofa and a great chair. Run a sofa table behind the couch, add art to that wall— maybe even keeping the clock if you can balance it.

Your room seems to be a nice size. Enjoy the process, you have a lot to work with.

(None of these pictures have the right shape for the sectional or the correct wall placements, but they give you some ideas. )

Wow! Thank you guys! I’ve never thought of some of these suggestions! I guess I’ll just have to play around with the arrangement a little bit more. The bar is definitely coming down now though! Lol

The living room is just so long, and there are so many openings, it’s hard to make it feel like one cozy space.

I have a family room a little like what you have. For years I thought of the space as you did. It seems a lot of us think the furniture should go along the walls to make the room feel big. I was lucky to stumble on a different way. I placed my TV on the far end with a short sofa, part of a sectional, but could be loveseat size, right underneath facing into the room of course. In front of that is a square coffee table then another bit of the sectional facing the coffee table. That creates a conversation grouping, and the one sectional faces the TV. The other sectional under the TV is good to be on to look outside because there's a slider there. At one side of the room there is a fireplace next to the slider, and it's visible from both sectional pieces. Behind the second sectional I have a round table and a couple chairs. We are empty nesters so that is plenty of room for us. The set up would not work well for a huge crowd. Anyway, it's versatile, I like it, but it wouldn't be possible if I thought I had to put the furniture along the walls. I hope that helps you think creatively and outside the box in what seems to be a long narrow room. I also agree with others suggesting lighter furniture instead of oversized.

I would love to see a picture of your setup K L!

How wide is the room? I agree with the suggestion immediately above your last post to put the tv on that short wall by the back door. Depending on how wide the room is, I would put the couch with its back to the front door, with a sofa table behind it. Along the wall where you currently have the couch, I would put a love seat, sort of making an L with the couch and love seat, and a table in the corner where they intersect (or put love seat with back to door and leave couch as is if it’s too wide). This would then keep traffic from front door toward kitchen along that left wall and not crossing into the viewing area of tv watchers. Alternatively, instead of loveseat with its backside to the door, you could have two club chairs and leave longer couch where it is.

The room is about 13’ wide and about 21’ long

Thank you 4kids4us! That sounds like something we’ll definitely have to try out! I’m wondering what could go along the wall where the tv is now if we move the tv to where the bar is?

I have not uploaded photos before. Here goes...

If you are open to new furniture, look for smaller scale, apartment sized chairs and couches or sectionals. Their profile is less intimidating, and less bulky, but they are as comfortable as their larger brethren. And they will look appropriately scaled in your space. You are creative and have a good sense of design, so I think you are well on the road to a solution to your dilemma!

Yay! Looks like it worked. My room is 12'2" x 22'. You have the added complication of having a door at one end. I also learned its important to think of how exterior light will bounce off the tv. I like 4kids 4us comment of putting a narrow table behind the sofa. I have found a lack of storage all over the house, so I might look for a narrow dresser to give storage near the front door for scarves and mittens and various other things desired by the entry. My husband would fill the drawers with his CDs to put in the car.

- Your TV is mounted too high for the room so I have lowered it.

• • - The chandelier in the kitchen should be 30" above your table so I have lowered that too

• • 
    - Lowered the wall decor
• - Moved the lounge chair to the other side
• - Added a round end table & floor lamp for reading
• - Added the right size table lamp on the other side
• - Replaced the fan with one that DOESN'T HAVE A LIGHT KIT

- Turned the mirror on the feature wall

- Added a console table and buffet lamps because you need good accent lighting in the room.

Thank you for your suggestions! Yes the tv was mounted way too high (my husbands next project) but I didn’t know about the light fixture about the dining table! Thank you!

So BeverlyFLADeziner, do you think I should just stick with a sofa and chair, or do you think I should add any other seating?

If you move the large lounge chair, you may have room on the other side for two small accent chairs or one medium lounge chair.

Or you can do a sectional if you are VERY careful about sizing.

The layout looks good in that picture, but the opening to the kitchen is actually really wide, so the wall that the tv is on is a lot further to one side of the living room.

But thank you to everybody for your input! I think the big factors I’ve taken away from this has been

- get rid of the bar

- smaller, lighter furniture

Wow! Thank you Deborah M!!! I love your suggestions!

I like d_gw's suggestion of moving the TV to the opposite wall. I think there is enough room to float the (or a) sofa facing the TV and still leave room behind it for a walkway from the front door to the dining room, kitchen, and the back door.

I like your room but would lower the TV on the wall.

I just realized there isn't a single painting on the wall and that gives a static, no-color feel to the room. I would suggest taking down everything from the walls and replacing it with colorful art that you love. Those little sayings like "gather" etc. have had their day, also the objects over the couch. The mirror on the wall again is just there without adding anything. The middle object on the console looks very stiff and leads your eye there and I would consider removing it. When you have your furniture situated, please consider an area rug that will break up that expanse of brown carpet and accentuate your new, more cozy furniture grouping. The lamp you have by the couch is much too small in scale for a living room; a larger, pretty lamp would add a lot to the room. Declutter the room by removing the chair and bucket from each side of the console. I hope you'll update us as you begin to work on this room.
Good luck!

I’ve been playing around with arrangements today. What does everybody think?

I’m wanting to try to move the tv to wear the clock is, and take the bar down. Now I’m just trying to figure out what pieces of furniture I’m going to need.

I like the couch facing the clock wall but the recliner looks too large next to it. Can you try the recliner by the bar wall? If you keep the sofa facing the large wall, could you put the tv on the buffet and move the clock?

Yes, I should have specified, my tv would be going where the clock is if I do choose to move my furniture this way. And I’m also going to be getting all new living room furniture

I like the sofa facing the clock wall. I think it will make for a cozier space to keep the traffic out of the activity zone. I don't think I like the sofa perpendicular to that wall. I can't tell the distance from the end of the sofa to the wall but it looks like if you tried to add chairs to that arrangement facing the clock wall, they would overlap the sofa. Which would be awkward.

Thank you!! I ended up moving everything back. I think I’m going to just take down the bar and get a sectional and call it good. Lol