how to design adjoining living/sitting room

5 years ago

Hello! My fiancé and I are remodeling this home. To open it up we knocked down this wall between these rooms but are now struggling with how to design/arrange them with furniture. The room with the fireplace connects to the kitchen through a hallway. There is a wall there as well. The front room is to the left of the front door.

The fireplace room feels like it should be then”casual” family room since it is off the kitchen and the fireplace is there. Do you all have ideas for how to design this large space?

Featured Answer

arokes726

5 years ago

You can’t do formal and informal in one space. You can have two seating areas, one of which includes a tv and the other that doesn’t. I do wonder if the dining room is actually anywhere near the kitchen (I’ve see so many house plans on this site where it is situated laughably far from the kitchen) - if it’s not, you’ll use it exactly never. So if thats the case, I would turn part of this space into a dining area and the other into the tv-less company living area, and make the dining room the den with a tv.
It’s funny how everyone wants open concept, and no one can figure out how to put furniture in it. One room living spaces worked better when the only things in the house were a stool, a cast iron pot, and the family cow.

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Comments (19)

12358w
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
So your two living areas “family room”and “fireplace room” are now combined in to one area?
houssaon
5 years ago
Are both areas for living or is one for dining?
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Angela Ayoub
Original Author
5 years ago
Both are for living. The dining room is in a room on the right when you walk in from the front door
12358w
5 years ago
What was your goal when you took the wall down instead of keeping two separate spaces?

Its hard to do one area casual and another formal when it’s the same room.
Angela Ayoub
Original Author
5 years ago
Yeah, unfortunately his dad took the wall down preemptively and this is what we were left with. So trying to figure out how to make the space work
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Bette P
5 years ago
Please add a sketch showing all measurements and doorways, windows etc to see the walking traffic patterns.

I would keep both the colour palette and style the same throughout. The furniture and fabrics on the tv side should be tougher, they will see more use. Think about tv placement, do you want it hidden on a side wall or visible to both rooms? Back to back matching sofas? Or four chairs, maybe swivel and a round table plus sofa and chair on the FP TV side? Lighting is important, not just overhead.
Angela Ayoub
Original Author
5 years ago
I'll try to get some dimensions to post. Helpful tips! Thanks all!! May be an idea to make the dining room the "formal"sitting room, and do a dining room in the front (non TV) room.
cpaul1
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Well, you took the wall down but you left the pillar there. So that's unfortunate. I would make the non fireplace space, what I think you're calling the "sitting room" a living room (more formal). And I would make the fireplace room, what I think you're calling the "living room" a family room with a TV in it. Decide where the TV is going to go (I would think the blank wall to the left of the fireplace if you were looking at the fireplace) and then configure the furniture around that.
Kate
5 years ago
Build a new wall.
Angela Ayoub
Original Author
5 years ago
Agree that the pillar is unfortunate and now it is awkward. These are helpful though
Angela Ayoub
Original Author
5 years ago
I also am frustrated that the pillar was left there…
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partim
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Your house will be more attractive and more functional if you put the wall back up. It won't cost a lot do do.

The pillar in the middle is odd looking, and so is the header across the top of the divide.
partim
5 years ago
Will you be living in this house, or are you staging it for resale?
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Angela Ayoub
Original Author
5 years ago
We are living in it. My fiancé is antsy to get in because he just rented his other place, So we just need to get this to be workable for now, and may put a wall back up or change things around down the line but for now we just need to make do
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AC LB
5 years ago
Can you turn it into a playroom or office?
Angela Ayoub
Original Author
5 years ago
That’s not a bad idea about an office!
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sofikbr
5 years ago
You have beautiful large space. I am sure it will work out. It is just confusing without floor plan. We have large open area that use as dining/ living room and area by the kitchen is family room so I think it will work the best as dining/ living room instead of living/family room.
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Kay Addis
5 years ago
I think that offices should be tucked away, since some (mine) are often filled with books, files, papers, etc. You could use the “dining room” as an office; (ours is the first room to the left of the doorway) and use the second living area as a dining room, as some have suggested. That, however, would put your TV in the main living area. Given your lovely open area, I would try to make the fireplace the focal point of the first area and a TV as the focal point of the second area. I think you could keep similar color palates in both and keep both slightly south of formal. For instance, you could have leather sofas and/or loveseats in the less formal area with the TV and fabric furniture in the room with the fireplace. I love white slip-covered sofas and loveseats, then accent colors and rugs could bring out colors used in the TV area.