Home Decorating Building a Home Design Dilemma

Need advice on open plan entry/LR area

7 years ago

We bought a new house and it is an open plan one level home. The front door opens into the living room area and there is not really room for a console table on the wall behind the door, due to the coat closet. I was thinking about putting a 3 seater sofa by window wall, with a loveseat (back facing the entry area), and two freestanding chairs across from sofa. This area would be anchored by an area rug. If I have two side tables flanking the loveseat, would a console table behind the loveseat be too much? If not, should the table lamps go on the side tables or the ends of the console table? The seating arrangement would be facing the TV wall where I plan to install an electric fireplace and mantle one day. I am including pics from the realtor listing so you can see layout.

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One Devoted Dame

7 years ago

I just tried mocking up furniture for this space, and I could barely fit a small couch, sofa table, and 2 chairs with an end table between them.

Admittedly, I only eyeballed it (using the entry doorway as 36"), so my furniture placeholders could be a bit too big, but still....

Here's my quick sketch, to give you an idea:

I like sofa tables and couches (couches, since they're so big) to create division, where foyers don't exist. The sofa table does double duty, serving the sofa *and* entryway.

Perhaps you could shrink the size of the chairs, move the whole ensemble up a bit, and squeeze in 2 more chairs (with an end table) in front of the window, if you want. I like to keep areas in front of windows clear, personally. :-D I also avoid loveseats as part of a sofa & chairs set up; it just seems too "furniture showroom" to me, lol.

Hope that helps. If I royally messed up, I'm sure a Pro will correct me! (Please! lol)

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Comments (7)

Kristin S
7 years ago
Laurel Bern's blog had a great post about how to deal with front doors that open straight into the living room. Her solutions are a little more complex than just furniture, but might be worth a look. https://laurelberninteriors.com/2018/09/08/no-foyer-entry-2/
threedogsmom thanked Kristin S
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threedogsmom
Original Author
7 years ago
In your mock up, do you think there should be a side table for the couch? I have not bought the furniture yet, will evaluate actual sizes when we are moved in, but I am trying to figure out the lamp situation for that back entry area. Lamp(s) on sofa table? Lamp on side table? I also wondered if putting the couch long ways by the entry would make everything stick out too much into the room. I kind of figured the unofficial boundaries of the living room should be at the line of the hallway opening on the TV wall...
zibbe
7 years ago
An old school idea, but it has worked for me in all 9 of my homes...get some graph paper and draw your room(s) to scale. Then use colored paper to draw up furniture and rugs to scale. As you have not yet bought furniture, you could cut a 8 x 10 rug and a 9x12. Same for different sofa sizes. Often many side chairs are about 3' sq, but you can easily check dimensions online for favorites. Then move your color cutouts around on your plan to see what fits and what the clearance is for walkways. It was so easy to tell movers where to put things and I rarely had to rearrange. When I shopped for a new piece, I simply dropped the cutout on my plan and could tell if it would fit. Takes a bit of time, but saves lots of headaches and misspent dollars later.
threedogsmom thanked zibbe
One Devoted Dame
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Okay, I tried to be a bit more accurate in scaling, using the orange line to help (it's the same as the hallway line, 9'9").

Furniture in blue again; lamps are orange stars (I put a floor lamp between the chairs and table lamps behind the sofa, just to toss the idea out there). This arrangement could be flipped so that the chairs are in front of window and the sofa is in line with hallway (but still serving as a divider to create a bit of a foyer), if you want -- but -- the chairs won't be centered on the window. Don't know how much that would bug you.
There's only about 10' between the front edge of the sofa and the TV wall, by this rendering. Any way you could verify measurements?

The floor plan labels the living space as 27' wide, but if my math is correct, it's only about 20' wide (added the kitchen and dining together, and subtracted the laundry). 20' minus 5'-6' for a "foyer" pathway leaves 14'-15' for furniture. Sofa tables are, say, 1'-1.5' wide, sofas 3' wide, and yeah, that leaves 10'-11' between sofa and wall. Roughly the same distance between the window and the backs of the chairs.

To make it feel more open, the chairs definitely need to be in front of the window, but it pushes the sofa into the "foyer," if the chairs are centered. I dunno....

I'd prioritize creating an entry space, so I would definitely not rotate the arrangement, putting chairs across from the TV. But that is 100% my untrained self, lol.

Edited to add:
Not sure how I feel about that one.... :-/
threedogsmom thanked One Devoted Dame
One Devoted Dame
7 years ago
How long is your dining table? A 4- or 6-seater?
threedogsmom
Original Author
7 years ago
It is a six seater, but has leaves to get to 8.