You need a much better picture of the 12 x 15 space. The 7 foot wide space is a hallway. .........benches, a pair of consoles and art. A great runner rug in the floor. Draw the 12 by 15 or post a MUCH better jpeg.

Post dimensions, doors, windows, layout. You can draw it by hand. Then post a picture of it.

Jan, I think that’s the old room to show OP’s furniture and the new room is 7 ft wide. I’m thinking if you buy an apt sized couch and two chairs, you could possibly arrange them in a U shape.

Since your coffee table is the priority, I have used that. You will not be able to use a sofa and place the coffee table in front of it. You can add a sofa and place the coffee table beside it like and end table. Although, that will feel awkward.

Congratulations on the new house! It’s lovely. I agree with curlycook- an apartment sizes sofa on the long wall, and two small scale chairs facing each other to make a U shape. Sadly, your beloved coffee table is not going to fit in this scenario. You would need a very narrow coffee table or ottoman.

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I immediately thought of this house when I saw your post. Hopefully it can give you some ideas.
Check out this story from houzz - https://www.houzz.com/houzz-tv/my-houzz-gordon-ramsay-gives-a-chef-a-surprise-home-makeover-stshtvvw-vt~102213707

@jh34258 that was a great video.

https://www.thespruce.com/decorate-long-narrow-living-room-2213445

You might gather some ideas from tiny houses too. Unfortunate that the one wall is covered by doors and so door swing must be allotted for as well. You don't have to cut a hole in the floor for a traditional Japanese tea table, but with floor cushions and your table you could easily have a very cool dining spot. The cushions can be shoved underneath to clear floorspace for walking.

Japanese tea house & Garden · More Info

This room is 30 x 7 and your priority is to keep the coffee table. Please let me know if I read that wrong.

I didn't think you were keeping the dining table and chairs...

Thank you all for your suggestions!

- Yes, I do indeed have a 30' x 7' living area and my priority is my coffee table. It was hand carved for me and has great sentimental value, and sometimes you just can't reason with sentimental.

- CDR and Bill G captured the floorpan very well. I will consider the idea of forgoing the sofa in favor for wide comfy chairs. I like the idea of placing that setup next to the window and using the benches elsewhere in the house.

- I really love the floor cushion idea decoenthusiaste pictured. That's actually how I first used this table when I had the luxury of a den that became my cozy tearoom and reading lounge -- benches and piles of floor cushions to arrange seating around all four sides. I'm not sure that would work as my primary dining, though -- very difficult for some of my most frequent visitors (elder family members) to get up and down from a floor seat.

- To clarify, I'm flexible about the round glass table and chairs. I've had this set for years and quite like it, but it's also something I bought for cheap at a discount furniture outlet. No real sentimental value other than being a reminder of how grown up I felt furnishing my first home by myself. If the table works in the new place, I'll keep it. If not, I'll find something that does.

- As an interim dining solution, I'm thinking about getting a counter height table with two stools to go in the kitchen, which opens up to the full 12' width of the house behind the stairs. Something rectangular and narrow that would also serve as a small kitchen island / extra prep space. Similar to the concept in this Houzz photo, but slimmer and with the stools facing in toward the kitchen instead of the table being pushed right against the wall.

Alterman · More Info

Thanks again for your suggestions!

I'd buy an extension table and keep it unextended most of the time and extend it for guests. You can still add the small table in the kitchen as well.

1Temporary · More Info

1Temporary · More Info

following

Would a cabinetmaker or custom woodworker be able to convert your handcarved coffee table to a dining table? The original maker may be able to do i by adding height to the legs or replace the legs with new ones. The old legs could be kept for use as a coffee tablein another house in the future. Some larger photos to see how it is made would be useful.

Based on the layout by CDR, I browsed for settee ides that would work with your coffee table and seen these, available in right and left hand options. With something like these they could be pushed together to form sofa if ever needed.
https://www.houzz.com/products/briley-armless-loveseat-right-arm-prvw-vr~54985644
With such a challenging space choosing more modular pieces will work better for you. Rather than bar and stools, I feel a better option for dining would be regular height comfy chairs that could be moved to living room for extra seating if needed.

Since your pic of the coffee table doesn't enlarge I can't judge the detail. Could the top be removed and turned into something to hang on the wall somewhere?

https://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/skinny-7-foot-wide-house-gets-makeover-alma-nac.html

I really like apple_pie_order's idea of making the coffee table higher so it can become a dining table! At 48" you could seat 2 on each side without protruding out into the hallway. If you needed to seat more people, you could pull it out temporarily and seat 8.

Could doors opening into room be swapped for sliders?

I want to thank you all for your suggestions and close out this thread. I've moved into my house with the furniture I have, and this has allowed me to see what I need and what could work. One thing I've learned is that I'm really lacking in storage space. So now I'm obsessed with the idea of storage ottomans and tables. To that end, here's what I plan to do. (Sorry that my sketching isn't as nice as your models!)

Add a counter-height table / island along the open wall space in the kitchen. The ideal one would have drawers, shelves, or cabinet space and also be able to accommodate 4-6 counter-height chairs (or maybe a banquette and several stools), or better yet, be expandable. This would be my primary dining area.

Get rid of my current glass-top dining set and move my beloved coffee table to its spot, where the kitchen opens into the living room. Get four ottoman / cushions with storage. This will be casual tea time seating or extra entertaining space.

Place a new sofa along the long wall for my primary lounging space. Full length (not apartment size) I think would work as long as the seat depth is relatively shallow. Buy a long, narrow storage ottoman / coffee table to go in front of the sofa. The ideal ottoman / coffee table would also be able to serve as extra seating for larger gatherings.

Keep one of my benches under the front window. That's where it is now, and I think it works quite well there. The other bench is upstairs at the foot of my bed. The window bench in theory is my current lounging spot, but in reality is a really fancy dog bed, LOL.

With this plan, I could seat about 15 people for casual gatherings and have plenty of standing room space. That's more than sufficient for me.

I love your house, it’s really cute. Please keep us updated! I would suggest you change out the black hardware on the doors under the stairs. If you don’t use the small storage area under the stairs often you could put a little bar cart there, and just push it out of the way if you needed to get into the little storage area.