Help with furniture and lighting layout in new apartment

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

hi all! My wife and I are new homeowners (!) and just moved into our new place after some renovations. I'm stuck on the best way to arrange furniture and lighting in the living room. Floor plan and some current photos attached. My gut says the couch is too big and we need something smaller but I also want to preserve the living room as a space not just to entertain (which we do a lot) but also chill out. We're also expecting our first baby in March, so I anticipate the way we use our space will evolve a lot over the coming years. Lastly, I'm also challenged by the lighting - the fixture in the pics was installed by the previous owners and we like it aesthetically but between the high ceilings, north facing windows and lack of decisions I've made about lamps and such, I'm missing the cozy kind of feeling we had in our last place. I'd so appreciate any suggestions for furniture and lighting placement. Thank you in advance for any suggestions!

Living room as arranged by previous owners during the showing:

Living room as currently painted and laid out by us (click to see larger for couch placement):

This is our couch:

We have a black matte leather eames chair and the noguchi coffee table. We're open to new buys etc and I know we need some small tables and table lamps to make this work.

For context, here's the dining room as currently furnished (view from living room):

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Comments (8)

PRO
CDR Design, LLC
6 years ago
Hi . Nice space! I actually think a long sofa is a great choice for this space.

OPt 1)

I'd move the Eames chair to the opposite end

add 2 chairs by the window.

add a coffee table

add a lamp on either side of the sofa

Opt 2)

Move the tv to the bathroom wall

Move the sofa by the windows, facing the tv but pulled away from the windows

2 chairs floated where the sofa is now.

How do you feel about the bookcases?
distar
Original Author
6 years ago
thank you! I'm leaning toward option 1 so glad you're impulse is in that direction. There are so many built-in bookcases we don't need more, but what were you thinking?
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PRO
CDR Design, LLC
6 years ago
Nope.....not adding more. Just a thought you might want to actually remove them or remove some if possible.

The tv seems very small for the space.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
6 years ago
IMO the bookshelves are not holding books and look really cluttered put the books from the DR in those shelves then get rid of the rack in the DR Remove all the shelves forn the center of the unit in the LR and get a TV to fit there . I love the sofa and Eames the light fixture would be better with an LED bulb in 4000K to avoid the yellow cast .The lamps on the sideboard in the DR are to small get all matching chirs for the DR remove the table cloth you need a larger rug in the DR or none at all. All that storage in the LR will be agodsend when the toys start taking over the adult space.
distar
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Thank you! this is super helpful.
- Will order the bulbs you mentioned. Is there a specific brand you recommend for the quality of light?
- new chairs are on the way (all matching!) and the tablecloth was temporary.
- what size TV do you recommend? the middle divider is not movable so i'm not sure how to do what you recommend but want to understand.
- how big do you think the lamps on the sideboard should be? would you recommend those lamps be used on either side of the couch?
I really appreciate your insight here.
PRO
CDR Design, LLC
6 years ago
You would need to get a carpenter to come in and reconfigure the cabinets. Well worth the $ to remove the center 2 shelves. A tv about 3/4 the width of the 2 shelves would be idea.

As far as the dining room, would need more photos to make recommendations. I would remove the bookcases.
jay06
6 years ago
Congrats on your new home! You have a wonderful space. I don't have any advice for you except to suggest that you don't reconstruct your bookcases in order to get a bigger TV if you're happy with its current size. Reading opinions that your TV is too small is a first for me.
decoenthusiaste
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
This chart should help you determine what size TV could go in the reconfigured shelf, and how to position the sofa. In addition, while buying new light bulbs, see what kind of LEDs are available to light the shelves.