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tara_johnson88

Front door splits living room, help!!

5 years ago

We will be moving into our brand new house in just a couple of weeks. I’m at a loss about how to arrange furniture. I really want it to have a cozy feel. The wall that the door is on is 21 ft across and the wall to the left of the door is 13ft. This is the wall that the tv will be put on.

Comments (23)

  • 5 years ago

    you're only showing 3 of the 4 walls -- need the one to the left of the door.


    if you can't imagine how to set up the furniture, are you sure that the TV has to go on that (unshown) wall?


    anyway, I'd put the living space on the larger part of the living room, and use the other side of the door as an entry area -- bench, rug, maybe some kind of storage piece and some art. then you can divide the entry from the dining room with a large piece, like a hutch, or some art, etc.

  • 5 years ago

    Here is the other wall. It’s much shorter. The tv will go in the other wall not this one.

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Do you want folks to walk right into your living space? Or....maybe have the back of a sofa or sectional with a sofa table at the door and they'd have to walk towards the smaller wall(closet on this side?) to come into your home?

  • 5 years ago

    When guests open the door that short wall is going to welcome them. Make it your foyer with a console table, beautiful art, a lamp and maybe a basket or bowl to catch your keys when you come in. the other side should circle floating furniture around the TV with dining in back under the chandy. How many do you need to seat for Monday night football?

  • 5 years ago

    Yes, I think I would like the smaller wall to be like the foyer. Do you think a sectional would be best or a sofa and couple of big comfy chairs? And if I use a sofa table when entering in the home will it look ok to be kind of centered in the doorway, or would it need to be over more toward the living area? Gosh, this is so hard for me to visualize lol. At most we only need to seat 6-8 people at a time. Our immediate family consist of 4.

  • 5 years ago

    That would be great but then the exterior would look off balanced. We have a long covered porch and I don’t think it would work.

  • 5 years ago

    This is one of the dilemmas that breaks my heart.


    All the questions in my head are not helpful. We are stuck with reality, and reality here is tough.


    Here is what is being proposed.


    3 seat sofa with 1 chair





    Or 3 seat sofa + Chaise





    I know that you nixed Tatt's idea of swapping the door and the window, but it is probably your best option. It will make the exterior look off balance, so you will need to decorate to make it feel more balanced, but you live in the interior of the home and I see this as a challenge without another great option. You are stuck with two 9 x 13 spaces with a door in the middle. Moving the door would give you a 16 x 13 space for the living area. This would open up so many more options.


    Maybe some of the designers on Houzz can think of a better solution.


    You could do 2 8' sofas or smaller facing each other or a single 8' sofa and 2 chairs.



    Maybe one of the Pros will chime in with some better ideas.

  • 5 years ago

    Stick with a 3-seat sofa and two armchairs for more versatility and to seat more people. Sectionals tend to have empty corners, and really, people don't like to line up on seats. Even with a 3-seater, they'll tend to leave the middle seat empty. Buy some graph paper and cut out shapes of furniture to scale so you can try it. Here are a couple of ideas for the foyer. Stools can be useful.



  • 5 years ago

    Some sort of L shaped wall.. so you have to turn toward the sort wall when you come in ..gives a bit of privacy and cuts down the draft when you open the door

  • 5 years ago

    Two choices:

    1) Swap the door and window and deal with some asymmetry outside, that no one will notice or

    2) live with a less than optimal interior layout, that wastes 1/4 of you main living space. Everyone will notice this one.

  • 5 years ago

    What was the furniture layout in the model?

  • 5 years ago

    We didn’t see a model, only looked at the plans. I picked this plan because I love the look of the exterior. I don’t want to move the front door so I will try some of the suggestions.

  • 5 years ago

    Can you share a pic of the front of the house? I also wouldn’t want to move my door!

    I’d get something made to create a mud room as you enter to the right. It would be open to the rest of the house but you can have some kind of storage there. Immediately beside the door you can have a small table.

  • 5 years ago

  • 5 years ago

    Tara, your dilemma kept digging at me. I happen to be shopping for furniture for my living room right now, and it is also a challenge - completely different challenge, but difficult all the same.


    I have been looking at Stressless furniture and one of the photos that they have on their website doesn't have a sofa - just chairs.


    It is a very modern look, and today, as decoenthusiast pointed out - people don't really like to sit close together. Then I thought about the home I grew up in. We had a family room with a door, then a sofa then a recliner on one wall and across from the door was a big round table where we ate most of our meals. Next to the table was the TV and then my mom's desk. The 3rd wall was all bookshelves with cabinet lowers. My mom and my aunt usually sat next to each other on the sofa, my dad sat in the recliner and the kids sat at the table or laid on the floor to watch tv. We had 6 kids. It worked.


    The is what I came up with






    I used a free app from a furniture store on the internet, so colors weren't options and some of the choices were limited, (Why you have a mirror instead of a TV) but I think you could do something like this - maybe two storage hassocks in the corner so that someone in a club chair could use one to prop their feet up. Pillow and blanket could be stowed in each for the kids to use to lay on the floor.



  • 5 years ago

    That looks nice but we I don't think I would feel cozy sitting there lol I'm one that likes to come home from work and spread out on the couch with my laptop or watch tv. Thank you for your help.

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    Are there models of this floor plan available to you?

    Heres what I would do,

    swap the dining room area for the living room area and put the dining table to the right side of the door, create the entry space to the left (stage left) and put the living room across from the island.




  • 5 years ago

    I like it! I'm planning on going out to the house this afternoon and I will measure to see if this plan is possible. I know that back wall is shorter because of the hall opening. Thanks!!

  • 5 years ago

    I actually don’t even think you need to flip the rooms. There is space for you to have a living room where it is allocated.

  • 5 years ago

    Just found this in a quick search. Your room would be opposite but it shows living right off door.

  • 5 years ago

    Update

  • 5 years ago

    Tara, wanted to ask how you ened up arranging your livingroom furniture?? I too have the same problem with our front door being in the center of our livingroom.