Your focus on having things centered is what is causing you grief. You need a room that is balanced not centered. @groveraxel's layouts from last year are the best ones you got, and it's how you had it when we ended last year's thread. You can substitute a pair of chairs for the love seat. Don't put any furniture to cramp the traffic path. Wall art there is fine.

To counter balance the visual weight of the curio, put the tree in a larger basket or pot and fill the top of it with a filler and a spiller that add some red. Move the red chair to that area to use as a reading corner. Put the wood side table and a lamp beside the chair. Push the cocktail table to within 12-18" of the sofa. Turn the rug and slip it under the front 1/3 of the sofa. In the other end, use a zebra striped cowhide in the same tones to anchor the entry side of the room. Pull the white chair up to the cocktail table for conversation with the sofa's occupants. Lower the new art at the sofa to 5" above it and one hand's breadth apart.

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Zebra Print Cowhide Rug, Beige Stripe on Light Beige · More Info

This chart will help you gauge chair, table and lamp heights.

You have nice furnishings but a focal point and or conversion area is needed to balance this space. The curio cabinet could go on the larger wall opposite to the left of where it is now. Photo shopped to visualize. I think there is a better solution to rearranging furnishings and would not buy artwork until you have made a decision. Artwork will take this room to a different level. See how the artwork, pillows and a throw can transform with your existing furnishings. Many options to leans towards to get this room to the level you are seeking. Does the red wingback chair have to stay? Possibly a sofa table with lamps or console. Fast mood board to play around with to see if any changes appeal to you.

Here is her artwork, already on order. If the left wall is used for a reading nook with plant, chair, table and lamp, the curio will do better on the right. Can't cover the thermostat with the curio either.

You guys are amazing! Thank you. I love how you can look at a room, or picture of a room for that matter, and come up with so many options and possibilities.

Thank you Jodi for the vision board it does help to see everything pulled together. You hit the nail on the head with the focal point. I've already ordered wall art that will hopefully be here next week. I've had my eye on it for so long and finally decided to purchase. I think it will go nicely with the existing furiture. I am holding off on lamps and additional tables until I finalize though.

Deco, there you have it, viola, we have a reading corner with a cowhide zebra rug mock-up Lol. Definitely needs something more neutral. I tried the wood table next to the chair and it's a little too big so I used the gold table with the lamp just to get an idea of what it would look like.. I think my tree is too big but that is something I can fill in later. I have a few real plants in the house that I could move around as well. i am still playing with the seating arrangement near the sofa. I tried turning rug and it does look better but I can't get the chairs properly fitted around it. 

Patim, I agree that placing the couch near the window is a great option and arrangement....i just need a smaller couch. The current couch is so long it hangs over into both window and it smashes my curtains on both side. See what I am talking about in the picture below. Unfortunately, I made a poor choice when purchasing and didnt think about where the furniture would .actually sit in the room. Big lesson learned.

There's another cowhide available that is more gold and might work better with your current rug. I wonder if the two zebra chairs could face each other over the coffee table while the white one moves into their spot with that pedestal table... Lots of them at this link.

https://www.houzz.com/products/zebra-gold-on-off-white-metallic-cowhide-rug-prvw-vr~20488457

The slight overlap of the sofa over the curtains wouldn't bother me at all. Just pull the sofa away from the wall a bit. Furniture looks better pulled away from the wall anyway. Or even put a narrow sofa table or low wall shelf behind it.

It's by far the lesser of 2 evils, compared to having a too-widely-spaced conversation area with a traffic path going through the middle of it.

Are you keeping the sofa? What about on the right wall as you enter from the front entrance. Zebra chairs flanking sofa like below. There should be enough space. Then you have enough wall for end tables and lamps. Conversation area and the wall where sofa is now could have artwork, accent wall painted for visual focal point or etageres or even a console with stools underneath when you need extra seating. Another ideas is to get two matching etageres where your curio cabinet is with open shelving to disguise thermostat and have balance in this space. Etageres can be quite affordable. I have seen rattan ones as well and that would be a nice added texture to your space. Red chair to go in another area if possible.

Photo

Hi Deco: The zebra chairs don't work on the other side unfortunately. I can't get them into the "conversation" without blocking the entrance to the dining room.

Jodie: The couch is staying (for the foreseeable future anyway). It is not ideal but we never really use this room, so it's basically brand new. I am also in the market for a new dining room set and between the two, I want the dining set more. Moving the red chair is not a deal breaker. It came with the set and I don't mind all of the mixed patterns in the room. I do really love it in the reading nook as Deco suggested. As simple and silly as this sounds, I probably would have never thought to add the table and lamp next to it in that location but I love how cozy it looks. The couch doesn't work on the right wall either (sigh). It is 93 long and 41 wide so there is no way to arrange it without blocking the entrance to the room. The wall where is thermostat is located is only 57". Thank you for the recommendation to add shelving. That would be a great way to fill in space.

Patim: For the sake of conversation (smile), I moved the couch back to the wall in between the windows and moved the zebra chairs to the far end where the love seat used to sit. The reading nook and curio are in the same place and with this option I eliminated the white chair The rug is not correctly situated under the couch in., I wish I could cut about 10" off the end of the couch.

Sorry for the dark photos, it's a gloomy, rainy day here in PA.

Not a Pro.

I think the above room looks great.

My only suggestion would be to add the gold shelving unit posted above, if you have the room, to be placed behind the zebra chairs.

And.....if there is room, to pull the reading chair and end table next to it out a bit from the wall.

One more thing :-) move the sofa, one more inch forward, to give the drapes room to fall evenly.

I'm following for now because I have to see how this all turns out. I love when an OP just starts whipping furniture around and is truly willing to try stuff!

Me too!

What I'm trying for is an arrangement where 5-6 people could sit and have a conversation. (But maybe that's not what you want?)

As you have it now, the sofa people would not be facing anyone they could talk to, the person in the reading nook is far away, and the 2 chair people are just talking to each other.

If I wanted a nice spot to read in this room I would put the comfortable love seat back and sit at the end closest to the window. Not a chair in the darkest corner.

My next favourite arrangement that you have had, is the first one on this thread.

In case you misunderstood, I was talking about using one zebra chair on each side of the coffee table, facing each other. Is one chair so large that it blocks the dining room entry?

following

Wondering if an arrangement like this would work? I hate to block the entry to the room but with a console there it would be welcoming and help divide this long space in a meaningful way. I love this arrangement, but flip it so the couch is where you are standing. I think you'd need to move the zebra chairs on the same wall but further down and then the cream chair in the corner near the dining room. You could center the curio and put pictures on either side.

Small end table (like the one shown with lamp on the wall side next to the couch - nothing on the other side obviously.

Obviously not to scale... if you can keep the red chair in the corner where I have the plant marked and still get by, that's it's own separate little reading area...

njmomma and mnmamax: Thank you I really like the gold shelving also. What a great way to fill in space. And, YES, I am willing to whip this furniture around to try all possible options. I am open to them all. I do not have a eye for decorating (if you haven't noticed) and I really value everyones input. There are so many talented folks on Houzz and I am thankful for so many great suggestions.

Deco: Yes, I definitely misunderstood what you meant. I moved both chairs to the dining side. Just moved it again to face each other and the chair still blocks the dining entry. See photo below. Blue tapes shows edge of couch with dining table 12-18 inches away. Chairs are pretty large.

Partim: I moved the couch out 8" and moved the chairs up to the conversation. The chair is about 4 feet from the entry of the room. I tried to take a picture from the entryway to show you what I see.

To me this looks like the best layout. If the red chair could be replaced with one with a lower back, or a lighter colour, it would be even better. YMMV since you're actually in the room. How does it feel with a few people sitting in the room?

I think once the sofa is back at the end of the room and the rug slipped under the front 1/3 of it, your single chair will be fine in front of the dining room door. Right now you have aligned the chair with the rug's corner and not with the sofa and coffee table. If you move the chair within 4-6" of the blue tape there should be room to navigate into the dining room, especially if you pull the chairs 12" from the coffee table. I still prefer the reading nook and think you'll get a lot of enjoyment out of it.

One of the 4 Ballards print arrived today and I was a little surprised/disappointed to see a gray frame. They definitely read black on the Ballards website. Not sure I love them enough to spend so much money on them. Not too late to cancel the remainder of the order I suppose. Back to the artwork drawing board.

...

Wait for all of them and if you like the art as much as you expect, you can spray paint the frames black. If alone, center them 5' above the floor. If you move the couch back (and you should, IMO) then lower them to be 5" above it. One hand's breadth apart with such slim frames and small pictures.

Maybe just my wacky sense of humour, but it made me laugh to read "Everything has to go" and "All furniture must go".

I mean, this room had a ~100 post thread started in May 2019, and this newer thread is ~50 posts long already. We're kind of invested in the stuff the OP has. And the OP has purchased some new things, including wall art and the coffee table, which I don't think are going to "go".

Threads would be a lot shorter and less interesting if we just said "Off with its head" to everything that people already owned.

Just a thought after reading through this thread. What about bringing in the loveseat to replace the couch? It would allow a tighter conversation area but might be a bummer if more seating is required. So fun that you are willing to try all the different furniture layouts. Nice room!

You say you don't use this room too much. What IS its use and purpose? Maybe you don't need all the seating that everyone is trying to coax in there. If that's the case, then maybe the love seat and chairs is all your need (can sofa go somewhere else?).

What if you switched the chairs in Partim's suggestion- zebra chairs by entry door opening and red chair by dining room opening- would it still allow for a walkway along the right wall to get to dining room without crossing conversation path? Then that right wall ("walkway") would just have art on it.

ETA: I remember when you got the animal print rug! I have a smaller version in gray. I wouldn't overwhelm the room with too much large animal prints now that you have the zebra in there too

This thread is so very interesting. I keep coming back to see what has evolved! Loving it!
Another thought about furniture placement....red chair and white chair on back wall, red next to the dining room white opposite corner each on45 degree angle, wall with tall tree in corner behind white chair. Large art hanging centered between the chairs with narrow console underneath. I suggest very large piece of art to pull you into the room. Maybe floor lamps narrow in scale between wall and each chair.
Sofa centered in window with zebra chairs on each corner facing each other.
Book shelves, narrow tall book shelves, suggested etagere places opposite sofa, any type of tall wide item as was suggested above?
End tables with gold lamps to add sparkle and brass library sconces above book shelves and maybe pair of small ottomans/ stools in front of shelving?
Just a suggestion since we are all moving your furniture around? Lol! You are a very good sport!

I don’t think the above arrangement has been suggested yet. Just throwing it out there!
Actually a low bookcase might also work between the two reading/ east chairs?

Yesterday was so beautiful here in PA that I took a break from the living room and spent the entire day outside trimming bushes, cleaning out flower beds and mulching the flower gardens. My husband and I took a drive out to the local greenhouse and picked up a few beautiful hanging baskets for the front and back porches! It finally feels like summer is on its way!

Now today, back to the living room. I tried moving the sofa long ways across the room as suggested by mnmamax3 and I actually didn't mind the sofa across the entryway to to the room that I thought I would. It squared the room and gave me a separate little area for the reading corner (which I still really love).

Then I started thinking about Lisa and Gcubed suggestion to use the smaller loveseat instead of the couch and it hit me, what if I switched to big bulky sofa that's become the bane of my existence, with the couch in my family room. The family room couch is much smaller and similar enough in color that I think it could would with the existing living room chairs. I can play with the chair arrangement once we move the mammoth couch into the family room but size wise, I think it is a much better fit for this room. I would still need to fill in space, add pillows and some color but overall I think it works.

My zebra chairs and antelope rug make me smile every time I walk past the room. And though it probably could be updated, I don't mind the traditional style of the furniture. I guess you could say my house is kind of eclectic or a conglomerate of things I love. Birds and flower artwork, and anything animal print grabs my attention. My kitchen, powder room and family room are filled with Springer Spaniel artwork from various artist (some custom painted) that I just adore. I am not so concerned with the latest trends but more that my house feel like a home that is reflective of me and the things that make me happy (oh yeah and hubby too, LOL)

That scale does seem to work much better! And the style is a little less casual and works with the other chairs. How is the color in person? In the photos it looks a little purplish. I had a similar couch before that did not photograph well but looked great in person. If you decide on this as your solution, I might consider replacing the feet or at least painting them black.

I'm glad you got out in the yard to enjoy the nice weather. I'm heading out to my garden now...

Shannon, the ‘new’ couch looks great! And either one of your setups would obviously work. I’m partial to the couch against the wall probably because it provides a bit more symmetry. If you do put the couch across the entryway, maybe the rug should be turned 90 degrees so the long side aligns with the couch. Just a thought. Your animal prints and new art give the room personality! Nice work.

The big couch is gone and a few of the beautiful flowers I picked up yesterday. The couch is brownish with cream flecks in it. Funny you should mention the feet of the couch, I thought about switching them with the ones from the big couch since the are a darker wood.

I like the arrangement with the new sofa in between the windows! Gives you the walkway to the dining room. When you stand at the entry doorway, can you see over the white chair? I think a plant stand for the plant by sofa and a drink table next to white chair. Make sure coffee table is 18" from sofa. Then every seat will have a drink spot.

I like it very much. A few small tweaks. Pull the sofa as well as your whole reading chair arrangement (chair, table, plant) six inches away from the walls. You need the space for your drapes and all furniture looks better when it's not touching the walls.

Your drapes IMO would look much better shortened. Not sure if you are planning to do that but just haven't gotten around to it.

I like the smaller couch also! You can see over the white chair from the entryway and with a tighter arrangement, I have about 6-7 feet of space between the back of the chair and the entryway. I pulled all the furniture away from the wall and will look for a plant stand. I do plan to hem the drapes eventually also.

As much as I loved the shadow floret artwork (far wall) when I saw it on the website, I am not sure I feel the same about it now that I've lived with it a few days. I also need to find something for the space over the couch.

a few ideas for art... I love the idea of florals. love your gorgeous plants you have outside. I think you could bring in some color in the floral in your art too. and, I would also consider some 3 dimensional type art too...

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Thank you Theresa! Great suggestions. I am definitely partial to birds and flower artwork.

Do you guys see any of these prints working with the furniture in the living room? With the exception of the zebra chairs everything is pretty neutral. Is the style all wrong?

and a few more that caught my eye.

I really love the bird prints. Not so much the rest.

I love the birds too!

Sharon - Make yourself a mood board (like the example @Jodie White Designs made for you, up above). Put on the pics of your room and then the artwork you are considering. Seeing it all up against each other will help you decide whether of not you will like it. I just used Microsoft word (make sure you click on each picture and choose "wrap text" as square so you can overlap them).

I like the red bird because it pulls the red tones in your space but has a color for up against your white walls, but it might be one color too much. The peacock looks a bit glam and sort in keeping with funky zebra chairs, but still has some brown to coordinate with the couch. The white pictures have some nice movement etc but with no frame it will blend into the wall too much - for those I would paint the edges of the canvas with a matte black. The little yellow bird is crisp and has black and white and cream, but I'm not so sure about the yellow.

Play around with it and find what speaks to you...

I like the top 2 bird prints. funny because I think the zebra is in the end neutral because its black and white, neutral colors. I also think something with some red would compliment the red pot that you have your plant in and the pillow...

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Choose the ones you love and it will work! My only thought would be to go big on that wall for maximum impact. So either one very large painting or multiple biggish ones, similar in size to the Ballard prints you had taped off.

Just a few progress photos. Two of my bird prints arrived yesterday! I am still waiting on the single Hoopoe bird. I think I am going to hang him vertically above the couch. If I do that I will have to find picture, mirrors, sconces, or something to go on either side. I was also thinking I could hang him on the big wall where the mirror is currently and the I could find two similar smaller prints for either side.

This looks amazing! Bingo on switching the sofas....fun to shop at home isn't it!

I wonder if you could put the curio cabinet on the short wall next to the dining room to give some weight to that end of the room?

Are you going to have another end table between the white chair and sofa and invest in a pair of lamps; I think the silver one looks to 'light' feeling for the room? Just a thought though.

Love your flowers; we planted pansies and petunias in our flower pots.....good to get outside.

Thank you Susan! I am happy with the progress this far. Yes, it is fun shopping in the house, and cheaper too (ha!).

I really like the smaller couch in this room. The larger couch fits well in my family room on a nice big wall.

I plan to add a shelf or Etageres, as recommend by Jodi to house a few of my house plants. I am not sure if it will go on the little wall near the dining entrance or where the curio is currently but either way it should add some height around the room.

Lamps and another end table are a must. I've found lamps online that I like but nothing has really jumped out yet and said "buy me" if you know what I mean. I've bought and returned so many things for this room that I am trying to take my time to ensure its really what I want before I click the button.

I hope my other prints arrive soon. I'm excited to pull everything together.

Shannon Ebron, how do you like natural cream in your home? I'm currently choosing between it, edgcomb gray and elmira white for my home with lots of orange oak wood. if you have any other photos I would love to see them! thank you

Cc, I am very happy with the paint color. it is the perfect neutral, light and bright with just enough color. My entire house is now painted in this color.

Shannon do you find it means more gray than beige? how does it look with warm wood tones? or in a dark hallway/room? Does it change throughout the day at all? thank you so Much!!!!