Formal Living Room/Sitting Room Area Layout

5 years ago

We've never had a formal living room/sitting area. I have no idea how to layout this room! We have a separate family room with our TV, couches, etc. We'd like to keep this room as a welcoming sitting area since it's the first room you see upon entering the house. We have a semi-water view out the front windows so I don't want to put a couch against the picture window (with back towards view). I would rather place seating on the opposite wall but also don't want to block the walkway from the front door to the kitchen/dining area. Right now we just have random furniture stored in here until we can figure out what furniture and art to buy. It definitely needs more lighting for starters. This is a new home (and fixer upper) which is why everything is still bare and unfinished. I lack the gene for interior design -- help!

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Comments (5)

tedbixby1981
5 years ago
Can you post (handwritten is ok) a room layout with measurements. And might need better photos as each one seems to be a partial of the whole wall.
anj_p
5 years ago
Oh lucky you! I would LOVE a separate living room.

Consider how you want to use the space. Preferably, something other than "a pretty place for people to see when they walk in before they go to the family room." While that's fine if that's what you really want it to be, it has become the reason people are (unfortunately, in my view) eliminating "formal" living rooms in new homes. It's SO nice to have an away room, which this could be for you.

So, conversation? Reading? Any musicians in your family? How about board games? In my house this would be the reading/conversation/music room, so I would furnish it with 4 comfy chairs in a circle with a center table, maybe a bookshelf or two and a piano. What you do with it depends on the space you have.
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calidesign
5 years ago
It's hard to tell what your layout is in these photos. Is the long wall directly across from the windows and the first photo taken from then entry? If so, you have plenty of room for a sofa on the long wall. Then place two armchairs facing the sofa with their backs to the window. That would give you a quiet conversation area, or place for someone to read with enough room to walk through to the other area. I would also remove the drapes which are covering your beautiful view. If you want drapes at all, use a more substantial rod with longer, wide drapery panels just on the outer ends.
Rebekah Eastep
Original Author
5 years ago
@anj_p We moved into a much larger home and we‘re kind of overwhelmed with the space. The kids have rooms big enough for all their toys, we have a spare bedroom as the office, the family room for the TV, so this is like a bonus-bonus space! All this in under 2,000 square feet. This home has such a great use of space. We definitely need extra entertainment space but something that could double as a library/reading area would be great.
Rebekah Eastep
Original Author
5 years ago
@calidesign I love the idea of arm chairs by the window!! I had been thinking of an ottoman or low table there but chairs would be better. The windows are a double edged sword. We have both a water view and a major roadway out those windows so we need the privacy without blocking the view and natural light since the home is pretty dark from being west facing and surrounded by trees.