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nicole_brookman

Furniture placement

8 months ago

We built our house in 2022 and this room has been difficult for me to decorate and furniture placement. My husband refuses to put the tv above the fireplace which I think would solve a lot of my issues. Any design or furniture placement ideas would be appreciated!

Comments (9)

  • 8 months ago

    your husband is right, the fireplace is too tall to add the TV above.

    Bring the furniture closer into a conversational space ON the rug.

    a good edit of things, you have too many focal points.

  • 8 months ago

    For once the husband is right!

  • 8 months ago

    "which I think would solve a lot of my issues."

    What is it that bothers you about the space?


    TV above the fireplace would be too high.

  • 8 months ago
    last modified: 8 months ago

    The love seat is blocking the entry to the room. Pull the loveseat closer to the sofa so they make an L. Put a square side table in the L of the two sofas. Add a coffee table in front of the larger sofa. The TV is in the right place. Find the swivel chair and card table chairs new homes in a bedroom or office.

  • 8 months ago
    last modified: 8 months ago

    I will agree with hubby on this one.

    Your main issue is that you have too much stuff for this space. Too many decor items and since your couch and loveseat are very large it might be best to have extremely limited additional furniture pieces.

    Pulling the large pieces in a bit is a good idea to try.

  • 8 months ago
    last modified: 8 months ago

    Tv viewing distances locked in everyone minds are from a time when tvs were 1080p. Now, they're 4k and the viewing distance can be less than half. 5.5-9 feet for 85". And 8k will be here soon. This is a family space with tv viewing the primary function when measured by use time. It can also be a place to lounge and use a laptop or phone. Having a fire is down the list. The same for guest use. The fireplace creates the problem and prevents a 'best' solution, imo. The single swivel chair is the best seat in the room. You can move the couch closest to the stairs in and add one or more large ottomans if all the couch seats aren't recliners. Then the crowning move I'd do would be an 85"+ tv on a thin minimal console placed with the lower tv edge below the wainscoting(or remove it from that wall.) You match the tv size to the distance the fireplace requires for furniture placement. Bigger tv will be better.

  • 8 months ago

    You haven't really defined what about the room bothers you. What's bothering some of us is not the layout. My take:


    Problem: What I'm seeing blocking flow and sightline to the windows are: the second couch, the table next to it, blue sideboard with stuff on it, and armchair blocking the window.

    You have not one but two massive dark couches blocking window light and space, plus a big armchair in the corner. Too many small pieces that create visual clutter and obstacles: pointless fake plant; cluttery little shelves; folding chairs; stuff on mantel distracting from your art work; stuff on console cabinet under TV, shelf above TV screen.


    Solution: Replace the couch facing the fireplace with two comfortable armchairs with a table up on legs in between. This would add flow and airiness to the living room and define your two focal points: fireplace and windows in one direction and TV on the other wall.

    Hingham Shipyard Home · More Info


    Problem: Visual clutter.


    Solution: Remove the following: All the "stuff" on the mantel, all of it, seriously. If you like your cattle art work, then let it stand alone. Remove the little shelf over the TV. Remove the folding chairs and little table. Remove the stuff on top of the blue console cabinet under the TV. Remove the small art works. A living room like yours cries out for a bolder but less is more approach visually. The small stuff all over the place compromises the great features of the room--height, windows, dramatic space.


    Summary: Replace fireplace facing couch with two comfortable armchairs, but not bulky ones with a table in between. Get rid of visual clutter on fireplace and obstacles elsewhere--small furniture pieces like folding chairs, small table. Begone plant and little shelves on the wall next to the stairs. Add a large art work on that wall. Put your cattle art there and get a great landscape or skyscape for over the fireplace to give a feeling of the outdoors, big sky, etc. Not these, but the feeling of these art works--bold and colorful.

    "Spectrum In Gold & Black" by Rachel Springer, Canvas Print, 26x26" · More Info


    "Smara" Fine Art Canvas Print, 18"x12" · More Info



  • 8 months ago

    A number of thoughts:

    - Your husband is right about the TV over the fireplace. It would be uncomfortable to watch the TV at that height, and it would look odd sandwiched between the fireplace and those windows. You have the TV in the right place.

    - The room's extreme height is hurting you in two ways: 1) The living space is fairly full /even a bit cluttered (get rid of the vacuum, the hanging quilt rack, and the metal folding chairs at least), but the upper walls are bare of color and decoration. The wall immediately around the TV is full, while the large wall around it is empty. 2) The double-high ceiling is very high /feels out of human proportion, and the plain ceiling plays into this negative.

    - Still thinking about the bare walls -- this is more of a clarification of the above comment -- the spots that're decorated (the fireplace mantle and the TV area, for example) are quite full. Your taste seems to be "filled up" /things to catch the eye. That contrasts badly with the wide-open empty spaces.

    - Color (or lack of color) is an issue here. I like the teal-green TV stand -- that color should be repeated elsewhere in the room: in a rug, throws and pillows on the sofa (hopefully in a mix of solids + patterns), and in artwork. Appropriately placed color will make your room feel more cohesive /less like random stuff thrown together. Said differently, lose some of this neutral and bring in some personality.

    - A non-neutral rug will make a big difference in this room. And bring the furniture "in" a bit so it's closer together /gives you a not-so-spread-out seating area.

    - You don't like the loveseat "blocking" entrance to the room. Yeah, I can see that. I think I count three metal folding chairs, which hints you need more seating. I'd switch the existing sofa and love seat out for a sectional (placed where the existing sofa is) + two recliners flanking the TV.

    - Additionally, I think the sofa and love seat are a step too dark for the room. They seem to draw the eye in a negative way. I'd consider something more medium-toned. Alternately, bring in the dark shade elsewhere in the room. Actually, the problem isn't really that they're too dark -- it's that the shade isn't repeated anywhere else in the room.

    - Lighting is a problem. I see a single bulb on the ceiling fan and -- are those ceiling acne lights? They're too high to be effective in the room below -- they aren't effective for reading or needlework. You need lamps near the seating to bring the light down to the people -- lamps could be a good spot to echo the teal-green TV stand.

    - I'd like to see something "planned" behind the love seat /against the stair -- at the moment, it appears empty. Two small chairs? Not stuffed because you don't have the space. Two ladder-back chairs with a small table between them? These two chairs could be brought into the seating area when needed. Alternately, a shallow desk and chair? Or a narrow sofa table with a lamp -- it could function as a drop-spot for guests? Any number of things could fit here, and I'd "let this go" until you've taken care of the main seating area, but it needs something.

    - Every room needs something organic -- I see one plant over in a corner. Look into where you could add a couple more plants across the room. Consider putting the plants in baskets.

  • PRO
    8 months ago

    Your TV screen is in the right location but it's not large enough for the room.

    When the length and the width of the room are different, you can't place two of the same size sofas in the room. Keep one and replace the other with two individual recliners. NO LOVESEAT