IMO the warmth comes from the people in the home and how they treat guests. Rugs give warmth to spaces so do pieces of art you love furniture you find comfortable is what you need I often use drapes to warm up a space even if I never close them Id however make sure that the panels are at least 2.5 Xs the width of the rod I hate fake drarpery panels always.

I think idea books are ahuge help when you ask these types of questions. The books help us understand what you like . Warmth to one person to another can be very different.

In your layout you show I would eliminate one of those tables in the entry , where do you hang coats ? How many seats do you need in the LR How big is the TV or even if there is one It seems there ar very few windows what was the reason for that? I need lots of info posted here in comments DO NOT start another post on this subject but do come back and answer qustions.

I think the most dead you have as a general layout are good but I think you have less space than you think you do based on my quick math, could be wrong, of adding up what I see in the plan. When we built our house we got big pieces of butcher paper and mapped out where we wanted things to get a sense of how big things really would be and it helped a ton in getting sizes of furniture right. It’s a really useful exercise. Also helps with seeing aisles and passageways better. In your case the entrance between living and dining is key to get right

Sorry about typos! I don’t even know what my first sentence should be.

In your front entry there is also no coat closet. Will your family enter through garage and laundry? This is another thing to think on. Our old house has no front closet so we had a discreet set of hooks that popped up for guests by the entry but all our stuff was at the back.

With the software you used, when you placed the furniture in the plans, did you actually click on each furniture piece and input the actual dimensions of the furniture you own or plan to buy?

Most layout software has this ability and it makes a huge difference in getting things right, as some of the "standard" sizes they offer are undersized and make the floor plan look more spacious on paper than it will be in real life.

The idea of laying out to scale pieces of carboard or paper is a great one . It IMO works much better than software . I have always found I hate furnihing spaces with blueprints even . How you move through a space is what drives pieces in the space so the carboard or pper lets you get a feel for the space . Keep in mind when walking if you step on the paper then the walkway is too narrow for sure .

"Cold and uninviting" and "warm and cozy" are amorphous concepts and mostly in the eye of the beholder. Lots of elements can lean one way or the other, but furniture arrangement is pretty far down the list. Color, texture and material choices will make more of a difference.

The furniture layout you show seems to make sense, so I would focus on other things to get the feel you want.

You absolutely need to get sizing of furniture down now, before purchased, and ensure that it fits in the space. That’s why testing out the arrangement by laying out paper/cardboard is a good idea

I find a home is furnished as time goes by so not all at once but thoughtful additions to the pieces you have to have . If you flollow that idea your space will not look like a furniture showroom where everything waschosen at the same time . Cozy is just a word that means many things . IMO the nicest homes are where you feel welcome when you visit and a lot of that wrmth is from you not the furniture at all. Get the must haves for sure then worry about the ambiance

Yes but knowing the max size or sofa or dining table that would work in the space needs to be right. You need to make sure what you add over time makes sense.

Thank you all for your thoughtful feedback — it’s been really constructive!

A few updates and added context:

@Patricia Colwell Consulting — My family primarily enters through the garage or side door, both of which lead into the Laundry Room. We’ve set up a “mudroom” in the garage where coats and shoes live. Down the line, we plan to relocate the Laundry to the second floor, and the current space will be converted into a proper Mudroom.

For guests, we’ll have a more discreet storage solution near the main entry, as @WestCoast Hopeful suggested.

We’re a family of four, but love to entertain (we host Thanksgiving for 12 every year) so ample seating is a priority.

The TV will likely be 55” or smaller. Regarding windows, we’re currently working with what the house has. I’d love to have windows flanking the console table in the Living Room, but that’s a future project. We are, however, adding a new window above the kitchen sink.

@chispa — I’m using AutoCAD for the blueprints. The furniture shown is to-scale based on our current pieces. We plan to replace most of it, but the sizes will remain in the same ballpark.

@RappArchitecture and @Patricia Colwell Consulting — I completely agree with your take on “warmth” being an amorphous concept and that it should be brought in through layering: texture, art, plants, and personal pieces, etc.

I realize now that I didn’t phrase my original question clearly. What I’m really looking for is a sanity check on the overall furniture layout — a fresh perspective from fresh eyes.

I don’t feel particularly attached to the current placement of anything. In fact, the layout feels “flat” to me.

Thanks again for your help — it’s much appreciated!