She returns to answer the asked..........

Can I slam arm to wall.....UGHHH! and follow please

Too lazy to type.......^^ to this

^^ ( I left out my NO !! To built in anything and right of window.

Okay......back down here: )

Your feet and inches change!!!!!! Sizes change

At the risk of BORING everyone, I want you to do this:

Post the floor plan for the entire first floor.

Are we correct, that the ONLY entry to the first floor is the front door? This is the way you come in, with all the groceries?

Am I correct, that there are three people living here. One couple, one son and a dog?

Wishing for BOLDER type face here:

Nora and all others: If you are old, like me..........?

You want to know exactly when , despite everyone now owns a lot of shoes; boots, flip flops, sneakers, running shoes, and more, all the shoes had to live at an entry/exit point!? Mud room or NO mudroom!!

You have a second floor. It has bedrooms, it even has a spare bedroom! Not every shoe you own or wear can live at the front door!! Especially when the the DOOR is directly in the living room and there is no foyer!

If hubby wants a diy project? It is this:

Show us the inside of the closet. Change the doors to outward swing. One side should have shoe storage and the other should be double hung for coats and jackets.

Happy SATURDAY!!!!

🌲

PS.......you have to force yourself to accept the limits of this room and the house. You have art! Hang it! You don't SPEND a lot of time in the hearth room as it lacks a TV. !!!

I SWEAR....If I thought you could fit the chaise BEAST sectional into that hearth room? I'd say do it today. It is making me want to scream. Every single one of these CHAISE sectionals should be banished to a planet where nobody lives- every single one of them will bite you in the ass. Every single one will become a "fenced play pen "in your room. You want a chaise sectional?! BUY A SEPARATE, MATCHING OTTOMAN TO THE DARN SECTIONAL, PLEEEEEZE!

You will accomplish the same thing, with future flexibility, and you PRAY on that, too

One more?

Post the entire floor plan, and put ACTUAL feet and inches to this: Every wall and slider dimension, and windows.....ALL and distance of island to slider and etc....: )

Home entry through front door and through garage (garage door to house puts you in the “hearth room”)…correct, it’s two adults 40’s and 17yr old son, one doggy. The closet is built out for storage and coats…I have it organized with items that would typically be stored in entry frunture….I probably could try to find another spot for it for shoe storage. As most homes, total lack of storage everywhere.

Was thinking something larger here could take the items in the closet that I like having close…this wall is 38” but I don’t have a lot of depth…

I also have a lot of hand bags I switch out because I have nowhere else to keep them.

With the furniture you have and the tv size you have there isn’t space in The front area for a dining table and living room set up. Do you need more space for dining? It sounds like there are three people in the home.

I will add kitchen side measurements soon.
My husband doesn’t like the room arrangement this way, lol….he does sell real estate and owns an appraisal business, so he enters A LOT of homes and he said he’s never seen a house set up like this and does not like it…he preferred the flow of the previous arrangement. Iam just sharing where I am at with this. I agree Jan, that if I swap the two rooms furniture it will be a better representation…now I just have to convince my hubby to go along…

Nora, I completely understand the challenge of creating your home space with an opinionated hubby in the mix. Which is fine, they deserve to have an opinion too, but it sure does make things challenging sometimes! Did he prefer the setup you had just before this one, or the original?

Your hubby proves my earlier point about how people actually live and enjoy their spaces vs what looks best on paper.

Cecilia, yes hubby liked the flipped arrangement, entering the home to the back of the sofa. I would like to make that work. I see homes where you enter into couch back that feel good. I wonder if I just won’t get the feel good upon entering because in order to have neck and vision comfort, the couch needs to be pulled another 10” back which creates a more narrow and potentially awkward entry.

WestCoast Hopeful, totally true! The way we live and move in a home matters…I also think hubby is delighted that with the “she flipped” arrangement he sneak up behind me now😅 I don’t have to have dining, that’s just me looking to the future for when my son has a family and we want to host but so many people have hodgepodge setups for those family and holiday times that it will be ok if we don’t have a permanent dining room.

I also just want to add, my husband works 2 jobs full time and I get to work 2 days a week, I really do want to honor his likes as well because he makes a lot of sacrifices for his family. It can still be a challenge ge though😂

So many possibilities!!

It’s all possible with your taste and choice of course!

Other view

Nora, I’ve been following your thread and love the fact that you are trying all layout possibilities. You have great taste. I like the current setup with shelves removed and replaced with TV on low console. If you push the couch closer to the back windows, I like your thought of flanking that window with the two shelving units. I don’t think it’s weird to have a smaller space back there where you can go to fetch a book from the book shelves or look out the window. I also like the conversational area created by the two chairs in a grouping with the sofa. The layout is open and, to me, expands your space as in this pic. But alas, just another opinion. You’ll figure out what works best for you.

Another view

Another view

If you get a bit of a slimmer lower backed sofa for three and lower console for your tv, you may be able to please hubby. You’ll gain room for tv viewing and entry seeing back of sofa. I’ve also seen many beautiful living spaces with entering at back of sofa with plenty of walk space. Beautiful sofas with visually nice backs. We have same situation here as well when decorating. I always try to compromise bc he lives here too! Very understandable. With said about a smaller seating sofa, will also allow you the entry for mudroom type but very desirable. In fact, truth be known, he may just not want to or is having a hard time even thinking about moving that wall of shelves?

You have a lot of sofas line up the gray chairs with that coffee table and the coffee table should be lined up with the couch centered both chairs need to be on the rug I'm wondering if that black table with the lamp is throwing the arrangement off if the black table should go over by the window behind the couch?

Nora, I do think you could probably make the "She Flipped" layout work as long as you focus on making an interesting focal point of what would be the tv wall. You could use a darkish shade of paint for contrast on that whole wall, along with a substantial low low-profile TV console. Or, you could use furniture to create something really eye-catching around your TV. And of course, try pulling the sectional back a foot for additional comfort for TV viewing if the space allows it.

Or even something more dramatic like this as a feature. You could probably frame a section of really interesting wallpaper in place of huge wall art.

Ooh yes I do like that giant art as a wall feature behind the tv
! Also, aviary thank you for the renderings, it really does help visualize….

By attaching 2 L brackets to back of a large canvas picture, you can just hook it over the top of the tv and cover “the black hole”

We agreed to leave the arrangement over the weekend to see if it feels better once used to it. Otherwise this has narrowed down options to “she slipped” OR the dreaded original which did function ok…

Pretty simple

Fantastic Nora! Let us know the verdict after the weekend. ;)

Nora, I would suggest moving the sectional back toward the window more. Maybe he is not liking it with all the space behind it. In the pictures it does seem rather close to the TV but could just be the pictures.

Kcooz07 it’s 10ft 26” front screen to center of couch seat…and once bookcase is removed there would be another 14” distance. The space behind the sofa is 84”….

Avairy, that’s a cool simple idea to conceal a tv!

I like the she flipped better than TV on bookcase wall. Do you use the front door a lot? Is there a lot of traffic in behind the sofa carrying things in and out of the house like groceries etc. I think about how much you actually use that doorway.

You said you were having neck/vision issues with the flipped arrangement. Was the TV too close or just too high? Would it work if it were at proper viewing height?

I noticed with one of Jan's sketches with the current arrangement, she has 72" from back of sofa to window. Is that too far back for you?

This is truth and lie........and exactly as I pictured the entirety, and nothing about walls will change

The lie is :" dining room" unless you are ninety years old

This was NEVER good, won't be good, Was the entire reason for the op's post

Opinion of one? It is RIGHT HERE

AND You settle the internal battle you are having between a your need for pretty and a hubby working two jobs, who wants a big tv and sports to relax.

You leave 6 feet behind the couch........and put the mirror BACK. , please? You need storage.

Make it pretty, and then forget you have that space,

This can be a lot better........We haven't seen any bedrooms.

Some stuff may have to go upstairs. Collected objects mat need shelves in the garage. Don't know what the second floor looks like

I know only what you've said,

"I also just want to add, my husband works 2 jobs full time and I get to work 2 days a week, I really do want to honor his likes as well because he makes a lot of sacrifices for his family..........

You're looking at the answer for both of you or put it all back,

Flip is not an option, that is no lie, because the feet and inches do NOT lie.

This is your best "wall", whatever you do to make your Pretty. Solve that battle.: )

Merry Christmas

Seating is up to you......

Okay, so there really is not enough room to do the flip. I was looking for measurements someplace. OH doesn’t like Jan’s solution? Because?

Jan, thank you, your drawing is so pretty, you’re an artist…it looks cozy and beautiful. Your advice is practical and detailed to the space, I really appreciate all your time. Merry Christmas! We have time before big furniture purchases to make final decision. I have a lot to do off now💕

I have a lot to offer now as we move forward. I couldn’t braid storm all this on my own!

I love Jan's drawings & more the chairs flanking tv. What about if chairs are on right side...in walkway side? Would that make OH like? Is there a garage door leading to kitchen for groceries?

There is garage door that lets into hearth room, pretty close to kitchen. My son works on engines and welding so often times it’s not safe or ideal to get groceries in that way. Of course, that will change in a couple years when he moves out.

My 907.8 SQUARE feet..............all of them and how a builder did NOT give a HOOTY TOOTY about how we would actually live: )

this..........? Best possible truth for a useful every square foot? and the LIES next to it

We'd NEVER go upstairs to a media room, the "hub" of our home is down here on the first floor

It's a challenging HUB. My hubby works two full time jobs, I work two days, our son does auto work in the garage,which means I mostly come in the front door with the groceries.

He and my DH love sports, and I despise "ugly" ......Despise is not a strong enough word lol.

Then we have a storage issue. .......and IF I am honest, some of that problem is our insistence on getting the last 20% of "dressed to leave for occasion and climate" accomplished on the first floor, and we have no mud room. ( I AM GOING TO MAKE ONE)

I might fix my inefficient closet, take decorative stuff to the garage, on shelves, I might EVEN double hang one side of the closet for short coats and jackets, and hang DRESS length coats upstairs. I might get to ONE great handbag most of the time., store the remainder upstairs.

Hubby and friends of ours, and the back of our house" where I am mostly HAPPY with my decor" Nobody "minds" there is no TV back here........? (REALLY?) My online "decorator" agrees it is lovely. It's GIRL space: ) It's glowy, sparkly.

The decorator throws out this idea below:

The heavy black line on the far right, to right of the window. Maybe........just maybe......I could mount a tv, NOT a huge tv, just one I could see as I am cooking, one where hubby could plop in in a chair while i am making dinner. My chairs could be swivels, ....mmmmmmmm

This is certainly NOT the most noticeable spot in the house. Could we all like it? It doesn't need to be our primary tv, that's around the corner, and we have to LEAVE the kitchen hub to see it. What is so SPECIAL about a couch that has no good wall in a tight room? What is so special about that, when it would block everything and anything if it changes current location.

Decorator thinks NOTHING is special about a couch in this room: )

She is about to tell me one very important fact, on my BIG tv. in our living room

If I use my "built in wall "for the tv?

MY VIEWING DISTANCE IDENTICAL FROM OUR ORIGINAL TV PLACEMENT ON THE STAIR WALL. IT IS EXACTLY 15 1/2 FEET.

She also says, I really have to commit to understanding a "dream vs. reality" buy to that commitment for anything I buy...

BECAUSE...in living color?

Down here

Yeah.....She's done,Back of couch is SIX feet from window wall

The other thing you have to consider is her husband's input. He says he does not like the living room setup as it is. He prefers the original or the flipped.

Agreed Celia. So back to the what is best on paper not being best in real life thinking I have expressed.

Well? In a new year, maybe they find the compromise.

Her "neck hurts" on the flip.......probably because she's shorter.

She doesn't like it on the stair wall...., and it leaves her with an awkward end at the window,

He's likes the flip....which puts his back to the door, the reason he wanted it on the stair wall was he didn't like his back to the door,, and YET he " doesn't like? the flip to bookcase which puts his back to the door and window, and he is the identical distance of 15 1/2 feet from the tv, as he was, when the tv was on the stair wall, he faces it directly, and her neck won't hurt..

MORAL of story? I have absolutely No clue: ) ! they'll figure it out, In real life of love and marriage and tv.?

Hearth room, accommodate a larger dining table?

What is in the wall where there’s a “buffet”??? Could a small tv hide behind doors? Do you have a picture of that wall?

Smaller TV isn’t wanted is it? I thought the large tv was set

Just for the kitchen area

Smaller tv is not an option.....

At least not in the "real" family room, which is the living room.

( Me ? I'd add a small one in the hearth room, that much is certain. .... 42 inch, flat o the wall I noted. Not going to destroy the beauty.

Also

What happens with these long threads. ( more than 250 comments here ) ( and we DO love it when folks stay in one thread.) is you have to dig, dig, dig, in "see more comment" several times, to get the entirety of the thread. Nearly impossible to do. unless on a computer.....

If you're on the app/phone? You probably miss all the relevant unless you have the patience to go back. Not user friendly on I phone.

^^^^

"What is in the wall where there’s a “buffet”??? Could a small tv hide behind doors? Do you have a picture of that wall?

Scrolllllll the whole thread. It's all there. There are at least 250 comments and many pictures..

Owner mentioned she & Hubs wouldn’t mind a small tv while O cooked. It IS a beautifully set space and too small for a giant tv. Maybe a teeny tv that attaches under a kit cabinet. I’ve seen them and quite clever.

AND it folds up! Out of sight!

All she has to do? Is this:

Heavy black line, , right side of window. ........

Presto... with four swivel chairs. the room doesn't demand a couch

and above fire is not an option, unless you obliterate the fixed window

Whats above buffet? a huge mirror : Scroooollll back : )