You could call this a "keeping room" or perhaps a "gathering room" so when you tell someone where you left a book they know where to find it. Where do you eat though?

high ceilings make echoey room and I don't want drapes!

Marco, good idea about removing shoes. I had dreams of doing that :) sometimes it works and sometimes not...for the "not" times? well, someone should clean up the spilled coffee and/or wine on the nice rug!!!

My biggest gripe about our living room/family room is that it didn't come with an elf who dusts, vacuums, shampoos the carpet and washes windows and grooms the dogs.

I'm exhausted just thinking about that :)

The front door opens directly into the middle of the long wall in the living room. No entryway of any kind. On one side of the door is the fireplace; the door opens to that side - where we usually sit, so when you open the door you get a nice breeze in the warmer months and a chill in the colder. Behind the door is the blank wall. People ignore the hooks on the wall and the bench, so they tend to bring their coats with them. There's a closet there, too, on the far wall, but that's ignored also. Any ideas?

I have a pre-renovation pic, nothing more recent. The floors are now refinished (gorgeous) and the windows replaced, otherwise I've done little to the LR.

If the style of the house and your rooms is like this ,I recommend the iron doors or iron hardware full of mystery and beautiful more.

I was going to be innovative and say that my biggest gripe was "mess and dust", but I see others beat me to it :) I would ban sports if I had my way ... but sadly, since my husband is totally addicted to sports, that won't be happening anytime soon :)

irondoors4u: I must have missed something, iron door as a new front door? Instead of the sliding doors for the closets? The house was built in 1900. You could tell from the floor, that it used to be 2 rooms and a tiny entryway - both long gone. I'm not sure how it would solve the draft problem or how it would help to integrate the 2 halves of the room.

karelina : One easy fix that comes to mind is to reverse the way the door opens. It would then make a bit of a buffer to the people sitting to the right of the door, and it would also have the people coming in notice the wall of closets to their left, which may entice them to actually use them.
Just a thought.....

karelina: a knee wall between the fireplace and the door would be nice to separate the entry and the living room, but it doesn't look like you have room for that. Could you do the same kind of thing with furniture to create a gentle barrier so people don't come straight in and plop down? Something visual needs to tell people which way to go, or act as a magnet. Perhaps if you hang interesting artwork on the wall across from the door near the closet, they will look there and see the closet, or you could put a bench and coat hooks there where they can see it, as an invitation to take off shoes and hang coats.

We recently moved to an older home without a family room, so we "live" in our living room. My chief complaint is the TV vs. fireplace, each vying to be the focal point. I dislike watching a TV hung over the fireplace. It causes neck strain. So we have the TV opposite the fireplace, and a seating area floating in between. It looks nice, but it just isn't comfortable for TV. Everyone has to look either left or right to watch. I look forward to playing around with furniture placement after the Christmas tree comes down. Time is of the essence - the new seasons of Sherlock, Downton Abbey and then Mad Men are just around the corner!

appytrails: I think that's a really good solution. Thanks!

Appytrails, that is a good idea. And much cheaper than mine of creating an enclosed porch/mudroom out front for guests to enter, leave coats, etc.

I think it's funny that in a day in time when we are trying to find more time to be together with family, that they keep building these homes with all these different rooms for different activities. My pet peeve. We ended up knocking out the wall between the Living/Dining Room and the Family Room. The Living room became the Dining Room. Which gives us plenty of room for Family Dinners and great parties. The Dining Room became a sitting area with chandelier swagged to the side and a big skirted table to hide Grandbaby toys under flanked by to comfy chairs. They love to play in that area and it can be easily viewed from the Family/Great Room, but they're still not underfoot. It's also the place that I go in the morning to read and it's a great place for Grandbaby story time. Our Family/Great Room is open to the Kitchen as well. It encourages togetherness and we love it for parties. The room is also our Media Room with the most comfortable seating in the house and the popcorn and drinks are nearby. They build these homes with Breakfast Bars/Islands, Kitchen Dining Nooks and Formal Dining Rooms when Families are lucky to even get to share a meal most days?!? My other pet peeve. I love the ideas that others have shared.

This is the Old Formal Dining Room....the ottoman opens to a toy chest.

@OMNIA Group Architects The fireplace vs TV can create a big challenge. I think you're on the right track with asking the client what their lifestyle is like because this will provide the most conclusive information as to what direction your design should head. Corner units may provide a compromising solution.

Mine would have to be the TV in corner. I can't place it over the fireplace, since it's a woodburner and have windows on the other wall or openings. I currently have it sitting on a corner TV stand, but my home is an english tudor. These plasma TV stands lack charm. I am currently looking for a corner armoire, but hard to find and when I do, it"s too small. Guess, it's an easy fix if I would hire a carpenter.

there are many ways to camouflage a tv, framed art w/tv behind is my favorite. google "art framed tv" to see what's available. there are DIY's you can try if you're handy w/carpentry; youtube has some how to's with the framed art hiding tv, or you can purchase the whole lot from various companies. you can also mount the final product on a hinge that swivels into your room for watching and then back in place as art again when you're done watching. here's one that is very popular, http://www.visionartgalleries.com

Thank you Ferris Zoe.!!! I will check into this : )

happy to help. these have been around for years, but i suspect many folks are not into spending the money it takes to buy one, especially after spending a gazillion dollars for the tv! the home audio specialists, depending how tech savvy your town is, should be able to hook you up. good luck. i just specified one of these for my clients who have an extremely tiny home.

one other thing you could try. i used to do business with a tapestry company, who made a remote controlled roll up tapestry for the specific purpose of hiding the tv. don't think they had the greatest technology, but the idea is good. but if you have a good contractor or remote control drapery installer/fabricator, you could do this with any tapestry. works better if tv is recessed into the wall and the tapestry is hung over the recess. otherwise, you could see through on the sides.

Yes, they did seem pricey, but hubby may be all for it if it stops me from complaining lol!

I am almost wishing builders wouldn't add fireplaces to family/great rooms. Seems to create the challenge of "Now what to do about the tv?".

Move fireplaces to dining area or master bedroom for the romance factor!

i'm sure the architects are working from consumer demand

Fireplaces are great, but the way people are hanging flat screens 5, 6, 7 feet even above the floor over the fireplace is beyond ridiculous. We didn't watch screens that high before someone decided to stack them, so why would we now? If we are concerned with healthy homes these days, there must be more creative ways to hang/locate large flat screens, at eye level (And avoid neck and eye strain). When possible I prefer n a credenza or table at eye level with nothing distracting around the screen. When possible and for those who can afford it, itd be great to have screens that electrically drop load into cabinets or even sit in front of fireplaces but mounted on slides so they can be pushed aside to enjoy a fire. Personally, the fireplace and the viewing walls should not be the same wall though, as they both emit competing light. A fire is ever flickering, as is the screen, at different rates and color temps. Jmho.

The room!

I hate the door in the middle of the 24 ft living rm,its always wet dirty cluttered.I might just put a 4 ft wide half wall and bench so that the shoes stay off my wood floor but then its 2 rms should I put posts or shelves or edit that idea all together.that door wall is windows and a door on the full wall.a fireplace and tv on the short wall and the couch on the opposite short wall onthe other long wall theres a 6 ft opening to the dining rm .

front door, stairs, need I say more

The biggest pain would be the corner fireplace... We're still trying to embrace it.

LOVE IT ALL!!

My tv family room is not wide enough. For four of us to sit together... .oh well.

I have a living room that is rectangular with 3 entries/exits. The front door being one, the hallway being two, and the kitchen. It makes for a difficult layout to move around. One would think easy, but the entry (front door) is open to the living room and the traffic area is straight through from that entrance. I have plans to divide the area at the entrance with large book case. Hoping this will make for a room we love!

my den is directly off my kitchen...all open space...but den is too small...only have 1 wall. fireplace, built in bookcases & TV area, and windows on other three. Hard to get furniture placed good. So have put in a corner sofa set,with game table in the 'L'...to eat at informally ...using antique hoosier cabinet as 'wall' to separate the 2 rooms...only 1 other chair...ok for everyday, but no room when family is here. Kitchen too small for a real table...so ended up making my living room into a combination dining/living room with chaise lounge and lamp for reading. I also have a small dropleaf desk for laptop/bill paying. now no formal living room!! aarg.
den...fireplace/tv built ins....which one is focal point....TV mostly, but use fireplace a lot...and it is colder in den because kitchen & den are 3 steps lower than other living part of house.
Thought about a knee wall between den & kitchen...but afraid to do that because it would limit furniture placement even more. If i didn't want to keep my antiques...it would probably be better...i guess i'd just put a table in the open space between the kitchen & den...but not willing to give up hooser cabinet yet!

"Popcorn" ceilings! They're about 20 feet up, so I feel stuck with them.

I really have no gripes. This doesn't really show the whole room, but it shows my favorite parts! My son, his dog and a roaring fire. I would love to have a cleaning person to clean up after the dog and my son... that isn't me!

I cannot stand the television above the fireplace or a mirror above the fireplace. I like televisions to have some way of being covered up or concealead because they're a decorating eyesore and ruin the look of a room. The mirror above the fireplace usually reflects nothing but the ceiling. Dumb dumb dumb

@Elizabeth Sutor..i have a cover for TV...extra material from curtains. keeps dust off too!!

Strange old layout with neither closets nor storage near the door everyone uses; everyone has to troop through the lr area to get to the kitchen; not an open space but the openings that are there are odd;

shellyhmin--that's the sweetest picture!!!!

Appytails, is that a Leonberger? Adorable!!!

Another non-foyer LR/FM.

Appytrails, I was also wondering whether that's a Leonberger -- my husband thinks we should adopt one as a companion to our crazy Great Pyrenees...(which considering my Pyr, could go really really well or really really badly.)

I would love to remove the fireplace and put in windows and a glass door to the back yard! I hate fireplaces.....

Ha! Appytrails and Rosane, since this popped up in my feed today two years after my post above, thought I'd update that we have a new Leonberger in the household! Peeing everywhere!

Barnhart Gallery, I don't remember seeing any previous leonberger comments years ago, but saw this today! How is your new pup with your Pyr? Sorry about your housebreaking issues. I have found that the first week needs 24/7 attention, and usually they are fully housebroken after that, but I have a dog door which makes things so much easier. Good luck. Leonbergers are great dogs. We now have a goldendoodle who keeps things interesting for my leo.

What cuties! All of our dogs have been rescues, but Leos are so rare, we never could find one to rescue. So not long after my post two years ago, as a companion to our Pyr Everest, we adopted Alaska, a Pyr/Husky/Golden/Lab/Eskie mix.

Sadly, we lost Everest in January. With Alaska missing a companion, we once again looked for a Leo to rescue, but there were none nationwide in need of a home. My husband had the thought that if we're ever going to have a Leo, we are, ahem, middle-aged and probably should have a behemoth now rather than later in life, so just this once we went the breeder route for a Leonberger. He's adorable!

I used to feel like Elizabeth Sutor that tv's should be concealed. They are not design pieces. However, they are so big today you'd need a family room the size of a stadium to conceal them. Plus ours is curved; no way we are hiding that. But it is not above the fireplace, where I think the home's builder meant it to be. To my design sensibilities that is the real no no. I mean unless you have no other option. I certainly didn't want a huge curved tv to be the focal point of my family room. THE BEAUTIFUL MIRROR OVER THE FIREPLACE IS!!!. Along with the the view. The tv is on a lovely piece of furniture perfectly set between two windows.

The two things I would change; a real wood fireplace and more windows. You can never have too many windows. I'm even thinking of adding a couple.

Both TV and Fireplace need to be central to seating, as both are focal points in a room. TVCoverUps is one of the methods that allows you to use a mirror or Art work to conceal the TV, including the curved version, even allows you to use articulating or Down and Out hardware to re-position the TV when viewing.

When the size of art required is inappropriate, or the art is too small to cover the TV, then we use our panel lift system which can be built into the architecture of the room.