For us this living room is the heart of our home and we never seem to have enough seating, once you sit 5 people you feel like your packed in like sardines. This room is somewhat long and narrow, has a doorway to the kitchen by the brown chair and if you are sitting on the sofa you look into the entrance which has a very wide opening, so other than the tv nook you can't put anything on that side of the room.
I use to work around in this room constantly but a while back i just gave up, but im back to trying to figure it out and turn it into a room that we love. Yes i know the rug is too small, had a larger one but the furbaby destroyed it when he got sick. Unfortunately the brown chair must stay....we considered a sectional when this set goes to the basement, not sure if that is a good idea.....any suggestions???? In the pics you will see the room in its entirety. thank you
one end of room
window end
smiles
janetc
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Oh I'm not back in Calgary but am still in Kelowna (and liking it very much especially when I check the weather network). I do miss my little old house a lot but such is life for the moment.
Oh gosh DBD, im totally not into getting a new sofa at this moment.....as much as I love shopping, sofa shopping is the last on my list with our last experience. Believe it or not we have now had this one for over four years, it is starting to show some wear, which is understandable as it is used constantly. For the amount of people we have here constantly, we could never accomadate seating for everyone. When the day comes and we need to retire this set to the basement, i want to be sure the next one we get accomadates this room as well as giving us the most seating area possible. I love the one you posted, I have considered that style, as i feel a full sectional may consume this room too much. I also have to realize the girls are only getting older and we won't likely have such a house full. Thanks so much for your input DBD, its nice to see some people come back to the forum, afterall I do realize that we all have busy lives and can't always be on the forum but its good to see how the members are doing in thier lives. Are you happy to be back in Calgary?
smiles
janet
Oh Janet....how are you so brave? After what you went through buying that couch I can't imagine you are even considering venturing down that road again until it is in tatters and the duct tape is no longer holding.
But let's pretend you are really going to go back out there and start bringing them home again, what about a sofa/chaise? If you recall way back when, I was having to give up my dream set to get one that fit in the door of the new house with it's teenie tinie living room. It was one of those a decorator suggested to me and it made real sense. Room for two to stretch while watching TV or for 4 or 5 to sit. It also meant being able to rearrange things as you weren't committed to just moving this big L around the room.
The nice part of this type http://www.urbanbarn.com/products/Living-Room/Sofas-and-Sectionals/flip-... is that chaise part is actually an ottoman and the cushion is made in such a way that it can be used on either side of the sofa or you can take one cushion off the sofa and put it on the ottoman and use the long one on the sofa, so two separate pieces if you want or an L shape. That offers a lot of flexibility. Costco had one on their floor last month that looked pretty decent and I think it was about $700. The other nice part is they are made smaller to fit smaller spaces but still provide a lot of seating.
When I was looking, Urban Barn had some Canadian made ones that were very reasonable (compared to other stores) and had good quality. They also seem to offer a lot of options for those of us with smaller spaces.
I'd avoid love seats. Been there done that and unless there are small children around, they never have two people sitting in one without it being pretty uncomfortable. It just never happens, so waste of space and no good for naps either.
On to your current situation, just how many times do you have a housefull there? I count 7 places to sit (thinking the little stool by the window can be used) plus the leather bench if needed. If this is one of those 'only occassionally things', I think you keep the living room less crowded and do what all our parents did. Pull out the chairs from the kitchen or other rooms when there is a crowd. You could also have floor pillows in other rooms that could be pulled in. I think if you consider other places in the house you could have ottomans or stools or chairs you'd find that worked when you do have a crowd. There are also lots of neat folding or stacking type chairs that are out now you could stow away somewhere and don't forget things like storage ottomans that could double as small side tables or go under other tables and be used for emergency seating.
Reality is you only have so much room and there is no reason to fill it up when you don't have to. Your kids can entertain downstairs or sit on the floor or pillows if they want to be in the LR. The other times are probably holidays and such so no need to crowd the room the rest of the time just in case. Besides, as I recall, you have a real love of having that window with a clear view and aren't very comfortable when you feel crowded and you are the one who is the main user of that room.
While I've got you, how is Mr. Sandy? I see his bed there but it's the first time I haven't seen him peeking out from somewhere in your pictures.
Hello Janetc,
Maybe check out these articles/photos/videos for inspiration on living room layouts:
http://houseandhome.com/tv/segment/arranging-furniture
http://houseandhome.com/design/decorating-small-spaces
http://houseandhome.com/design/decorating-around-fireplace
http://houseandhome.com/design/creating-comfortable-media-room
I hope that helps!
Gwen McAuley (gmcauley at hhmedia.com)
I had another thought in the meantime: moving the TV to one of the short walls and having two couches facing each other along the long walls - would probably require turfing the coffee table in favour of small side tables, and may feel a bit like riding the subway if the space is too narrow - but it's a thought anyway. There might still be room for an armchair/occasional chair or two on the short wall opposite the TV and/or beside the TV.
Was also wondering if the primary use of the room is to watch TV or if the additional seating is for conversation? If it's for conversation maybe the TV could be moved elsewhere?
(Is a sectional really dreaded? How come? I was planning on getting one some day. I am new to this home decor thing, lots to learn here!).
Do you have enough room to move your taupe chair to the wall by your brown chair? You could then move your round table in first pic, to inbetween the brown chair and taupe chair.
I'd then add a matching love seat or two wooden/padded chairs and a small round table between them rather than a couch to the other wall. I think a 2nd couch would be too big. If there isn't enough room to move the taupe chair to the one wall, I'd move the brown chair over to the other wall and add the table between them there. Add a long padded bench or two smaller chairs and table to the other side.
A sectional is okay as long as it's tailored and on the smaller side. Very nice decorating, looks inviting and comfortable.
Hi, What are the room dimensions out of curiosity.. as i seem to have the same sardine problem.
Two choices as I see it. 1) add another couch under the window or 2) move the brown chair that you want to keep to where the other chair is now and then put in the dreaded sectional. But that doesn't mean it has to look bad. It's not the end of the world and you can have one made for that space so that you utilize what's there.
A custom sectional built for that space would look great - or it you really wanted to invite the entire neighbourhood you could go "u" shape and make it wall to wall leaving just enough space for the brown chair. This would make it the focal point of the room and what's wrong with that?
What about built-in bench seating, or another couch, underneath the window? For the very wide opening you mentioned, would it be possible to use some of that space, for example by putting a curtain or two-sided bookshelf on one side of the opening, then you could create some extra "wall" space to put another chair in front of. I'm not sure if your coffee table is one of those kinds that can double as an ottoman, it looks like it might be - if not that might be another option for occasional seating use. I've also seen people use wooden stools for side-tables that can double as extra seating in a pinch. I can see why you've been racking your brain on this for so long, it is an awkward shaped room!