Ask A Designer: Decorating An L-Shaped Living And Dining Room

Q: My home in Flin Flon Manitoba has and L-shaped living and dining room. I am unsure how to furnish and decorate so that the space seems as large as possible and has the most function. What would you suggest?

– Natalie Moran via email (To submit your own question, email us at [email protected].)

A: Without a floor plan and a shot of the space around the corner, we’ll have to guess what the whole room looks like. There seems to be a corner of a kitchen in the foreground, so the open space we see should be a dining area. To make this space work harder, consider investing in some new furniture. We suggest a portable island placed across the opening to the kitchen, that’s small enough to walk around and into the kitchen. There will be a small overhang on the dining room side that lets you put two counter height chairs so at least two people can sit and have morning coffee. It can also act as a divider between the kitchen and the rest of the space.

Consider a new, less clunky sofa and replace the recliner with a chair that can easily be moved. Also, look into the new coffee tables that pop up and form a dining table. If you invest in a nice area rug, and put your new furniture in a grouping facing your TV, you will at least be able to keep the TV where it is.

The other option – if there is space – is to move the TV, sofa and chair around the corner, leaving room for a real dining area off the kitchen.

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