Rules for Furniture Placement

Hi Christine,

We found your blog and love all your great ideas.  We also have four children but all in the teen years now. Our home has a family room and also a living and dining room.  Our formal living room is never used and we want to make it more livable space.  Hopefully you can help us with a design.

We were thinking of using it as another family room and including a television - however it would not be a wall mounted tv.  I would like the room to have a small writing desk...something to put a laptop on, or to do work. We love leather and were considering a leather couch and loveseat but thought that might me too much for the room.

As you can see from the floor plan, the dining room and living room are connected.  Our dining room has a formal cherry dining room set.

Thank you for any suggestions you can provide us.

- Gail

Hi Gail,

I love your idea of making your living room more functional for your family.  Just a few weeks ago, I turned my own living room into the TV room.  In my home, I just hated sharing the focal point with the fireplace, and I felt like there was a lot of seldom used square footage in our home. 

Your floorplan does present some challenges.  I came up with two options for you, and I wanted to share with you how I came up with them. 

1.  Consider your spacing.  When a TV is going in the room, the furniture should not be more than 12 feet from the TV.  Your room is almost 18 feet wide.  You absolutely should not have the furniture on one end, and the TV 18 feet away.  This rules out placing the sofa on the long solid wall. 

2.  Consider balance in your architecture.  When you ignore your architecture for the sake of functionality, it just never looks right.  Your windows are centered in the wall.  This has created a central focus to the room.  It would  also look awkward to have the sofa brought into the room, with a walkway behind it, facing the long solid wall, as it throws the balance of the architecture off entirely.  Notice how in both of my options, the furniture is centered with the window. (This concept is complicated, as you would never use every window as a center- but take a look at rooms, and ask yourself what the architect was thinking.)  Work with your architecture, not against it.

3.  Do not line your walls with furniture.  Just don't do it.  It creates super dull negative space, as well as poor conversation areas.  You will notice that the sofa is against the wall in the first floorplan.  This is not what I consider having the "furniture against the walls."  If the room were larger, I would have it pulled out, yes, but with the chairs brought out into the room, it works fine.  Make sure that in a situation like the one above, the sofa is brought out about 12 inches, to give comfortable room for drapery panels to hang freely.

4.  Consider your rhythm.  By this, I am suggesting that you break up your case pieces.  You want something to hold the TV, as well as a desk.  Do not put those two pieces on the same side of the room.  Notice how in each option the case pieces are separated. 

5.  What is the focal point?  Here is where I say your room is really not ideal for a TV.  It would be better if there were no door to the dining room on that wall.  I don't really like a focal point of a room to be a door to a different room.  But, ideal or not, it is better that you make the room work for your family.  This is one reason why I like the arrangement with the four chairs.  In that arrangement, it is a center focal point, and the TV is there merely as a secondary focal point, which I find ideal.  However, it is only ideal if you have just two people watching the TV at once, and the other arrangement allows comfortable viewing for five.  Sometimes furniture arranging is about compromise. 

6.  Don't get a sofa and matching chairs in the same leather.  Get your leather sofa, (if you go with a sofa)- but have your chairs in a different material.  Vary your textures and include patterns. 

Good luck Gail!

XOXO

Christine

Hanadi from Saudi Arabia

Hi Christine :
I am from Saudi Arabia. I really love your designs and ideas and i would like you to help me in my new apartment as soon as possible. Thanks

This is my formal living room layout. I didn’t buy the sofas and chairs until now. I don’t know how many pieces should I buy and how to arrange them (I prefer to have 2 chairs with a table in between in north wall).
I have a curve in the south wall and I don’t know how to deal with it.

Hi Hanadi,

Let me start with your formal living room. I would not begin with a side wall- but rather- the first thing to do is decide what the focal point of the room is. There was no mention of a TV- and no fireplace- which makes this less obvious. The room is oblong rather than square- which means that I would not have a center focal. What I did was choose a wall. I chose the long uninterrupted wall- without the curve. You now will purchase a focal point- perhaps a beautiful display case, or other large piece of furniture, or series of shelves- or even a large piece of art- or other wall decor. Now- in a long narrow space- like you have- I would use a U-shaped seating arrangement. Look at the photo a the top of the post as well as the floorplan. A U-shaped arrangement would be great. There are many good ways to do it- one sofa two chairs- one sofa four chairs, two mid-size sofas and two chairs, a sectional and two chairs. Fill the space in any of those combinations- but using the scale that I gave you in the floorplan. Don't worry about the curved wall- a perfect place for a plant.

What I have in living room : 1 sofa , 1 chaise long left armed ),
2 chairs , TV table , square coffee table, 2 square side tables, small dining table with 8 chairs, 1 small rectangle rug, 1 big rectangle rug.
What I need: 1) furniture arrangement,
2) where can I add a tree?
3) where can I add a console with wall decoration? free space area 1 or area 2?

I drew the dimensions you gave me- and you don't begin to have the space to put all of the furniture you listed. :) Scale back. Look at the floorplan I drew for you above. Whenever you move form one location to another- this can become hard. Try to look at the space as a blank slate.

My needs in my entrance :

1) console table with wall mirror
2) tree
3) floor light (if I have a place for it)
4) wall hanger
5) wall decoration if I still need
Where should I place them please ?

You can see above where I added a console table. See if there is space to put the tree where the wall comes out- it would be nice to soften that wall. I am not sure what a wall hanger is- but I am guessing it has hooks and holds jackets? I added a piece of wall decor and a couple of sconces.

Thank you so much for writing in- it is fun hearing from Saudia Arabia!

- Christine

Photo from Veranda

Andrea's Family Room

I will interject in orange

Hi Christine,
I love your blog and now it’s finally my turn to ask a question. My husband and I are moving into our first house at the end of the month. We have next to no furniture and need a lot of decorating help- ideally fast, as I am also pregnant with twins! OK- so sorry- but I run months behind in my advice giving- you might be finished and have two new babies at home by now- sorry that I am not fast. Congratulations on your twins!!!! I always thought it would be cool to have two at once. I am sure it is also an amazing amount of work. This month we’re looking to buy a house, buy a second car and move. Crazy as all that sounds, I am just so grateful that we’ll actually be able to get settled before our family starts. I’m sure our home nesting will come grinding to a halt once the babies come though, so I’m hoping you’ll pick me for some help. I promise I will send before and after photos.

Although I would like your thoughts on almost every room in the house, I’m going to start with where we need you most- the family room. I’m attaching pictures from the real estate MLS listing and room dimensions, as well as my favorite home decorating pictures I have been collecting of what I love most in terms of style.
Our questions are: how should we layout the furniture in this room? BTW- it is a 15.4 x 19 foot room with the fireplace at the end of the room. Should the couches face the fireplace with a flat screen TV over the fireplace and built-ins along that wall? Yes- this idea would work great. It is always ideal to have just one focal point. Or is the mantle too high up for a TV set, This is a personal preference. Some people like their TV to be only four feet off the ground. Personally- I would put it above the fireplace and it wouldn't bother me a bit. I would be far more bothered by the lack of balance in the room. so do built-ins along that wall, but arrange the TV and furniture as the previous owners have done?

Our master carpenter connection may be moving away soon, so having him install crown molding throughout the house and some built-in is first on our list. Do you like wood to tie in with the kitchen? No. I would do a painted wood- to give you more contrast with the wood floors. I would probably do a white wood, with white crown moulding and baseboards. How would you design it and put a flat screen TV above the fireplace or not?I added a photo at the top of the post with a TV above the fireplace in a built-in design.

While the living room carpet seems to be good quality, I do not want to decorate around someone else’s vanilla style carpeting, especially since underneath are the gorgeous hardwood floors found throughout the house. Good move! I am planning on ripping it out, but will need something to cover the majority of the floor since the kids will be little and learning to walk eventually. Would you recommend a large rug or custom cut carpet? That one is easy- go with the large rug. Adding pattern with not only help your design of your room- but also help to camouflage the baby spit-up that will end up in your rug. On the far end of the room toward the stairs I would like to be able to put some of the twin’s things, like a changing table or a few simple toys. The study next to the living room will be their playroom and contain the majority of their things. It is open to the kitchen, what is best for colors to connect the two rooms? Your colors throughout your open downstairs area should all compliment one another. If you have the colors on little chips in your hand- they should all look good together. Start with something- like your rugs- or a favorite piece of art work- that will act as a unifier- and give you a color pallet to work with.

This is where my family will be spending the majority of our time and I’m hoping there will be some helping hands, so enough seating for us and guests would be great too. I want it to feel comfortable, cozy and really inviting. Basically I’m just looking to follow your suggestions and we need everything: furniture (I’ve always wanted a U or L-shaped couch,) accessories, rug, color, draperies and especially what to do with the built-ins. Any suggestions for a kitchen table and two stools for the kitchen island? I would go painted. You have so much wood in there with your cabinets and floors. Upholstery is also a good way to break it up. Although- the mom in me who has slipcovered kitchen chairs longs for the ease of cleaning... The set at the top of the post is from Maine Cottage. Can you imagine how fresh that would look compared to more wood tones?

Thank You!!
Andrea
P.S. If you are comfortable providing me with an address, home or work, I would like to send a little something as a thank you for saving another amateur home decorator one room at a time. : ) You probably wanted quicker service ;) But a note to anyone that wants to send me a thank you- I need some orange knee high socks for my daughter's Velma costume for Halloween- she wears shoe size 13- and the ones I have found are way too expensive. Perhaps there are some less expensive ones somewhere???? I found some fabulous purple boots for my other daughter at Nordstrom Rack - suede $130 boots for $10- I guess there's not a huge demand for bright purple boots. ;)

I wanted to discuss with you your furniture arrangement. You mentioned that you like the L and U shaped pieces. However- your room could maybe do a rounded piece like the one in this post- overall- your room does not lend itself to that at all. if your fireplace were on the adjacent wall- perhaps- but it is not. I would do something like the arrangement above- with the sofa facing the TV- or...

You have space for four chairs and a sofa- like this photo. I also wanted to draw your attention to the photo third from the top- in this photo the furniture does not face the fireplace. Frank Lloyd Wright said that the fireplace should always be the focal point of any room that has a fireplace- so I have always tended to agree- however- it is an option.

See how the L shaped piece needs the chairs to balance it- and you need your length in the other direction to pull this off. Your have equal space on wither side of your fireplace- balanced windows- it is really asking for a symmetrical arrangement.

You could also do two sofas like this room above...

The only way I would not have the sofa facing the TV is if you were to have an arrangement like the one above with two large chars that visually balance the weight of the sofa. If your chairs are smaller- have the sofa opposite the TV and the the chairs perpendicular to the TV- or at an angle.

Photos courtesy of Traditional Home

Q. and A. Period- Ottomans and Coffee Tables

Ottomans and coffee tables. Can you have both? When do you do an ottoman and when to you do a coffee table?
- Aly sun

Aly sun,

Start by taking this quiz:

1. Do you have other hard tables in the room?

2. Do you have fewer than three patterns in the room?

3. Would you increase your textural variety the most with a coffee table or ottoman?

4. Would your use of the room be most enhanced with a coffee table or ottoman?

So- starting with #1- Do you have other hard tables in the room? If you do not- use a coffee table. You will add variety in your surfaces this way.

#2- Do you have fewer than three patterns in the room? If this is the case- an ottoman can be an opportunity to add pattern.

#3- Would you increase your textural variety the most with a coffee table or ottoman? Remember that coffee tables can be wood, metal, glass, ceramic, wicker... Do you have all leather furniture? Perhaps the textural variety you need is in a fabric ottoman...

#4. Would the use of your room be most enhanced with a coffee table or ottoman? Are you more likely to want to set a glass down, eat lunch and play chess at your coffee table, or do you want a soft place to put your feet up?

Can you use both? Of course. I posted a number of photos where there are ottomans and coffee tables. In larger rooms- this is a great way to fill space. Make sure you leave ample room for walking through the room- sometimes there simply isn't room for both. There are, of course, tables with ottomans below them for situations like that.

So- what kind of person are you? A coffee table person? An ottoman gal? Sometimes the decision is also made by trying for a certain style. Take the room above for example. There is an airy feminine feel to it that is enhanced more by mauve ottomans than a coffee table.

Check out this room above- a sofa, four chairs, two matching- two not, a coffee table, two small and one large ottoman, a sectional, and four non-matching occasional tables. I look at rooms like this and wonder if they were designed this way- or emerged over time. What do you think? Do you like the eclectic nature of it? Is it too much for you?

The Sit Com Living Room

Hi Christine!

I'm so glad I found you again! I came across your blog a few months ago and *thought* bookmarked it.... Then I couldn't find you again after searching and searching. I did another search tonight and here you are! =))

Anyways...was wondering if you could help me with my living room. It's a big room (32'x26') and I'm stuck on how it should be set up. I'm going shopping for a new living room set in a few weeks but don't know what to buy for pieces. The couch there now is a sectional but the "turn" piece has been taken out. We've tried the room so many different ways but nothing feels right. I hope some "new eyes" can give me more ideas and a better layout.

Would love some input from you!

Thank you!
Jen

Hi Jen,
You really have a large room! That's fantastic. When I first saw it it reminded my of a sitcom set. What do you think? With the location of the front door-- the stair banister--

Everybody Loves Raymond...

The King of Queens...

The Cosby Show

All in The Family...

Anyway- sit coms are not necessarily known for their great interior design- so I am not suggesting you follow any of theirs. With a room that size- I would create a nice large sitting area to begin with. Look at the second photo. You can walk from your front door- right through the family room. Create a more intimate seating area. I would arrange your furniture similar to the photo below- with two sofas- parallel- and then two chairs. Behind the sofa that faces the door- put a nice console table that will create more of an entry space. Put a lamp or two on it- some photos. That kind of thing. Create an entry. I would keep your set up of having a table also. Your table has bar stools that tuck under it. That is perfect for the room that is short on space. You need to use more of your space. Get a larger table- real chairs. Larger furniture will have a better scale for the room- and the whole thing will feel better. While we are the subject of scale- your wall decor is small small small. I counted 34 small things on your walls- and that did not count the small items on top of your furniture. You need some larger pieces. Remember to have variety in wall decor subject, size, and numbers.

Thanks for writing in!

XOXO,

Christine