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

I want to come over and move your furniture...

Hi everyone- sorry for the delay in blogging- I have had a computer virus this week- but- I am up and running- so thanks for tuning back in!

Hi Christine,

I ran across your blog while searching for photos of fireplaces with tv’s mounted over the mantle.

I wondered if you would mind to take a look at the attached photos and let me know what you think?

This is the only family/living are on our main level. Due to the doorways, windows, fireplace, etc. there isn’t much room for variation in the furniture layout and the only place I can see to put a TV is above the mantle. Do you think a tv above the mantle will look good? I feel like it is one of the best solutions in rooms with a fireplace and TV- it is a great way to NOT have a split focal point in your furniture arrangement. Also, can you think of a better furniture arrangement? Do you have a sofa/love- or two sofas? I am having a hard time telling... Ether way- I feel like the sofa on an angle is awkward. I would put it opposite the other sofa- and try moving the chair to face the fireplace on the far end of the sofas. Your chair is perhaps too large for that - you could move it to another room and use two smaller chairs- or none at all. We will soon be putting down hardwood in that room and will eventually buy new furniture so if you’d recommend different pieces, let me know. See how the coffee table is not centered with the fireplace- I would move it. Ideally it would be centered with the fireplace. You might find that it is too small for your room.

I took the photos with my phone so the quality isn’t the greatest.

And, please feel free to be brutally honest! :) It looks to me like you have arranged your furniture to make sure you have a direct traffic path through the room. This is not the goal. Everyone needs a little exercise. Have your traffic path go around the furniture. It will probably result in three more steps. But it will also result in people not walking in front of conversations and TV viewers. Plus- it will look better.

Enjoying reading your blog and looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,
Valerie

Below is an example of the two sofas look. This is where I would start with your current furniture.

You can also do a sofa and two chairs- but be careful to use two chairs that have enough visual weight to balance the sofa. I feel like in the photo below the chairs are not heavy enough to really balance the sofa. If this were my client- I would move the sofa to be opposite the fireplace- and then put the two chairs on an angle coming off the fireplace. Then you have the two chairs AND fireplace balancing the sofa- not just the two chairs trying to balance the sofa. Get it?

Here are a couple of sofas with a chair- you will want to ask yourself if you are OK with watching TV with the sofas not directly facing the TV. Some people like to lay down most of the time- and like it that way- other people would not like turning their heads.

You could also consider a sectional and chair - like below. If your L-shape is larger - you would need two chairs to balance it.

And here we see a sofa with two chairs in more of a U-shape. This same look can use four chairs if you have the space.

So there you are- remember your focal point is the fireplace. Frame the focal point with your furniture for the best looking and best functioning arrangement. You want a similar balance of furniture on either side.

Don't listen to your husband if he complains about having to walk around the furniture. This kind of thing only takes getting used to. Invite some friends over- and when they compliment your new arrangement- his pride will help him to like it as well. It would be a little too much of a low blow to draw attention to the fact that he needs more exercise- don't go there.

Photos from Elle Decor.