Need help organizing furniture on Living Room

skubaman

Hi,

First home, it's a 1940 house in San Francisco and I am having trouble figuring out the layout for the living room, I was planning to put TV stand on the short wall next to fireplace and sofa-bed on the long wall opposite the window. But my brothers insist we will not want to have our heads turned to watch TV. That sofa should be in front of TV. So I am trying to figure out an alternative layout.

I see in a similar neighbors house they put the couch against the window and the TV on opposite wall. Although it maximizes space I would like to avoid blocking the window, having the back of couch on window and also because it's noisy outside. Another idea is to leave TV on short wall next to fireplace and put the couch in front of it, perpendicular to window but I am afraid would make the space very small.

You can follow this link to pictures on Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/g398gsy76fibr4s/5nw1R7ca9x I

really need some idead, hopefully you can help. Thanks

musictchr25

I think that having the couch perpendicular to the window is the best idea.  I know that you said you think it will make the space small, but you want the fireplace to be seen as well, even if you aren't going to use it.  To help with the space looking small, get a low-profile couch that isn't too long. It will help open the room up and make the ceilings look taller too.  And FYI, having the TV on the wall across from the window will give you a lot of glare on the screen and it will drive you crazy.  

Another plus of having the couch come into the room from the window is that behind that space, you will have a smaller designated area for a desk if you are looking to create an office nook in your house.   

mrsB68

How about putting the sofa across the room so you look at the fireplace and put the tv on the wall by the fireplace, or above.

musictchr25

It looks as though if this were done, the couch would be blocking the doorway.  Also, having your TV 20 feet away is a pretty big issue. In order for that to be viewable, you'd have to have a 60"+ size screen.  

Sue-n-Kevin

Congrats on a lovely home! Love it.

You could put the tv on the wall opposite the window, and the sofa in front of the window. It's not ideal to have the tv facing the window due to glare from the window on the tv. You are going to have to invest in some great curtains to help you out there. From wall to wall it's only 10 feet, but if you could, I'd invest in a fairly narrow glass top sofa table to put behind the sofa. That way, you'd still see the light from the window, and it would give some distance between the back of the sofa and window.

Probably what I'd do is put the tv & the stand on the wall to the left (when facing it) of the fireplace, and put the sofa in the middle of the longer room, facing the tv and fireplace. While not ideal, that way you could still look at the tv, and the fireplace. On the wall near the entry door I'd put a "sideboard" or sofa table, maybe with some stools underneath for additional seating, and some nice decor on top and pictures above that. Furniture does not have to be along the wall. This maximizes the enjoyment of looking at the fireplace and tv. You could put a cocktail table in front of the sofa, because if you have a 6 ft sofa in a room that is 10 feet wide, you are only going to have 2 feet on either side. An alternative would be to angle the sofa so it directly faces the fireplace, and heads would be turned minimally to watch the tv.

That arrangement will also allow the window to have nothing in front of it. You could get a bench and put cushions on top, making like a "window seat". I just used Ikea Expedit individual wall cubes/shelves for a "Nook" bench in my kitchen. They are sturdy, have openings that you can purchase door inserts for, or use baskets in, for additional storage. They come in white, light wood or black/brown. If you can sew, or know anyone who can, you can make the cushion for the top. If this is not an option you could purchase bench cushions intended for outdoor benches.

I'd also recommend joining houzz.com if you haven't. It's free and they have marvelous design ideas. I'm hooked, LOL.

 

gymbugmj2k

truthfully, i'd try both variations.  leave each for a day and see what you like better.  We did this with our living room and it was really interesting to find out what solution worked best for us, and our natural traffic pattern through the house.

 

if you're willing- perhaps a sectional would be the compromise?  You could put most of it along the window, and have 1-2 sections in the room.  You could also do this the other way with most of it along the fireplace wall, and 1-2 sections coming into the room.  if you did that -- then you could have room for table/chairs/low bookshelf/bench along the window.