Furniture Placement is Key

Do you have one area of your home where you just can't figure out exactly where the furniture should go? You move the furniture around and around and around and it still doesn't look right? No?

Maybe it's just me?

Anyway, our family room is a large room, however it is longer that it is wide and it has been one room that just didn't look right to us.

Furniture has been moved around, the tv cabinet has been moved from one side of the room to the other, we changed the layout and still it just didn't look "just right".

The layout of the family room previously:

**First off, let me start by saying I am not an Interior Designer, nor do I think I am one...this is simply what I have found that worked for us and thought I would share.

There are five ways to enter this large room from other areas of our home...from the breakfast area, dining room, front door, office and the hallway. That is alot of entries in to a room! The photo above is the view from the breakfast area.

We moved the tv (1) to the current wall about a year or so ago. The main reason...our children could see what Mommy & Daddy were watching late night after their bedtime. We thought they were asleep but instead could be peeking in on our tv time. Let's just say there are many programs that little eyes should not see ;) Know what I mean? So I knew that the tv had to remain in this spot.

The fireplace (2) is huge and is a gorgeous focal point in the room.

 

As you can see from this photo we also have lots of light, when we built our home that was a must, we wanted lots of windows!. That is so awesome, I don't ever need light during daylight hours and I love that! The chair to the left (8) was the Mr.'s Grandmothers' and I love the vintage look, I just wish there were two of them.  To balance the fireplace I would love to have another chair to the right but because that is the entry from the breakfast area, there isn't room for a chair.

The painting (3) was the inspiration for the colors of our home when we built. The painting is from Ballard Designs. I love Ballard and could really go crazy if the Mr. would let me! Anyway, the console table under it (which you can't see in the photo) was also the Mr.'s Grandmothers' and we painted it black and I must say it is my favorite table in the whole house!

The loveseat (4) and couch (6) are just that and we have had them for a while now, the set which includes a chair, side table (9) and the coffee table (7) are a pre-children purchase, which explains the glass coffee table. I have been a nervous wreck when it comes to that glass top coffee table since the boys were born!

The red recliner (5) was a purchase after we moved into this home, it was comfy and it went with our color scheme so it came home with us.

As you can see from the photo, the furniture is really spread out. Not a very cozy and intimate area. From where the love seat was you could barely see the tv when the cabinet was open, so the only places to sit and watch tv were either the couch or the red recliner.  Also, there was no direct pass through from the hall, instead you met the side of the loveseat.

In order to remedy all this, I got our our furniture sliders that we purchased at Lowes  a long while back. Holy Cow! If you don't have these, go get some! They are awesome, I can move anything, anytime I want with these babies! (if I can lift it to put the slider underneath it). Let me be real here, sometime you can't always wait till the Mr. gets home, you want to do it now and with these sliders you can do just that!

Ok, then I just started moving furniture around piece by piece till I found the perfect arrangement. I loved it! In order to get that more intimate feeling, I wanted to be closer to the fireplace and I had to move the recliner to another spot in the room.  So now there is a conversation/tv area that is closer to the fireplace and tv.  This left the room with enough space to have a chair off to the side for reading and a more pleasant view from the front door.

The layout of the family room now:

It may be hard to tell from the photo, but the loveseat is brought in closer to the couch and coffee table which helps to add a more intimate, intentional space. 

 

The black table is now behind the loveseat and the yellow chair where the black table used to be. For now, this is a little reading area. Adding the black console table behind the loveseat adds a nice look into the room from the front door. Sammy likes to hang out under the table.

 

 

Another view, see more cozy!



I  have a few wall decor items picked out and now I just need to order them and get them on the wall!