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Thread: Building Home - need furniture

  1. #1
    Jane A Guest

    Default Building Home - need furniture

    We're in the process of building our long dreamed of strawbale house. I love the layout and the big greatroom we've got, but the furniture placement (sofa, chairs, etc.) is not really intuitive to me. I have ideas, but thought I'd throw this room out to you all and see if there are any suggestions I haven't thought of.

    The greatroom is about 28' wide, and it's 20' from the sliding doors to the center island at the kitchen. There is a lovely view out the double sliding glass doors which are 12 foot in width. The wood stove is on one side of the doors and the very large flat screen TV is on the other side. The TV will be on an arm, so we can move it around a bit. It's just my husband and myself, and I don't watch much TV myself, but often like to read or do something else in the livingroom while my husband watches. And sometimes we do watch movies together.

    I think he'd like an Austin High Back recliner, though it's not the classiest chair out there, it sounds really comfortable. I thought we'd put that in front of the TV, and then next to that place a sofa that looks nice and also somewhat complements the Austin. The sofa would be centered on the sliding doors. We won't have an entertainment center, the stereo equipment, DVR, etc will all be in a separate dedicated closet. When it comes to livingroom furniture we're pretty much starting from scratch.

    Well, that's a start anyway. I've seen some very clever ideas from the people here and if I could get some ideas generated I'd be very appreciative! I've attached a portion of our plans from the architect. Ther's a bit of extraneous numbering and lettering on the page, hopefully it's not too distracting.

    Jane
    Attached Files Attached Files

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
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    Alexandria VA
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    15,890

    Default Re: Building Home - need furniture

    Ho boy, that is a TOUGH room to work with. You have your wood stove far to the one side and your flat panel far to the other, and a large sliding glass window between, with an open kitchen to the back. Difficult.

    OK, ready for a curve ball?

    Imagine this Councill piece in front of the sliding glass door, centered on it. Perfect for a view out to the patio, and doesn't block either the stove or the flat panel...AND gives company a place to sit and talk to you if you're in the kitchen cooking. As a bonus, your neighbors won't have this sofa. Don't recoil immediately, just think about it, and probably in a softer look depending on your decor. <g>

    http://www.councill.com/item/7152T-92

    Then this for the recliner off to the left in front of the flat panel:

    http://www.hancockandmoore.com/produ...productid=1808

    Be sure to have your builder put several floor outlets in so you have a place to hook up a floor lamp later on. Nothing worse than forgetting to do that!

    I'd really like to see a room photo, but I suppose there is no model home in this configuration?
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  3. #3
    Jane A Guest

    Default Re: Building Home - need furniture

    Holy Moley! That's a big piece of furniture! I'm not recoiling, but I am laughing!

    I can go take some pics tomorrow, complete with scaffolding, scattered extension cords and carpenters. But maybe it will give you a sense of what it looks like.

    We do have floor outlets, managed to remember those, with the help of our contractor. There is an island at the kitchen which will have 3 or 4 barstools for a place to sit while chatting with the cook.

    I've spent a little time with an Icovia room planner and I've attached it here with my ideas. I'm sorry, I don't know how to embed it in the post, hopefully the attachment is just as easy. I've got the top of the room stopping just at the edge of the island. Guess I ought to throw some barstools in there, too!

    Thank you, Duane for your help, you always have great ideas!

    Jane
    Attached Files Attached Files

  4. #4
    Jane A Guest

    Default Re: Building Home - need furniture

    I guess my thought about not facing the corner with the stove directly is that it is a wood burning stove, not a fireplace. There will be a little door where you can see flames, but I'm not sure it needs to be front and center like a nice fireplace with a mantle would be. It will be on a raised hearth that a person can sit on - until it gets too hot!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
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    Alexandria VA
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    Default Re: Building Home - need furniture

    I'm not liking all the chairs lined up to look at the window - that's chopped up and leaves the space off by the wood stove as sort of a no-man's land. I'd REALLY like to see photos off the room, even if its just under drywall at this point. Take perspective shots from all directions and post here as .jpeg attachments. That will give me (and others) a better idea of spatial proportion.

    In the meantime, perhaps think about something like one of these, that sweep the room with a continuous line, but curved ..... think flowing rather than chopped up and segmented.

    http://www.taylorking.com/details.ph...ather&protype=

    or something a little different that pays attention to the wood stove with the chaise...

    http://www.hancockandmoore.com/produ...productid=2131 and http://www.hancockandmoore.com/produ...productid=2032

    Not sure of your style....!
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  6. #6
    Jane A Guest

    Default Re: Building Home - need furniture

    It was a very busy day yesterday, I wasn't able to get those photos but I should be able to today. We haven't drywalled yet, but the exterior strawbale walls are up so the room is defined. There is a big piece of scaffolding right in the middle of the room, the ceilings are vaulted and they're working on the wiring. I hope it doesn't interfere with the pics.

    I'm not sure what style I like. That huge Taylor King sofa would be fine without the finials and tassels. I rather like the scalloped back. That's a very interesting idea to have one piece of furniture serve as the seating for the entire room. What would you do about any further furniture in that area? I also like the idea of the York sectional, but the style is a little too modern. Can you think of another piece like that that wouldn't be quite so ... streamlined (Don't know what word I'm looking for!)

    As far as style: The house is on 5 acres in a rural area. The strawbale walls will end up looking like very thick adobe walls when it's done. There will be a metal roof and big cedar columns at the front door and at the two covered patios. Maybe it could be characterized as modern southwestern? I don't want to get too caught up in the classic southwestern look, but I think you can see that the York sofa wouldn't be appropriate in terms of style.

    Thanks for all your help. You've certainly given me things to mull over!

    Jane

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    Default Re: Building Home - need furniture

    We're just playing right now, based on the drawings....with photos I think we can zero in on things better.

    The area is wide with a lot of glass in between the stove and where the flat panel is going to be. I assume that the view out the window is a primary attraction, hence the idea of the long Taylor King piece (you can get it without all that gingerbread on it). The flow on one large piece is more appealing than >Chair - Table - Sofa - Table - Chair all lined up. Better to have > Chair - table - long sofa. Less is more. I can tell your husband won't want to give up that recliner for the TV area, so that's a given. The area around by the wood stove is the tricky part. If you like the Chaise idea and the York is too modern, H&M does it on the Tower series and can do it as a custom on most any of their frames if you like. Also consider the big H&M Utah sofa....rather than the Taylor King.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  8. #8
    Jane A Guest

    Default Re: Building Home - need furniture

    Okay, I see what you mean about being chopped up. I need advice, that's why I'm here!

    For a big sofa, I love the 110" Sundance. I've seen pictures of it's back which is really pretty, and since it would be floating in the room that would be a nice feature. My husband isn't wild about the chaise, so that may be a no go.

    Attached are a few photos, in a panorama from the front door to the entry area to the bedroom. Because of the light coming in the window I just couldn't get a well lit shot of the middle section. I put those little square things at 110" (with the body of the wood inside the measurement) which is about the size of some of the sofas you've mentioned. You can see the little hole in the floor where one of the outlets will be.

    A few other things. There will be a low wall in the front entryway coming out a few feet from the door frame, so the recliner won't be hanging out there in space. Also, we need to have clear paths to go to the sliding doors as the patio outside will be an extension of the living area. This is California, we have to take advantage of the weather!

    Thanks for your advice!
    Jane
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  9. #9
    Jane A Guest

    Default Re: Building Home - need furniture

    Maybe it's just too hard to tell from my pictures? I could wait until we get further along, but I'd hoped to have the furniture ready soon after we move in. I refuse to take our old sofa, etc., into the new house!

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    Default Re: Building Home - need furniture

    It takes time for me to get to the forum, sorry. This is a VERY busy time of year and you will notice most my replies are at night or early morning. I'm not always prompt on replies....and I try to reply to about 40 emails every 24 hours as well.

    The photos are very helpful, and the area where the wood stove is appears larger than I thought it would be and the area where the Flat Panel is smaller. Its a challenge to place furniture in that room without creating a 'bowling alley' effect. If you like the Sundance, that would look great in there with the tailored back....and then a recliner for your husband of course. Now, for the stove area, I'm liking something like this on front of it:

    A pair of these (they are VERY comfortable):

    http://www.hancockandmoore.com/produ...productid=2101

    Or this:

    http://www.hancockandmoore.com/produ...productid=1292

    or:

    http://www.councill.com/item/2004-810-052

    And you need some killer bar stools for the kitchen counter, too!
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

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