Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: Help with layout of living/family room

  1. #1
    adsou Guest

    Default Help with layout of living/family room

    Hi

    My wife, two young kids (4 and 2) and I are going to be moving into a center hall colonial house that doesn't have separate family and formal living rooms - just one decent sized room (26'*15') for both with a small space (14'*10') off to the side. I've attached a floor plan of the space as a reference. Since I think the room will be used as a "family room" 80% of the time, I'd like to furnish it less formally. We're also moving from a small apartment so we're basically starting with a clean slate with respect to furniture. The room will have two large entry points - one at the top left which leads to the kitchen and one on the bottom left which leads to the hallway/front door.

    I'd like a little help on furniture layout to see if I am thinking about things the right way or if I am missing anything.

    My initial thought is to:
    * Concentrate furniture in the center (vertically in the image) of the room so that nothing blocks the flow of the house
    * Have a large comfy leather sofa against the wall facing the fireplace (which will have the TV mounted above)
    * Have a matching love seat on the left side of the sofa (nearer to the kitchen)
    * Have two matching armchairs on the right side of the sofa (nearer to the hallway/front door)
    * Have a large coffee table in the middle of the U formed by the loveseat / sofa / armchairs
    * Have two (slightly more formal) chairs and a coffee table in the smaller room off to the right
    * Have some kind of storage unit (sideboard etc.) in the room - probably in the top right corner of the image

    Some specific questions that I have
    1. Is there a better layout that I'm not thinking about?
    2. Is seating for 7 (sofa = 3; loveseat = 2; 2 armchairs = 2) appropriate for this size room? Too much? Too little? Should I be considering a different combination of seating e.g., sofa and 4 chairs? As mentioned, 80% of the time it will just be the 4 of us
    3. Should all the leather furniture in the room match (i.e., be the same style/color)? Will it look weird to mix/match? (I assume the answer to this is yes?) We're looking at H&M sofa/chair options but not every sofa appears to have matching pieces.
    4. Are there any suggestions for H&M style options that can do double duty in a family/living room? Should I be avoiding any particular styles because the room will need to function as a "living room" some small % of the time?

    Thanks in advance for any advice / critiques!
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Capture.JPG 
Views:	314 
Size:	56.2 KB 
ID:	7975  

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

    Default Re: Help with layout of living/family room

    Now THIS is how you ask for assistance! Well thought out and a schematic. We can work with this. Based solely on your comments and drawing, I made up some pieces on 1/4" graph paper that are reasonably to scale and moved them around to come up with three different possible layouts. What you want to be careful of is to not over-furniture the room. In only one layout is there room for a pair of chairs, try to make 2' of walkspace clear from one to another. Coffee tables are a little bit passe', so I have used a 38" Square cocktail ottoman in my layouts, which is perfect for a footrest for movies and Super Bowls, and also double as two seats during a party if pushed up by the fireplace.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	1.jpg 
Views:	334 
Size:	177.9 KB 
ID:	7976Click image for larger version. 

Name:	2.jpg 
Views:	334 
Size:	171.4 KB 
ID:	7977Click image for larger version. 

Name:	3.jpg 
Views:	342 
Size:	173.2 KB 
ID:	7978

    You do not have to have everything matching, in fact I think its more visually interesting when things don't. Best way to approach this is as you are - get your scale down and number of pieces, then once you decide on the layout move to model selections. From there colors and textures - based on the room colors.

    FYI on 1/4" Graph paper to your room, 1 square is 10" should you want to play around some more and make some cutouts of your own.
    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
    adsou Guest

    Default Re: Help with layout of living/family room

    Thanks for the quick reply Duane! Much appreciated! I like Options 1 or 2 a little better than Option 3 (which is similar to what I was thinking except that you switched the chairs and loveseat and added a bench - which I like). Will discuss with the wife tonight and will revert via PM. Thanks again and happy new year!

    Also, based on your markup, I think I've got to go with a more "normal" size sofa and not something oversized like the settlement sofa (which is probably going to dwarf the room). Would you agree with that? Thanks!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Alexandria VA
    Posts
    15,890

    Default Re: Help with layout of living/family room

    Yes, don't forget that the layout I did does not allow for end tables, lamps, etc....I would probably signets you stay in 90" or less on the sofa.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

Similar Threads

  1. family room layout and sofa or sectional
    By Kps1992 in forum Decorating and Layout
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 06-14-2015, 10:30 AM
  2. Need Furniture and Layout suggestions for family room
    By Fieldstone in forum Decorating and Layout
    Replies: 35
    Last Post: 02-28-2013, 10:52 AM
  3. Family Room Layout
    By apim81 in forum Decorating and Layout
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 06-04-2012, 05:17 PM
  4. Family Room Layout
    By ldematte in forum Decorating and Layout
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 11-03-2011, 11:15 AM
  5. Extremely Difficult Family Room Layout - Help Please
    By Valencia in forum Decorating and Layout
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 09-02-2011, 11:22 AM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •