Sectional Layout Help Needed

Hi All,

Been lurking for a bit but am finally ready to move forward with a new sectional for my family room. I am pretty set on a Taylor King Taylor Made fabric sectional. Where I am struggling is with size/configuration - I could definitely use your help. The room has an interesting layout due to an oversized entry opening and a very large floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace. Ceilings are high (18') and there is lots of natural light. We have two young boys (10 & 5) and lots of family in the area, so we need comfort and space first and foremost. I recently had a consult with a decorator who confirmed the layout I had in my head, but now I am having trouble determining the right size and configuration for the furniture itself. Here are pics of the room from before we moved in taken from the entry:

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And here is a scaled drawing with the layout suggested by the decorator:

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The TK configuration I am considering is 34/20/45 (Corner Sofa/Armless Loveseat/Wide Chaise). I'm working on a quote with Duane but would definitely consider a different layout to get a better fit (if needed).
Dimensions: 129.5 x 97.5 x 65 (dimensions are to scale in drawing)

Areas where I'd love your advice:
1. Is the shorter side too short at 97.5? The weird cutout in the drawing depicts a decent sized bay window that is difficult to decorate around. The decorator suggested a 115" sofa on that wall with console table behind.
2. Is it better to go with the attached chaise or do a longer sofa with an ottoman? If we went with an ottoman, we would most likely do two smaller accent chairs at 90 degrees rather than an angled cub chair.

Just the sectional for now, but eventually we will need a leather accent chair (depicted in drawing but not to scale), a tall buffet or similar between the windows on the right wall, and the decorator recommended a table w/chairs for some flex space in the upper-right corner. We also have plans to put built-ins on either side of the fireplace, but for now, we have an entertainment center to the left with the tv mounted above.

Any and all suggestions are welcomed and very much appreciated!

Thank you!
Melissa

I’m not liking that layout at all based on the photos sent, and I’ll tell you why. You have a symmetrical room that has an asymmetrical sectional configuration. It’s heavily weighted towards the tv area and makes the visuals of the room off balance.the chaise on the right side is wrong, too. In effect you have created a small box with the upholstery and will give you the look of too little sectional cutting the room in half.

I don’t personally care for furniture placed in bay windows, either. It ruins the view and the back of the furniture gets eaten up by the sun. The console table facing the bay window is of no use.

What I would suggest you lay out is a U-shaped sectional centered on the fireplace, symmetrical to the room. The fireplace is the room feature, not the TV, so avoid a bias to focusing the sectional to the tv. The two occasional chairs to the right are inconsequential to the layout so disregard them for now.

Pretty room that you can make look nice. I am thinking something along the lines of this photo as a general layout, disregard this style, using for size and layout only.

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Hi Duane,

Thanks so much! Completely agree that the room is lopsided - that is actually the primary reason I hired the decorator to help. Unfortunately, that is by default and not by design. While the fireplace wall is symmetrical, the wide opening into the room forces the adjacent wall to be lopsided. So if we were to center a sectional on the fireplace, at least 1/4 of it would be in front of the entry. I took some additional photos this morning from different angles to hopefully illustrate better than the previous ones did. The only solution we could come up with was to create two different seating areas to balance the room a bit more (the tv side and a flex space up to the right of the fireplace).

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I did another sketch to try to envision your suggestion of centering a U-shaped sectional (my software didn't have a "U" so I used my previous configuration). Did I get it right? In this scenario, what would you do to avoid it feeling like you are walking into the back of a couch when entering? Should I be focusing on centering to the fireplace or to the back wall? Sorry for all the questions and thank you for your insight. And there is no rush here - absolutely no need to interrupt your vacation!

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I don’t have a problem centering a sectional in the room, the wide “alley” created by trying to protect the room opening unbalances the room. A sectional centered will work, avoid ones with a high back and a lot of visual weight. It’s ok to let it come into the room opening entrance, you pretty much have to.

Two things that are not working for you. The drapes to the floor are wrong. Remove them and use blinds or shorten them so they don’t go past the sill. I would use wood blinds, The area rug is too small and too defining. Use a much larger one or don’t use at all.

Thanks so much for your thoughtfulness and insight! I'll have to tape out the sectional configuration and think on it a bit more. Having a tough time visualizing the impact.

Try either some cardboard or poster board in the shape of a sectional. Tape is too hard to move around. White Poster board or Cardboard lets you experiment with the footprint and reposition easily,