Help decorating my new rectangular living room – Want it to be comfy?
I just rented a house and took measurements of the living room which is shaped a bit funky. I could really use some help with decorating it - I want it to feel comfortable more than anything. Here is the shape of the room (try to picture it - draw it if necessary).
The entire room is 23 x 12 feet. The room is sectioned off a bit like this - if you walk in the front door and look at the left corner of the room I'll describe from left to right:
(left) 2ft 10in wall / archway to dining 6ft / 14ft wall no windows (right corner of room). This adds up to the 23ft.
The wall opposite (parallel) this wall is: Now you're standing at the dining room entrance looking at wall with the front door: (right corner) 4ft 2in wall / front door regular size (3.5ft?) /15 ft 2in wall with panel windows (left corner).
If you're back at the front door and look to the right wall it looks like this: 12ft but sectioned - 3.5ft panel window / 5ft fireplace / 3.5ft panel window.
The wall opposite (looking to left from front door) is also 12ft total sectioned this way: 3.5ft panel window / 5ft wall / 3.5 panel window.
I have an armoire from Ikea that I will to use to hide the TV. It's a little over 4ft tall and 3.7ftwide (25ft deep).
The couches I have are pretty standard - a 3 seater and a 2 seater. The dining table will be in the seperate dining room so no need to fit that into the living room.
I feel like everything is so spread out and there's no real way to make it cozy but if you have any ideas please let me know! If you'd like me to send you a sketch of the measurements I took so you can picture it better please let me know!
I know that I'll need to buy some extra pieces of furniture (coffee table, arm chair and such). I would like to stay at a reasonable budget though so please keep that in mind with your suggestions!
Thanks! gladmachain@yahoo.com
If you could give specifics that would be great. As far as location of the furniture and stuff. And maybe what I could fit in the extra space by the door (opposite the fireplace wall).
It's just my fiance and I living there and we'll probably spend a lot of time in there watching TV or just hanging out. When we entertain we'll have no more than 10 people if that.
I think I want a straight shot from the front door across the room into the dining room.
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If its shaped funky, I suggest making it a little retro. Go to real anique stores that sell furniture, and buy a retro coffee table and some funky couches.
Antique stores are nice, because everything’s UNIQUE!!
What you need to do is figure out the paths people are most likely to take through the room, especially if there are things like two or three doors and/or a fireplace in the room. Make ‘groupings’ for the room, and also think about other things you’ll do besides ‘live’ in that room. Do you have a new HDTV that you’ll have out all the time, or do you want to put it behind doors when it’s not on? How large a group of people will be using the room at least three days a week? Do you do things together or separately? Will you want to read in the living room, play board games or do puzzles with others? If you think about what you will be doing in that room, you should be able to figure out your ‘decorating scheme’ better. Generally, a 12′x23′ room is large enough for three ‘smaller groupings’ (TV and/or fireplace, reading and quiet talks, games) … but you’ll need to fix it so that it’s not like a ‘railroad flat’ with the ‘path’ going directly down the middle of the room. A good way to do this decorating, is to make a ‘grid’ of the walls, doors, windows, and fireplace (anything you can’t move) and get or make ‘paper furniture’ and try arranging that first, so you can ‘see’ the overall plan and change it before you start ‘moving in’ and really just want a comfy place to sit and relax from the stress of moving!