Trying to figure out how to arrange furniture in a room can be quite a challenge.
I found that out 8 years ago when we moved into our home.
Here are some simple tips.
1). Make sure you have a good flow and nothing is obstructing that flow.
Yes I know,sorry you are seeing our entertainment center in another blog post.
But I am showing you this because you really need to see this whole room and why I arranged the furniture the way that I did.
As you can see my two biggest obstacles are my huge entertainment center and our fireplace.
We also have four windows and we also have two entrances.
One from our kitchen and the other off to the side of our entertainment center.
Because I have this entry here.
And the other here.
Adding furniture here is not an option.
This is a challenging room isn’t it!
Normally you have a focal point in a room,I have two,on the opposite ends.
If we did not have the fireplace we could have put the tv on that wall.
But living in the midwest our winters are pretty cold.
Our fireplace comes in handy in January!
2). Arrange your furniture in a way that is not only eye pleasing but makes it easy to converse with others.
Because our kitchen and family room is open we added these chairs on each side of our fireplace.
It makes it much easier to watch tv looking straight ahead verses putting out tv on that back wall where our sofa is.
If we did that you would have to turn your head to watch tv.
And you can also talk with anyone in the kitchen while sitting in these chairs.
Since there are three of us in our home this layout works great for us.
My husband and I get those two chairs and my daughter can stretch out on the sofa and watch tv.
I am sure some of you are thinking why not get rid of the entertainment center and put it over the fireplace.
Simply because it’s a little distracting to watch tv with the glare of the fire in our eyes.
What I love about our family room is that we can still converse with anyone in the kitchen or Den with this seating arrangement.
No one has a turned back towards them.
3). Get creative with extra furniture.
As you can see we have a chest/table in our family room.That piece serves two purposes,one it holds a drink if someone is sitting there,two it holds our extra blankets we use to keep warm during winter months and three it serves as another seat for someone to sit when we entertain.
Obviously you would not sit and watch tv on that chest,but you can sit on it and converse with others.
When ever you are arranging your room keep these tips in mind,a good flow,seating,and keeping it open and comfortable for conversing.
So as much as I would love to change the way this room is set up,it has to stay as is because of our layout,fireplace,furniture and windows.
Do you have a room in your home that is challenging?
Joining:
Hello,
I can’t believe you wouldn’t paint the entertainment unit, especially if you used chalk paint which is so easy.
The whole room would look so good if you did. You could just do a bit at a time, so you don’t have to move everything at once.
Trust me, you’d be glad you did once it was finished.
I know I hear that allot Philippa.But it’s a heavy piece and the TV is not very easy to handle.That’s what is stopping me.
Great tips, and I love how you tackled it. I love the balance you did with the big pieces on opposite sides….
Thank you Christine!
I agree, flow is so important to make your room inviting and liveable. I am loving the mantle BTW… Great railing (?) posts!! 🙂
xox, Crystelle
CrystelleBoutique
Thanks so much Crystelle!
So inspired by your post! I have a few of the same problems; fireplace on one end, entertainment center on the opposite wall and like you we use our fireplace. We have a large picture window and 4 doorways in this room. To add to our problems the fireplace is floor to ceiling brick which for some reason the builder pushed all the way to the corner on that back wall; then stuck a desk and bookshelf a foot back and then the laundry room door. I do love where we live and we have made some adjustments like tearing out the desk and replacing it with storage cabinets below the shelves.
We just pretend the back door isn’t there (we have 3 backdoors in this house) and decorate in front of it to have enough seating.
Nice to see some share this.
Patsy
Thanks Patsy,and I feel your pain.I think women need to design homes,since we usually end up doing most if not all of the decorating.Most architects don’t seem to really thing about the living space and furniture placement.
Um, just an idea, but couldn’t you take the TV out of the BIG entertainment center and hang the thing on the wall where you say that furniture is not an option? Then you could put the couch on the wall where the entertainment center currently is (or the 2 easy chairs, for that matter) with the stacking tables between the chairs so that both users have access to a table for drinks, etc.?? (That way you wouldn’t have to paint the entertainment center either).;-)
Nope not an option right now Constance.For one my husband likes surround sound the speakers are on top of that piece.Including one I am
hidingdisguising with that burlap.And second we house all of our movie and CD collection,yes we are old school and have lots of CD’s.In that area that I cannot put furniture,you might have missed it but I have a pass through opening in my kitchen,can’t hang a tv there 🙂Thank you so much for the tips,it was helpful.Have a great day.
Your welcome Marlene you too!