Help with corner sofa placement in room

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

We really need additional seating. We have one 3seater at the moment and a Poang Ikea armchair which is on its last legs.

We both want a large full corner sofa (ie no open ended lounger parts, a full back all the way around and proper arms on each end). The bigger the better.

However we are debating which layout works best.

Option 1 - my choice. Leaves window and radiator accessible. We have long floor length curtains and it's the only radiator in the room although we only use it in the dead of winter. Also better for tv viewing.i feel it makes the room more squared off rather than Option 2 which I think makes the room look odd.

Option 2 - dh choice. He doesn't like the idea of the sofa coming out into the room and having to walk around it. He also says there's more room for additional seating around the coffee table. I think it would make viewing the tv difficult as everyone on one side would sit looking sideways.

please note we cannot move the tv. There are no sockets on the other side where the shelving is. We also cannot relocate the radiator. The room is pretty much 5m square and has hugh ceilings so I don't think either option will make the room feel too small.

Which one do you think works best?

Re option 1 - You wouldn't have to sit and look at the tv sideways, you could sit lengthways facing the tv with your legs up. If you only use the room for watching tv then you'd surely get comfortable on the sofa and get your feet up anyway?

We have a similar lay out to option 1 (although our radiator isn't covered). We put a blind up at the window so the curtains don't get in the way.

I meant option 2!!!

How many people will be sitting on the couch OP? I have a big corner couch and even with 4 people on it we all sit on the same side and face the same way, whoever bags the corner first gets to put their feet up We'd only sit properly sideways on the TV if the TV wasn't on and we were chatting or playing a board game instead.

Option 2. Can you get a corner sofa that seats 3 on the plain wall with 2 on the window wall? My living room is like yours. I don’t have a corner sofa but I have a 3-seater sofa on the plain wall, a chaise longe on the window wall - so you can still face the TV. I have an armchair by the shelves.

There are 4 of us, just trying to future proof a bit for the dcs becoming teenagers. Though we do have a second small room which would then become a den for the dc and their friends. So then maybe a large corner would be too big...

Hmm...

I really don't think I can get on board with Option 1. I don't like the idea of blocking the window and radiator or sideways watching tv.

May have to consider a 3seater and 2seater..

Option 1 - I agree that you don't want to block the radiator. If it's 5m x 5m with high ceilings, it will need heating. A sofa in front of the radiator would make it a cold room (unless you lit the fire every time) which would mean it wouldn't be a nice warm room to relax in. It would also drive me & my OCD mad having the sofa a few inches away from the wall and full length curtains stuffed down the back.

Having said all that, I would prefer Option 2 but for the radiator and curtain issue. In an ideal world, I'd move the radiator (just done this and paid £150) and would change the full length curtains for a roman blind.

In a 5m x 5m room, itd be a shame to only have a corner unit in the corner or blocking the entrance. You probably have space for 2 sofas + 2 chairs (as per photo). It’d accommodate more people comfortably too + be more conducive to having a chat.

I don’t think a corner sofa works in the room.

I’d have 2 x regular sofas, one on the wall to the left and one in front of you as you come in, facing the window. And maybe a small armchair if the room is big.

Do you need a table at both ends of the sofa? Can you configure the sofa differently?

We have a corner sofa. It's the best, most sociable piece of furniture we've bought. We had the usual three-piece suite; a corner sofa is much better. I don't know how best to configure it in your case, I'm afraid. Maybe move it away from the back wall so that people enter the room along the back of the sofa.

Option one as all the seats face the tv, which you've said is what the room is for. If you have it that way, is the back low on the side closest to the entrance to the room? If it is, it would look less like it was blocking the flow off.

What's the squiggly thing next to the shelving?

It wouldn't cost much to have extra sockets out in and move the telly - would that open your options - option 1 just makes the room seem small and doesn't work well so 2 is the best of the two options you're giving. I'd definitely open my options with moving shelves and having more sockets though

I'd move a radiator also to be honest, it's not that expensive to do so

What would the room look like if you had the TV on the same wall as the door? It looks like it's in the corner on your diagram. Forget the corner sofa for a bit - think about where it would be best to sit in order to watch the TV, given that's what you use the room for.

I really don't think I can get on board with Option 1

Crap, I meant 2.

What's the squiggly thing next to the shelving?

Chimney breast with open fire

I’m not sure that sofa can work in your room. Sorry!

Re future-proofing, once your DC are both teens, the four of you watching TV together will be a rare, rare thing.

Option one, as I would want to be able to sit on the sofa and look out of the window.

Oh so you can't have a sofa with its back to that.

What would it look like if you had a long sectional sofa (?) which starts at the door and goes round to the end of the window, then you have a big TV on the wall with nothing on it?

Maybe two 3 seater sofas on each blank wall, plus a big squishy footstool for lounging for movies.

I don't think I would have a corner sofa. I think I would do number 1 but have one sofa against the wall (opposite the TV) and the second sofa away from the wall opposite the window.

Your room is similar to mine and that's what I have.

I think we need more info about how the room will be used in context with the rest of the house.

For example - if this is a 10-bedroom home with three other living rooms and this room is going to be purely for TV/film watching then you will get a very different response to what you’d get if this is the only downstairs room other than the kitchen. More guidance required please.

(But generally speaking I suspect that style of sofa is usually a trade off between comfort and style unless you have a really spacious room, simply because of the practicality of it).