Which formation (of furniture) is best? PICS included.

[loungechange]

Posting here for traffic.

I am deciding whether to rearrange my lounge furniture and would love some opinions.

At the moment, our sofa is in the middle of the room, facing away from the dining area. it makes the lounge area rather small. I am thinking of getting rid of the fireplace (it's only an electric fire), and moving the sofa over to face the other way, which really opens up the floor space.

Will add before pics, and after pics. In the after pics, please consider that the sofa could be pushed farther back once the fireplace and TV were moved. The TV would go where you see the black box on the floor (amp).

TIA for any opinions! DH will probably have a fit when he gets home. 😂

There is only one door into the room. You can see the doorway in this pic.

Do you have space in the kitchen for the dining table? I can't get my head around having the kitchen and the dining room on different floors!

We already have another dining table downstairs - not in the kitchen, but in a room adjacent to the kitchen. Only used in the day time by me really, I use the table more like a desk, with lap top on it etc.

For anyone interested the layout is :

Ground floor : Kitchen, dining room, DH games room, WC

Middle floor : Lounge diner, Dressing room (was DC bedroom before)

Top Floor : Our bedroom, ensuite, Guest bedroom (was DC bedroom before)

I would put the sofa opposite the bay window or on an angle looking towards the tv. I know the door is there but it should be easy to walk around. I'd then put your armchair where the black box thing is.

Can you shift the sofa to face the window? Armchair the goes in front of the amp.

Is the sofa the only seating? Over by the fireplace the room feels too open and I'd want to get an armchair or two to fill the gap through to the table. A room needs enclosure and with the sofa on the fireplace you've shoved your furniture up against the wall making it feel off.

I don't think the sofa can go anywhere apart from these 2 options, due to size restrictions and door placement.

There is an armchair. You can see it in this pic. The sofa would go about a foot further back than seen here, as the TV would be moved and the fireplace would be gone. I guess I'm a bit bored of the current layout - it's been like this since we moved here 13 years ago. Previous owners used both areas as a lounge, like a lounge and a mini lounge behind it.

Oops, main bathroom on middle floor too. Can't seem to edit my post!

Before I can't be sat on the sofa looking into a different room.

Both are bad sorry, I suggest you remove the dining table and make it into a proper office with a desk against a wall. Regarding the sofa, could you try positioning it at an angle facing the TV so there is more of a gap and flow into the dining room/office?

Neither is great.

Sofa needs to be facing the window, TV off to the side. Having it facing a wide open doorway is creeping me out.

…

Really can't ditch the dining table. Can't really angle the sofa more either.

^
This

Or this…

They do sound like good ideas, however the sofa is massive, so I can't see that working. I'll go back up and look again.

Before, definitely. Lovely and cosy. Really would not like to sit on a sofa looking through a wide opening into another space.
I definitely would not get rid of the fireplace. Imo they are important focal points in a living room. A big black TV screen just isn't the same - a bit soulless.

I don't think you should remove the fireplace, it's a nice, warm focal point. I would actually take the sofa out completely. I would put the TV in the corner you mention and get a couple more chairs - perhaps one in the other corner (next to the fire so you have an armchair either side of the fire). And perhaps one other chair (maybe a smaller chair) to go in the bay window to make a nice place to sit there.

Then you have a more open plan but still cosy room and you still have seating for 3 in the living area of the room. And the people in there wont need to crane their necks round to speak to the people in the dining area.

If you do go with your idea of removing the fireplace, you could perhaps put a curtain or decorative screen up between the rooms.

Actually, I would try to see if I could move the sofa under that window in the dining area.

If you have to put the sofa there (🤢, sorry), can you use a large bookshelf to essentially fill in the big open door space, leaving room to get in the desk space but reducing the odd uneasy sense of the sofa facing out of the room.

Can you re-hang the door to open against the wall, then have the sofa next to it (facing the bay) with an armchair or two where the sofa originally was?

If not, leave it as before. Moving it opposite the dining area looks awful.

Watch DearModern on YouTube, he solves room layout issues with feng shiu. I've been surprised how much following his explanations has helped my house feel better with the same furniture

Okay I’ve just changed to what a PP suggested. Not sure about the sofa being part way over the doorway?