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. 😂

More

I know it's an expense but could you change the sofa? A love seat and an extra arm chair might fit the space better. I love that arm chair positioned in the corner, just trying to imagine the other furniture options around it.

If not, can you at least bring the sofa forward a bit? They shouldn't really be against the wall anyway. Maybe on a slight angle, closer to fireplace.

This is the best option of the three, in my opinion.

I could definitely get a new sofa. This one is quite old, and a bit big. I could get one that wouldn't hang over the doorway, if it was kept there. There would be some expense either way, because if we take out the fireplace there is going to be a large area of missing carpet where the hearth was.

Before, by a long way. Would jangle my mind looking in to the dining room with those book shelves (fine in their place, just not restful to look at).

Couldn't deal with the sofa hanging over the doorway either.

Was looking at DFS last night and have to say, the sofa's were all RANK! SCS not much better. Where do people buy sofa's these days?

Would a new, maybe smaller, sofa help you feel better about the first layout? As you were feeling a bit stale, bored and the current sofa taking up too much room.

I really think that plus a pair of arm chairs angled either side of the fire is lovely.

You could do a corner sofa and it would cover the missing hearth carpet...

Have you tried Cotswolds Company, John Lewis, Next, M&S etc… would you constantly corner sofa or sofa with Chaise Longue style sofa. I would keep the fire place. Consider removing the mirror and have the television fixed to the wall above the fireplace. Place a large mirror on the wall with the door on it to bounce back the light. Give your room a mini re-vamp to feel refreshed.

All good ideas thank you !!

Before. I don't like stuff in the middle of rooms.

Firstly, I’m irritated on your behalf that whoever designed this floorplan spared not a single thought for furniture. There’s no blank wall other than the one that the door opens onto. The fireplace isn’t functioning (given you have an electric fire), so the mantelpiece etc is just for show - at the expense of the space being useable. Anyway.

Yes, the so far is too big. I think your only options are a two, two-seaters opposite each other: at right angles to the fire, one facing the bay window and one facing the door. Have to leave space to access the bay window, but really I don’t see what else you can do. And I wouldn’t know where to put the telly. Grrrr - shoddy house builders.

Before is better by a long long way. In fact I'd move the sofa even further forwards perhaps with a long thin console behind it to further separate the space. The rug needs changing to something much bigger.
Armchair on the wall with the door. The sofa and chair feet should sit on the rug. Make it cosy. Unless you're doing dance aerobics why do you need the space? You'll always be sat in a chair in that room.

Before.
Looking on the dining area would drive me nuts.
I don't think it's the living area that needs a rejig, it's the dining area.

Do you need that door given theres a huge opening between the rooms? Sorry if I’m being dumb and you do. The latest set up looks good apart from the door. I also agree with a curtain in the big opening, I’ve done that with two large openings and it works really well

I would do the following:
Keep the fire. (Cosy focal point)
Move the TV to the other side of the fireplace.
Move the sofa to sit across the bay window.
Put the armchair on the door side of the room.
It would be more open and spacious without losig the sense of two rooms and having to look into the dining room.

Well I’m definitely going to be in the minority here, I hate the before with the sofa blocking the open plan but probably because my house has a similar layout 😂.

I have an open plan lounge dining area and don’t find it distracting at all.

I'm going to keep it like the last photo for a few days, and see how it feels. Also, will look for new sofa. It's far too bulky imo. We needed it when the kids were here, but there's only the 2 of us now. And even though it's a 3 seater, in reality, even if people visit you'd never sit 3 people on there, because it would feel really cramped, and you can't really chat like that - everyone facing fowards!

Which seats do you and dh actually sit in? Do you watch TV together? Both on the sofa? One on the sofa and one in the chair? In completely different rooms?

Your current layout looks fine. The second option is bad. The chairs are all in a line and it looks like an old folks home. Sorry. There is no option for conversation, just for watching the screen (or the dining table). The natural placing of furiniture is so you can converse, or around a focal point - a view or a TV.

The 3rd option looks good, with a smaller sofa. And you could get another small, one person chair too? All with a view of the telly, all able to have a conversation with each other.

After makes it feel like it’s set up to watch people eat

i think smaller sofa where you now have it and remove the door - do you need the door?

I'm also confused why you need the dining area upstairs if you have a dining room downstairs? Is it just because you have mega big christmases?

At the risk of adding another option...can you knock out the dividing wall to make a larger lounge/diner & just have a table that isnt permanently filling the space? Would the overall space then give extra options for furniture positioning?

Your 'more' is better than option 2 - but I think option 1 would be best, with maybe a curtain, as someone suggested to separate the two parts of the room

Your last photo looks great! Dont get rid of the fireplace - it makes the room! And i wouldnt have a smaller sofa either!

first, do you need 2 dining rooms, can't you make the one next to kitchen nicer for Xmas dinners?

Another idea - we also rarely use our dining table, only for dinner parties. So I have an extendable one that is normally just pushed under the window, out of the way. Gives us much more space for everyday living. Could that be an option?