How to decorate small, narrow living room, 23' x 13'?

[FredaMayor]

The room has a built-in bookshelf covering most of one long wall, and a wide fireplace with a wood stove on the opposite side about halfway along, projecting into the room. One third of the room at one end is taken up with an office area, but we like to know how to place the sitting furniture (2 sofas, one longer than the other at 6') and a rectangular coffee table (about 4') to best minimise the narrow appearance of the room. The ceiling is fairly low and has black painted wooden beams across, widthwise not lengthwise.

Any ideas at all would be gratefully received .

You think 23x13 is small and narrow???

Where's the door into the room?

I'm picturing that you would have a tv to one side of the wood burner - the opposite end of room from the office area? Then you'd have the longer sofa parallel to the wall with book cases on, far enough forward to allow access to the book cases. The shorter sofa parallel to the short wall and at approx right angles to the bigger sofa forming a barrier between living and office area.

I'm not sure I'd want a biggish coffee table in that layout though. Maybe it'd work in front of smaller sofa depending on exact position on the wood burner.

Cutting off the office area means the sitting bit isn't actually that narrow proportioned - it might be 16 by 13 ish?

I'd make the furniture on a paper grid and try laying them out.

Hi, thanks for your replies. The tv is on the wall above the wood burner, both of these are rarely used. The coffee table is the only one we have, new ones seem so expensive, even if they are smaller.

Is there somewhere to go online that shows how to do the paper grid, for instance showing how to get movable things the correct relative size?

I used some graph paper to make images of furniture, rugs etc, and allowed one square of paper per foot of furniture, guessing the halves, thirds etc. These were useful when removal men placed items, and have kept all these little rectangles for my next move - really useful and not difficult at all.

Thank you, EmNetta, that's a huge help.