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Original poster

What to do with two living rooms

45 replies

hummusscot · 02/02/2018 13:46

Looking for a bit of inspiration. After living in flats with a small kitchen and not much bigger living room for most of my life, we'll be moving to a detached house with a big living room, medium sized kitchen, small downstairs loo, big dining room with doors into a big garden, and then upstairs family bathroom and 3 bedrooms (one with an en suite, whaaaat!) Glorious, but I have no idea what to do with all the space so it's also pretty overwhelming.

Moving in will be my partner and I, my teenage sibling and two cats. We will also be getting a dog and are trying for a baby. We have friends over a lot (who often have small kids) and family stay often-ish. So we're looking for ideas that are kid friendly, animal friendly, and will suit more than three people at a time.

Thanks in advance!

OP posts:
Original poster
hummusscot · 02/02/2018 14:23

We can't open it up, house is rented and the rooms aren't connected via a door. A home office unit sounds cool!

Plants! Of course! We've avoided them so far because of space but we could get some really tall ones!

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SingingGoldfinch · 02/02/2018 14:25

We have a regular living room with tv and then another off the kitchen where we have our dining table and a big corner sofa but no tv - it has bi-fold doors looking over garden so it's a lovely light space. It's great having two reception rooms - gives everyone space!

meandmytinfoilhat · 02/02/2018 14:27

A tv in each one. One for you and one for the kids/OH.

Bluntness100 · 02/02/2018 14:28

We've alwats had two living rooms. Simply because we would not use a separate dining room as much. One is the family living room, the other is effectively a games room, with x box, PlayStation etc. Both have a tv and sofas.

I use the main one all the time, my daughter and husband use both equally. They play the games a lot, and my daughter uses that room to study in when home from uni and did her home work in there when at school as it is quiet. She's never just sat in her room.

For us, it's totally thr way to go.

Hoppinggreen · 02/02/2018 14:29

We have a large dining kitchen so in what should be our dining room is the dogs bed and a nice comfy chair for me so I can sit in peace if I don’t wnat to sit in the lounge when people are watching TV.
We also have a keyboard, guitar and 2 trombones in there so if I’m feeling posh I call it the “music room “ ( pronounced rum)
OP your new house will feel huge at first but after a few months it really won’t and you will wonder how you managed without the space before

Isadora2007 · 02/02/2018 14:33

I would have the dining room one as a family room with table, tv and storage (for baby stuff and toys for the future).
The other lounge could be more for grown ups or even teens- PlayStation, dvd, leather suite etc. Once you have a baby it may be nice to chill once s/he is in bed or your teen may want friends over. Family space is handy for when you want wee one close by when you are in kitchen etc.
Two lounge areas are fab.

Isadora2007 · 02/02/2018 14:34

We wanted a music room, but now have a gym!

Original poster
hummusscot · 02/02/2018 14:35

This has really made me excited now :) Thanks everyone!

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EggsonHeads · 02/02/2018 14:37

One sitting room with coffee table/TV if you have them andone reading room with bookcases, a large table for reading at/working on and a couple of cosy arm chairs.

wonkylegs · 02/02/2018 14:48

My first house was tiny, now we have a lovely big house and it's amazing how easy it is to fill it up!

We have a
living room - sofas, fireplace & tv (lovely group up room)

Family room - sofa, huge ikea kallax unit full of toys, tv & games console, keyboard & headphones, alcove bookshelves full of kids books. It's usually chaos but I can close the door and pretend it's not there.

Dining room - dining table, piano, guitars and armchair in the bay window (I sit here when I'm on the phone for long conversations) - we use it as a formal dining room, music room and sewing room - long table works well when sewing curtains - we normally eat in the breakfast room which opens out into the kitchen.

Garden room - armchairs, wall of bookcases and sideboard of games. We sit out here all summer but also to play family games / chess / read etc

Original poster
hummusscot · 02/02/2018 14:48

Okay so I'm thinking....

OP posts:
Original poster
hummusscot · 02/02/2018 14:49

House!!!

  • Living room 1 (front with bay window)
  1. Two sofas (one a sofa bed)
  2. Dining table
  3. Workspaces
  • Living room 2 (patio doors to big garden)
  1. Sofas
  2. Bookcases
  3. General clutter
  4. Musical instruments
  5. TV and Xbox etc
  • Kitchen
  1. Small table with two chairs

This way we've got one noisy room and one quiet room!

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TalkinPeace · 02/02/2018 14:53

Sounds good.

We have
living room - multiple sofas and TV
family room - woodburner, armchairs and consoles
dining room - dining table/ pool table and sound system

godricshollow · 02/02/2018 15:35

I think you need a study if you work from home a lot?

The other option is a formal sitting room and relaxed family den (which can eventually become a playroom).

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 02/02/2018 15:50

Can you fit a small kitchen table with 4 chairs into the kitchen? If there are three of you, you'll likely want to eat together at least some of the time, and two kitchen chairs won't be enough.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 02/02/2018 15:51

Just noticed you said dining table in one of the living rooms. Personally, if the kitchen is big enough, I'd rather have a decent kitchen table and not bother with a dining table at all.

Bestbees · 02/02/2018 15:57

We have 3 reception rooms and a kitchen we can eat in. We have a front room with sofas ans tv, kids playroom and a study which also has piano in.

Evelynismycatsformerspyname · 02/02/2018 16:01

I'd give your teenage sibling her own living room. Have you lived together before? If it's a new arrangement she might not want to play gooseberry all the time and you might not want to share every single evening for ever with her and her mates, especially if you get pregnant and have a baby and want to sit with your breasts out feeding wearing pyjamas Wink

StillSmallVoice · 02/02/2018 16:20

Hummusscot - that sounds a bit like we have and it works very well. One room is quiet and we tend to read or just chat in it. The other has the TV and computer. It has a sofa and table which can be used as either a desk or dining table.

That arrangement also means that you can have a bit of separation if you need it - I have adult kids at home for fairly extended periods from time to time and it means we all have our own space.

I hope you enjoy your lovely new home (and you will get used to the size very quickly!)

Original poster
hummusscot · 02/02/2018 21:26

Thanks everyone!

Little sibling is getting the biggest bedroom with her own bathroom so I won't be giving her a living room.

I think we've decided to have the front room as a study/quiet reading room with a sofabed, and the back room (with the doors leading to the garden) as the busy, loud room with instruments/TV/lots of sofas/chaos/mess/clutter etc! The back room will get used more because of the garden so it makes the most sense.

As for a table, a big table won't fit in the kitchen so we're going to put a wee one in there with two chairs and the table we have right now in the front, quiet room.

Really appreciated everyone's input!

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