Furniture advice!

[EveningSpread]

We have a smallish living room. We have a three seater sofa but want more seating.

What did / would you go for any why?

1. Two chairs
2. One small loveseat type thing

1 would be more versatile and rearrange-able, but 2 may be more comfy!

I’d go with 2 so 2 people can sit. Only 1 would sit in the love seat.

Have you decided yet? I think we might need a diagram

I will create a diagram! It’s complicated by the fact that the front door opens onto the living room, and the placement of the other door. And the fact that I’ve got a piano taking up quite a bit of space 🫣

I always think of a loveseat being essentially a two seater - but I suppose it depends who’s sitting on it!

Doesn’t it just

We have a love seat but it’s quite wide so does sit 2 easily. Worth looking at if you get the ‘right’ one. It also means it’s super comfy just for one if only me and DH are in the room. Somewhere roomy for each of us

This is my set up, and my movable parts:

These are some options:

You could try large footstools at the same height as the sofa, covered in the same fabric, so the sofa can then become an 'L' or 'U' shape, or you can keep 1 or both as stand alone soft seating, or mix and match when necessary. It's more flexible than 2 armchairs and the inside of the footstools double up as storage. An upholsterer can either recover something you buy, or can make them from scratch.

I'd probably move the sofa into the middle of the room, so it faces both the fireplace and the tv. I'd put the piano where the record cabinet is and have some shelving built next to the fireplace, for books and the record player, tv etc.

What have you got on the wall above the fireplace? If you wall-mounted rhe TV there you've gained space. If there's a picture there it could go on one of the other walls?
Then record cabinet in the alcove and one chair on each wall that's left? Then you've got room for a couple of lightweight tables that can be moved around according to where people are sitting and need somewhere for a mug or their glasses or whatever.
How big is the record cabinet?
If you replaced it with a Billy-type bookcase could you get all the records in it and more, increase your storage? Books, ornaments, vases, board games, even wine glasses. Anything that needs a home really as long as it's attractive.
The ones with glass doors.
Records (we're talking old style LPs presumably?) wouldn't go sideways in a Billy but I suspect you could find something similar but deep enough for LPs.
Or get built in shelves in that alcove to maximise the usable space?

OP, this is so weird as I have just drawn a photo of my own living room (with piano) to ask a very similar question, and then noticed yours. Snap!

Thanks for the replies! Lots of good ideas.

There are built in bookshelves either side of the fireplace already, in the alcoves. Not that that precludes any of the suggestions.

TV above the fireplace would free up space, and with two chairs it would really bring the room together. But it’s a log burner and does get hot, and the mantelpiece is quite high for a tv to go above presently. I could have it altered, though.

The record cabinet is moveable and I’m not wedded to it, it’s replaceable.

Two chairs are so much more versatile, but I love the idea of another chair that one can sloth in a bit.

Maybe I’ll just move house 😂

What a coincidence! Let me know what you decide and why!

Me too!! 😂

@EveningSpread definitely don't put your TV above the fire. TV's and pianos shouldn't be near heat sources, and putting your TV above the fire will ruin it, and make viewing weird with the heatwaves.

My personal opinion but I think TV's wall mounted above fireplaces look terrible and must really hurt people's necks looking up at them!

I'm heading out now but was going to reply with suggestions to your thread when I'm home later!