How to use a long living room

[ChewChewPanda]

We are in the process of buying a new house (fingers crossed). I really love the property but I’m slightly struggling with how to use / lay out the main living room and I’d love ideas (I’m not great at visualising these things).

The room is long - suspect was originally a living room and a dining room now knocked through. It’s about 9m by 3.75m. It’s also got a lot of windows with a bay at the front and smaller windows at intervals all down one of the 9m walls, and then double doors in the back wall into a small snug / playroom so between all this there aren’t many walls that can have furniture on or against them. Though the back doors could stay closed all the time as there is another door into that room.

There is a dining area in the kitchen and I think we’ll actually use the snug as main living / TV room so in some ways this room is “extra” to what we need but it’s lovely and light and I don’t want to waste it. Anyone have any ideas for how to lay it out to make the most of the (admittedly slightly tricky) layout.

Hello @ChewChewPanda (like your Hey Duggee name).

What's your family set up? I.e. would you need a play room? Or study for home working?

I think with a room like that it's about creating zones, with rugs and furniture. But what those zones are depends on your need I guess.

At the bay window end could you have another living room / tv room? And zone it out with a chaise or corner sofa? I love nosey-ing out the front window lol. Then playroom or study at the other end?

Haha thanks, ChewChew is the best Duggee friend I think.

We have a toddler and are planning another baby too so yes, some play space would be nice. We both work from home 1-2 days a week but was planning to have a desk in a bedroom for this as it’ll be quieter and we don’t often have guests. Though could make a study area downstairs too perhaps. Thanks.

Could you use the snug as an adult living room, somewhere that is always tidy for you to retreat to once the kids are in bed? Then use this long room as a playroom at one end/family living at the other. Maybe even add a desk/workstation just in case!

I've got a reception room that I only use in the evenings. It is just mine 😂, well me and close family. No day visitors ever make it into there unless it is my close family.

With small children I would 100% make the snug an adult sitting room retreat, no toys/crumbs allowed, and just let the long room be a shithole playroom for a few years. Loads of IKEA storage and 10,000 bits of Lego, stickers, loo roll telescopes, etc. And you can shut the doors on it at the end of the day and retreat elsewhere – the dream.

My house has similar, and we've decided to reinstate the wall in the middle to create an adult living room at the front and a family room with doors onto the dining area at the back. Currently half the long room is just filled with kid crap, and it's not a good use of the space. We're also getting built in storage to contain some of said kid stuff in the family room.

Thanks everyone, I think maybe a family room is the way to go with seating and playroom type space.