Living room layout ideas

[User69371527]

Indulging in some floor plan musing on the house I’m buying.
any thoughts on this living room layout? 1980s house.
Theres separate kitchen/dining/family space so it only needs to be a living room good for watching telly etc. also if space I might put the electric piano in there.

do we think furniture in a U shape with the TV on a unit on the left hand wall in the centre? And a coffee table? Or TV in the bottom left hand corner? Initially I have a large 2 seater sofa and a cuddler/1.5 seater that I’ll be bringing with me but I got them cheap on fb so up for investing in or sourcing some new furniture.
I like calm and cosy.

long term should I think about putting in a fireplace or wood burner? There was originally a gas fire in the centre of the left hand wall which has been removed but there’s still an external chimney.

Here's an option. TV and fireplace (FP) on the left. Big sofa S in the middle. At least 2 chairs C. The back half could have a bookcase B and desk D (or piano) if you don't need a dining table there.

Thank you I hadn’t thought of dividing the room like that, but am wondering if it will make it feel smaller

how many people will be sitting in the room regularly? if you are a family of 6, you might want a bigger arrangement compared to if there are just 2 of you.

@User69371527
The sofa positioned like that is a room divider. A sofa is 3ff deep. That layout leaves you 7ft either end of it. That’s hardly anything! As most sofas are 6ft wide, you will have 3ft circulation around it on either side. That feels quite narrow to me. I have two occasional chairs in the middle of a much bigger room: width and length.

My friends have a room like this. They have a sofa along a wall, tv in a corner, and a couple of occasional chairs by the French windows. This provides enough seating and circulation space. Occasional tables for lamps and a coffee table can be added. Furnishing a room also depends on how you want to use it.

Mine, almost identical dimensions although my side doors are more towards one end, is as pictured with 2 large sofas and a chair.

Thank you for the ideas!
to answer a question we are a family of 4 (1 adult and 3 teens/older kids) so would like to have 6 “seats” or so.

it’s hard as on principle I don’t like the idea of the tv as the focal point and all the furniture gathered around that but in reality that is mainly what the room will be used for!

And yes I think that right hand door is throwing me as it’s quite far ‘up’ otherwise I’d envisage a main long sofa along that right hand wall

@User69371527 I share your concern but what else do you do in the lounge? You can have a wall unit and hide a tv behind closed doors when you don’t want to see it!

Can the door be moved? Nearer to the window? Or in the other direction to leave a bigger space between the window and the door? This would create a better space at the window end without having to exit the room in the middle of it. Otherwise the room has to be arranged towards the other end.

True, it’s just easier when there’s a fireplace I think as you can kind of gather furniture towards that and then have the tv in the corner or to one side.

here are some pics of identical types of houses that still had their fires. Probably the first layout looks most logical to me.

but with no fire in mine I could put the tv where the fireplace was in the centre of the wall

Ignore me! Just looked at the plan again! Stairs and porch seem to prevent moving the door.

Could the sofa go on the long wall? Is there a fireplace there?

yes I guess in the second picture they’ve arranged the room towards the back half.
Wouldn’t have funds to move the door and don’t think I could with the stairs anyway so will need to work with it as it is but could look at reinstating fire/woodburner potentially. Although really it’s more flexible without a fire I suppose

No fireplace in mine at all, just blank left hand wall so potentially sofa could go there

@User69371527 Some ideas.

@User69371527 Some more. Imagination needed to transfer to your home!

Thank you, that’s really helpful! And don’t know why it seemed counterintuitive (maybe because I know there used to be a fireplace there) but of course I could put the sofa on the long left wall maybe.

I had a fireplace on the long wall opposite the side doors (picture above a couple of days ago) but blocked it up. I've found it made it more flexible for furniture placement, and I'd not used the fire in the 10 years I'd lived there at that point anyway.

Yes can see it would be more flexible without. I do like a cosy fire and miss a wood burner from an old house.
but single now I wonder whether I would be arsed to light it and clean it out - plus wood isn’t cheap, plus environmentally they’re not great are they.
And presumably would it be environmentally/economically bonkers to reinstate a Gas fire 🤔

Our front room is similar. We do have a fireplace but it's blocked up and hasn't been used for years. We just put candles in the hearth and sometimes light them.

I feel like you that I don't want the telly to be the focus so ours is off to the side and if anything the fireplace is the focus but I like the idea that we all sit in a circle like the focus might really be on talking to each other. I'll attach a plan of our room.

The small sofa is a bit away from the doors so you can walk round it out of the doors.