Can you help me choose furniture to divide a long lounge up please?

[RememberBeKindWithKaren]

We've had the lounge extended and now looking for furniture which will somehow divide one long room into two zones.
We've seen an open- backed bookcase that is nice but now I worry it would be too tall. Would a longer table jutting into the room be better? Or can anyone suggest something better please? I'll try and upload a picture.

One thing that might have a bearing is that when there are more people in the house, we would rotate a futon into the room ( currently placed against the far wall ). Not sure how this would change things, well I guess the piece of furniture , whatever we go far, can't be too wide, or rather, it can't stretch too far across the room.

We've got a little table and a folded up screen there at the mo, just to find out how we feel about the idea.

In place of the screen and white table- what can you suggest please?

Do you have books OP? you could back to back some bookcases perhaps.

It's a lovely room 🙂

I think it depends on how you want to use the end of the room near the door? If it's just a visual thing, why not turn the sofa and either have two sofas facing each other, or a sofa and two chairs?

Does it need dividing? You'd be blocking the light and view of the garden.

Would separate rugs help, then extend the screen across only when someone is staying. Otherwise, long curtains the same length as the back doors which can be pulled across when someone stays? Otherwise, I'd leave it all open.

Thanks, yes we do have a lot of books . They're on book shelves in the dining room now but got so many it would be easy enough to find plenty to move through to here

where are your wall lights from please?

Thanks for your answers, everyone.

We probably won't be using the part down the end for anything much. Most of the time it's just me and hubby here but some weekends we have 3 kids plus their partners in which case then we'll spin the futon round for when we all need chairs. Going to need more sofa) armchairs in time but the funds are severely depleted after all the building work so can't deal with that yet..

The reason why I feel the room should be somehow divided is that from the door, it's now a very long room. The dimensions would just be a bit better I think with some way to break it up..
@7238SM. I do get what you're saying about it might obscure the view of the garden so that's why we were thinking the shelves would be open backed so you can see throigh them. I'm just unsure how to stop the room from being such a long, long room whilst keeping the view through the doors.

@Pipop235thanks, there are wall lights in the alcoves up closer to the door, but they aren't in this picture. Do you mean the hanging lights ? They were from John Lewis.

There are a few options OP. Can you share a floor plan or more photos?

From what I can see I would put two reading chairs and a small table infant of the double doors. Or a round small dining table with a couple of chairs.

I'd get a bigger rug - it should sit just under your sofa feet. Or move the sofa forward onto the rug and have some circulation space behind.
An immediate fix would be to move the arm chair to where the white table/desk is - but out a bit to encompass the sofa and rug space.

More photos to see the scope would help!

A 60s type room divider?

You could do it by forming the sofas/chairs into a group round a coffee table at one end and putting a dining table with chairs round it at the other. In effect make it 2 areas within the room. You need things in the middle not just round the exges.

Personally @RememberBeKindWithKaren , I wouldn't want to divide it as such because I'd prefer to keep the view of the garden unobstructed.

I would zone the spaces by using two decent sized rugs (as @Tortephant says, these should sit under the front feet of any sofa, which contributes to making a room appear bigger/wider) and have a reading nook by the French doors with a pair of armchairs and small table between them. Alternatively, a table at which to sit to play board games or similar, perhaps?

It's a lovely space and with the right treatment could look fabulous!

@Tortephant.i'll a pic of what Gemini AI came up when I asked it for ideas early this morning. ( It gave me the word credenza that I had never heard of but seems to be a cross between a side board and a console table..It isn't completely correct because there is no reading nook - that would be in the doorway into the conservatory.. otherwise the plan is pretty close.

We have an Ikea Kallax unit in a similar position to separate our living room from a more playroom section. It's not pretty but the dimensions work well. It's the 2x4, so only wasit-high. We have a chair backing onto it on the living room side. When the youngest dc is old enough, we can move the Lego out. I will be looking for something of a similar size and shape. It doesn't block the view but does have enough presence to divide the space.

Have you got a fireplace or is that AI?!

if you have that should be the focus of the room, it anchors everything.

i wouldn’t divide because with the proportions of the room that will make it look narrower.
the table by the doors will draw your eye down and balance the space.

@Tortephant yes it's a fireplace with a log burner within it.

I've really struggled on this because I know the fireplace should be the centre, or focal point of the room but for one thing in real life it isn't used very much, ie only the cold months, and for another, ( which the plan actually has omitted ) there is a weird crazy small bay window opposite the fireplace..So to have a sofa right in front of the bay window that would mean we couldn't access anything in there..At the moment, the record player is there so we do need to get there now and then. The sofa position issue is a nightmare..

@Tortephant also meant to say, yes I agree about a tallish divider, whatever we went for ,yes it could make the room seem more narrow. So on balance I think the console table idea is going to be best.

We put a red rug one end with the sofa on it backing on to the end with the yellow rug. It's worked pretty well even though getting past the sofa is a bit narrow

Difficult without actually seeing the space from different angles.

im thinking a corner sofa could be the solution.

Hmm, what does the window look onto? Could you take out the fire and orient the room around the bay?

Thanks Camomile, I think we should do something like this too.

You might get used to the new ‘long’ room over time. Anything new can feel off to start with. But I agree with others that a low piece of furniture would work best if you are wanting to divide it up. Or what about a see through shelf on one wall like this.

@Tortephant the window looks out on a small patio area. The fireplace and telly next to it do need be what any sofa is facing towards..

Yes I was thinking about a corner sofa too but my husband was strongly against it for some reason. I think he just likes very traditional looking furniture.

I think a waist - height table is what we need between the two zones, just need to find a way to persuade him now as he's hooked on the idea of a shelving unit..Might need to find a way of putting him under a spell in his sleep.

@ElixirOfLifethanks for your message and especially the picture. That's a similar dimension to the shelves we were thinking of but just a tad lower.

I'm pretty sure now that it needs to be much lower, as you say. Just need to work on my husband.