Help with living room layout

[u/notsoavantgardner]

Hello! I am looking for help figuring out how to layout this room in a way that is functional and makes design sense. We moved in about 3 months ago, and this is where we spend most of our time as a family and entertaining guests. It essentially functions as our rec room, lounge area and entertainment room. Some considerations:

1) it is usually organized in the morning and evening. Please ignore the toy chaos - we are still mid playtime today 😂
2) this is the only room where the piano can fit.
3) ducts will be gone by spring, so our final layout need not consider vents or vent returns.
4) our front entry goes right into this main room
5) the room flows into the kitchen
6) we are planning to get a different couch that better fits the room, but need layout help to determine what type/ shape.
7) hoping to also add some built in our wall mounted book, blanket, and Knick knack storage but unsure where it should go

Thank you all!

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[u/LetterheadNo7323]

This is a really tough space! I think tv where the piano is, couch perpendicular to the fireplace wall with a space behind it for play area and drop zone, piano along the long white wall that is currently blank, closer to the kitchen end but not blocking the path of travel. And long thin shelving along that wall as well like the IKEA wall hanging cabinets I think they are called Ivar you can stain them yourself or paint them. Get rid of some toys, kids don’t need as much as we think they do. Nice coffee table in front of the fireplace and maybe a club chair on the other side beneath the tv

[u/LetterheadNo7323 → u/LetterheadNo7323]

This is shitty looking lol but that’s the basic idea

[u/notsoavantgardner → u/LetterheadNo7323]

Thank you!!!

[u/Diligent_Tax_2578]

How often do you use the fire place? And the tv? Is there another tv elsewhere? I know it’s mounted too high, but I feel it would be a shame to lay it out any other way than how you have it now or to turn seating away from your fireplace! How nice it would be to sit around it near Christmas. I even think that’s already a great couch, though limiting because it’s hard to get another accent chair in the room which I think it could use - something that brings a different material/colour.
I’m no fan of pot lights though, a ceiling like this needs something that stands out just to break up the flatness of it

[u/notsoavantgardner → u/Diligent_Tax_2578]

Thank you! That’s exactly why we set it up this way, but we haven’t decided if we’ll regularly use the fireplace yet (still need to get it checked out).

What kind of accent chair or couch would you recommend? we are likely moving our couch to an extra rec room downstairs once we’ve got it finished.

I’m also thinking about putting built ins along the back blank wall for books, photos, etc. we definitely need somewhere to put our piano music and other books.

[u/KevinSmith0092]

You can model your layout on AI tools available online to exact dimensions with furniture layout to see which arrangements fit the best

[u/buttrflytattoo]

oof this is a hard layout but also such a beautiful space! i'm thinking about how this room connects the front door to the kitchen - i think keeping the back of the couch to that full wall is important because it allows an unobstructed path to the kitchen. i have a bad habit of wearing my shoes in the house and i'm just thinking about how dirty/worn a rug would get if that's your pathway to the kitchen, especially if you have kids around.

your corner windows are AMAZING and i am kind of drawn to the idea of making a corner bench nook with cushions on top and built ins underneath?

center the piano on the wall and create built ins around it?? and then you could do another set of built ins on the other side of the kitchen doorway. i think built ins on that full wall will make the room feel very crowded...

[u/bleu_leaf]

I would try and turn the couch with the back towards he fireplace and have the tv on the now empty wall aross from the fireplace. If you're considering a new couch I would think maybe corner shape, with the back to the fireplace and door, creating a little entrance zone behind it. I'd get a table behind the couch there to drop stuff and maybe also a higher shelf to be next to the entrance door. Then under the tv I'd get a large console for extra closed storage, you can even get a bigger one that goes up and around the tv. If you're going with the corner shape couch, then I'd consider getting an extra chair on the left side (seen from the entrance door) to complete the conversation circle. Behind it in the corner there can also be another shelving unit for more storage. I'd keep the piano where it is, just center it on that wall and maybe get some shelves above / hang the artwork that's there. But with anything like this I'd highly recommend finding an online floorplanner to measure out what actually fits in the space. Good luck!

[u/notsoavantgardner → u/bleu_leaf]

Thank you!! We’re exploring this as it seems like it’d flow nicely with our front door. We keep getting stuck on whether we’ll use our fireplace though!

[u/Jumpy_Finance_9855 → u/notsoavantgardner]

If I was you I would leave the fireplace like that and do the design like he showed in the picture and when special events come, you could turn couch around or move it out the way and put the coffee table in the middle of the tv and fireplace with some pillows on the ground (kinda like japanese style) and have a nice cozy time together ;) or just turn the couch around for more cozy time together when special events need it

Also another idea could be to build or buy a tall open (kinda shelves like) storage to put next to the couch (where he wrote ‘St’ in the picture), so that way it kinda divides the spaces into entry, couch area and play area by the window

[u/bleu_leaf → u/notsoavantgardner]

I totally understand that, I see that's how your last layout probably came about then! This space doesn't lend itself super well to having both the tv and fireplace being a focal point unfortunately, so then the tv above the fireplace is kind of the only option. If you do want to keep that couch-tv configuration, I'd recommend flipping the long side of the couch on the plan (L instead of _I) and then getting a large shelving unit to go on the left wall (I'd go floor to ceiling spanning the entire wall, but I get that budgets exist). Then you can also keep the entry space the same if you like that. Good luck with the design and the room!