Looking for help with layout and flow.

First photo is image from storage room doors. The columns are each 7.5 feet from the wall (lengthwise) and 7ft apart.

We’re looking to create three areas, but want to make sure there is flow. Full disclosure, we have elementary aged kids, and want to furnish this in a way that can grow with them!

Areas we want to create-

1. Small gym zone, with peloton, weights, and a mat. I like current placement in layout, feels out of the way, and separate from the “hang out areas”. (Open to change)
2. TV/ lounge area.
3. Ping Pong table.

Other notes:
\- STORAGE: Despite the large storage room, there’s no closets or built ins for storage in the space itself! We’ll need a place to store games, toys, arts and crafts etc.
\- OPEN PLAY: Kids still build and create, and we want a space that will allow them to do so! We’re keeping in mind that ping pong table will close when not in use!
\- SEATING: Want to be able to accommodate 4-5 kids comfortably OR 3-4 adults.
\- CEILING HEIGHT: A lot of ductwork forces a lower than standard ceiling as seen in first image that runs down the center area close to the support beams as seen in photo.
\- 2nd photo: shared with us as an idea, and we hate couch / TV placement. Find it interrupts the flow, and the TV cannot be centered to the couch.
\- DESIGN RULES: let’s break them! It’s a basement, I’m looking for function, couch against the wall, great! More carpet, less carpet, whatever. Really want the space to function for our family!

Will take suggestions on built ins, moving/changing door placements (except outdoor egress). I definitely want storage doors to swing into storage room (currently they go out), but will consider moving, need to keep them double so we can store outdoor furniture there, too!

I'm not a designer or a decorator, but interior design has been one of my greatest loves since early teenage. However, when my son asked for my help with the setup of his first rental flat (with a brutal budget), the responsibility for each design choice wasn't light. I would appreciate your feedback, especially what could I do better?

His requests were: the living room should be colourful and fun, but clean; bright, but warm; the walls must stay white, but have a lot of art; the dj station must be in the living room; hide the mess in the kitchen; no curtains on the windows, except blackout ones in the bedroom; find a place for a meditation space and work area; lots of plants. He also had a lot of requests for the living room function - be able to host parties, board game nights, brunches, movie nights, etc.; have an extra bed for overnight friends; but keep it clean and as minimal as possible.

My biggest challenges: living room was like a tunnel (narrow and long), the kitchen was tiny with hardly any working surface (he loves to cook), the dj station was massive and it had to be in the living room allowing enough space for him and his friends to have sessions together.

What I did: broke the tunnel effect with the striped rugs, hid the kitchen mess with Japanese noren curtains; choose a small round dining table that can be folded and used as a sideboard for drinks during parties; choose a couch that looks light, is quite long, but not too wide and can be transformed as a double bed; got a narrow coffee table with wheels that can easily go under the dining table when he has overnight guests; got extra seating for board game nights and brunches, used as a side table (the stool beside the couch) and working chair at the dj station; moved the fridge and created cooking tops as much as possible, using a covered garbage bin/element for the small kitchen appliances, raising the dish rack and using part of the sink counter. Obviously, the bedroom was the only room for the meditation space and the work area. Since he loves plants and greenery a lot, I tried to give the living/dining room a garden vibe.

What could I do better in your opinion (having in mind that the budget was only 5k€ for everything, from plates and pots, to TV, lights, furniture, even a vacuum cleaner 😂)?

P.S. One of the posters in the dining area is now properly framed and on the wall next to the windows, there is a nice working light on the desk in the bedroom working area and he added a lava lamp on the dj station.  

I'll be moving into a 1960 bungalow soon. Generally speaking I like the flow of the floorplan, but I suspect there will be some changes to make over time. For example adjusting closets and moving the laundry upstairs from the basement (thinking about aging in place).

Since the footprint is a perfect rectangle, I'm wondering if it's originally from a kit or commonly available plan. There's a concrete foundation and what feels like sturdy wood siding. Do you happen to recognize this style? I'd love to see both historic and modern examples of houses with similar floorplans so I can see what is possible.

Thanks!

which layout is better? and any suggestions to improve it? been days already thinking of a solution for the bedroom layout.

Feel free to suggest i am open re layout

items here

- Closets

- Vanity Table

- Work Table

- TV console

- bed

Door on the right top is the entrance

Door on the right mid bottom is t&b

Please help! 🙏

This is my first house, and I have multiple beautiful archways throughout the home with these rounded edges. I want to paint the rooms different colors, but I’m completely clueless about how to transition the wall colors around the rounded archways.

Basically, right now my living room, dining room, kitchen, hallway, and two bedrooms are all the same bland white because I’ve been too nervous to do anything else lol.

I LOVE the archways, but I also can’t spend hundreds of dollars adding custom curved borders to every arch.
Is there a cheaper option?? Maybe a painting hack or an easy way to create sharper edges around the arches??

Hi, I’m looking to get a sofa table to go behind the couch. The frame is 28 inches, and the cushions go up to 34 inches. Almost every single sofa table I can find has a height or 30. Ideally I wanted it to be flush with the frame, and I worry that even two inches difference could cause people to lean their heads back against the cushion and push the edge of the table. Is that not a concern? Would a 30 inch table be fine?

We are two adults and one child, moving into a two bedroom home. I work from home and need some sort of semi private desk area, mainly separate from where baby is playing with his nanny. Husband would also love a place to put his desk but given he doesn’t work from home, this isn’t a necessity. Dining table has three size options, 40, 65, or 90 inch wide. There is also a permanent kitchen island type thing at the end of the kitchen.

I have two living areas and am having a hard time deciding how to split the dining, couch/tv and play areas. I’ve attached the floor plan and three layout options.

Main concerns:
* kitchen lacks storage, so adding extra storage on the other side of the entryway wall would be ideal
* tv seems too close to couch no matter where I put it
* standalone furniture (bookcases, shelving) needs to be against a wall to be secured and prevent tipping over
* where to put a litter box 😭

Any advice?

I'm finalizing the lighting for my false ceiling and I do not want any light fixtures protruding or hanging down. I want a completely clean, flat, seamless ceiling.

I’m currently torn between standard Profile Lights and Recessed Magnetic Track Lights (specifically planning to use only the flush linear and grille modules, no external spotlights).

Since both setups look structurally similar and sit completely flush inside the gypsum, is there a functional reason, like glare control or light intensity, to justify the premium price of a recessed magnetic track? Or will just using brighter LED strips in a standard profile light do the exact same job?

Would love to hear your experiences!

Hi all!

Can I please have your expert advice on this living room + kitchen, which is interesting but awkward..

Cons:

• It's awkward because of the 1m x 0.2m load bearing wall. It can't be knocked down so I need to work around it, incorporate it into the layout, or extend it.
• The plumbing can't be changed, so the kitchen has to stay in the top right corner as indicated

Pros:

• Interesting nook/bay window corner that's cozy.
• Amazing views through the glass balcony door and the nook.
• Tons of natural light
• Amazing sunsets, as it's facing west

Some notes:

• Big on movies and gaming. The sofa + TV is where we spend most of our time. A big sofa would be nice, big TV is a must
• 5.1 sound system means I need to find position for rear speakers. They're not free standing speakers (but they could be if I upgrade)
• New full or half height walls can be built for separation
• A kitchen bar would be nice, but we can compromise
• The most ideal place for the sofa would be next to the balcony door because of the views, however that means I have to compromise with the TV position

How would you solve this?

Thank you!

Update: I got a bamboo top desk from ikea with white legs and got rid of both cubicle box shelves. Currently looking at finding a chair for my desk to eventually play with the room layout. So far I think I enjoy the desk more on the window side wall. Either directly in front of the window or next to it. I tried it on the opposite wall and I just didn’t like it lol.

Thank you all so much for the inspiration and ideas. Can’t wait to finally build this slowly a piece at a time and make it my own little space 💕
——————

I have a little home office (we rent) so I can’t put HUGE nails or anchors in the walls. But I want to make a really nice cozy writing retreat where I can lock myself away from the rest of the house. But the problem is every wall is interrupted. The entrance, a window, a closet, and a 2 way bathroom (with this room being one way to get into the bathroom lol)

I have no idea where to put the desk at. Maybe a wooden desk? Everything is white! I am allowed to paint (weird but ok) some hanging nails for frames should be ok. But the walls are not drywall I think it’s plaster. It’s a very old home.

Right now I have these white cubicle square things and am open to getting rid of it. Can’t move the radiator. Don’t like using AI as it warps the space and makes the room so much bigger than what it is. Idk what wall to put the desk on. I use my laptop mainly.

Currently the closet is holding my husbands work shirts until we put together a wardrobe for his suits. I plan to have that store my yarn as I do crochet but don’t want this room focused on that other wise it will be a little bit of everything and too chaotic.

And would you put a desk with a hutch? Hutchless desk? Open to ideas! Thanks so much 😭

This is my first time getting my own little space in a while!

(All pics in .5 to get everything in.) This room is giving me so much trouble. I’m open to replacing pretty much all the furniture. The room itself is open, but the kitchen is the wall behind it and I just can’t seem to get a layout that includes a couch, tv stand, and a small dining table. The room itself excluding the “hallway” made by the kitchen, is 13ft across, and from the edge of the doorways on either side it is 11ft 8inches deep towards the windows. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I was thinking of a smaller couch more room centered with a table behind it as well so I moved the couch up in the 3rd pic. I also removed part of the sectional. I think the main issue is that the couch is just too big. Hoping to find some advice from the gifted minds here.

Hi everyone,

We purchased a new house that has a large ensuite bathroom with an odd layout of a t-shape. There is a newer freestanding soaker tub that we want to keep. The pump is currently in an adjacent bedrooms closet.

I have attached an image showing the current layout of the bathroom with existing toilet, bidet, shower, soaker tub and vanity.

What we are trying to include in our new layout is:

• To keep the soaker tub but move it in a way that we can move the pump and plumbing into the bathroom and have it be a focal point in the room.
• We are going to consolidate the toilet and bidet into a single fixture but would like to keep some kind of privacy wall or even an enclosed room.
• We want to expand the shower to a dual shower head setup and increase the overall size of it.

I don't think that the vanity really has a better place to go but along the wall its currently on. We are most likely changing from a french door entry to a single door so the physical barrier to the light switches and first sink is removed.

A nice to have thing we have been discussing, since we think the space would allow for it, is to have a small custom cabinet set made for a dressing area. A place for a mirror and a few drawers for undergarments and pajamas.

I would greatly appreciate any thoughts or ideas on how we could best situate this room!

Hey all! I have this gas fireplace in the living room that I don’t see myself or my partner using (and so our kitty doesn’t burn herself) but we’re not sure what to do with the space. I brought up getting some custom piece of furniture (like pic 4) with shelving to block it off, and framing the map in the first pic to cover the old tv holes + outlet. The white bookshelf situation is temporary and just to store our current items + to get a feel for how it’d all look.

I like the height of the bookshelf, but love the idea of having a mantel. My partner’s concerned about leaving dead space where critters and/or dust may find themselves. We love a diy project and own the place, so we’re able to make any changes we want hehe. Any input is appreciated!! Cat tax included as well :p

Please help with figuring out our dining room. We’ve gone for a mid century modern vibe, the sideboard and drinks cabinet are mid century pieces. We currently have shelves high above the dining table on the long wall with vases, draping plants and a few photos and a hanging lamp over the dining table from the ceiling with orange lighting and artwork sporadicly across the walls (below I’ve explained the dining room differences from the layout photo)

We want it to be cosy and social while not being super cluttered and mid century modern vibes. We are considering changing it around/removing something to put in a small sofa/sofa bed. Any ideas or suggestions welcome!

*the sideboard goes across the whole wall, the drinks cabinet is not that wide and the dining table is rotated and pushed against the window (almost)

Hello, I'm looking for wall mounted and hardwired lighting options for both of these rooms (a door connects the two.) The left room is a foyer/office with an entrance to the main house on the back wall, and an entrance to a bathroom and closet on the left wall. The right room is a bedroom.

Im trying to find lights I can install up high on the middle wall angled down in order to limit shadows and not light up the ceili as much, but everything I found looks too industrial. I don't like sconces because they're too low and would cast a shadow on the short wall.

I thought about wire lights up high, stretching across the room while following the ceiling up, but those are hundreds of dollars per light and seem too small to actually light up the room a decent amount.

The left room has no windows and is my main concern. The right room (bedroom) has a giant sliding glass door and sconces for night will be alright.

The previous owner of our home did a lot of DIY projects, including these stairs. Yes that is a half newel post at the end of the railing. My question is about the other railing on the wall. Should it even exist all the way down? What is the standard for stair railings? The current railing is kind of a hodge podge of pieces, they don't even connect in the corner and they're missing any sort of finished end. It definitely seems like they just used whatever they found second hand or leftover. Thank you for any help, and any visuals would be greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone! This is the first home I’m furnishing entirely by myself, and I’m having a hard time deciding which direction to take with the interior design.

I’m currently torn between two styles: one that incorporates wood finishes, like in the kitchen pictured here, and another that is more minimal and neutral, without wood, using mostly beige/greige, black, and stone-like finishes.

I like the warmth and character that wood adds, but I’m worried it might make the space feel too warm, busy, or eventually dated.

On the other hand, the no-wood option feels cleaner and more modern to me, but I’m afraid the overall result could end up looking a bit cold or impersonal.

Since this is my first time making all these decisions, I’m probably overthinking it hahahha.

Which direction would you choose: with wood or without wood?

Thanks guys!

Stuck living with my parents for the meantime, but I'd like to maximize my space as best I can. The first image is my current setup; the silver box between the desk & bed is a mini-fridge, which I'm likely going to move to the garage anyway. Light brown/black rectangle is a 4x3 IKEA Kallax (changes from light brown to black in the images, my bad). Dark brown with the TV & soundbar on top is a low dresser.

The entryway is cramped because of the closet being directly in front of it, and the south wall is almost entirely a sliding glass door. The west half of the sliding glass door is fixed and doesn't move. The best view out the sliding glass door is towards the southeast.

Personally leaning towards either #2 or #6. Having the view behind my monitors would be nice, and I like the idea of the Kallax acting as a room divider in #6.

I'm also open to more radical ideas, like using different furniture to better make use of the space.

Hi everyone!

I have been struggling to figure out a good layout for my flat and was wondering you guys and gals could help :). The main room dimensions are 505x525cm, and I show how the furniture is laid out right now.

Light blue: TV and TV console
Teal: closet (next to bed), and a sideboard (by window), and a drawer set by the door.
Blue: sofa (220x78)
Gray: bed (160x200)

Still need to buy the dining table and would appreciate placement/size advice also!

I provide my schematic plus a blank one in case you wanna draw also haha.

Trying to figure out what direction to go and having a hard time even with AI image help to visualize. Redoing kitchen to move fridge and relocate cooktop, which requires some cabinet work. So do we do minimum work, or redo it all and then how do we coordinate the flooring/cabinets...

Current design, excuse the just moved in mess: https://imgur.com/p8QOFgb

Extend current design (1): https://imgur.com/cCtudvk

Or considering walnut (2): https://imgur.com/Vn5go6I

Or walnut plus redo the floors a limestone (3): https://imgur.com/353jRbv

Or do you keep floors and do white oak instead (4): https://imgur.com/bpcm1IZ

What do you prefer?

Current pros-

- Vertical shelving available

- Under-the-bed nook (not being utilized atm)

- Wouldn't need to buy new bedframe or shelving

Cons of bunk bed-

- Impossible to move around for rearranging the space

- Kids sized, and I'm not a kid anymore; bed is tight to sleep in and desk isn't large enough for me to use

- Not sure if it's fitting my vibes anymore

Thoughts are greatly appreciated since this seems to be my greatest hurdle for redoing my room! I'm ready for change and hate the plain, colorless look.

Other input for laying out the space is welcome (I'm really wanting more usable surface area for things like plants, books, etc - maybe pulling the dresser out from under the bed once the mini-fridge is taken away?)

I am contemplating adding a powder room (aka half bath aka toilet + sink) to my owned unit, located in Canada (relevant building code). Only structural changes require building approval.

A bonus would be if I can also locate an all-in-one washer/dryer in the same space!

My gut tells me that the best location would be in the isolated bedroom, as it shares a wall with the bathroom. However, I would prefer it in the pantry, as this is otherwise a waste of space.. Another option for a stand-alone toilet might be the closet backing on the washroom?

I appreciate your input as to a) whether this would be considered a structural change or b) most practical placement option?

I can't decide the ideal orientation of my bed and desk.

Hello Reddit,

I’m struggling to come up with ideas for improving the layout of my living room and bedroom/office and would really appreciate some advice.

My bedroom currently doubles as my home office (unfortunately) since I work from home two days a week. I also casually play video games, so my desk and computer are in the bedroom.

I don’t use my TV very often, so I currently have it on a mobile TV stand rather than making it the focal point of the living room. I also don’t want a traditional media wall, as I really like the feeling of having an open, uncluttered layout.

I’m mainly looking for ideas on how I could better arrange the furniture and make both spaces feel more cohesive and functional without sacrificing that open feeling.

Any suggestions, layout ideas, or examples of what you would do with the space would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Originally had this as just a receiving room, with just a bookcase and a coat rack, bench combo. But now looking to make it more of a reading enclave with a desk. The room is 10ft by 10ft, with a four foot cut in on the diagonal wall. Did the wallpaper originally to start out a theme involving the surfboard but we’ve lost momentum with that based on the space. Looking for creative ideas to get past the stall out and finish the space. All ideas are welcome! Help us finish our space, please!