When last we met to discuss my living room I had pounded my fist on the table declaring I was going to have an English Roll Arm Sofa and ONE chair! End of story. Everyone out of my way while I have at it!
This is a purposely awful picture of my living room. Literally a snapshot, not a "blog" shot.
Heh. I mightta been wrong about that whole English Roll Arm sofa and only one chair thing. But I'm not sure. This is why I haven't started making over my living room yet. This is also why I've had the same haircut since I was 16.
My living room is "the room". The room in my house that feels wrong no matter what I do. Even when I change things around and think I love it, the love is fleeting and within months or even weeks I'm scowling at it again wondering when it'll stop texting me.
Why is my living room such a struggle? Because it's weird. I normally like weird, but weird isn't helping my living room in this case. It's not symmetrical, the windows are off centre and it doesn't have a single full wall.
Plus it's sort of narrow and long. Sort of. The living room measures around 15' x 11' with the fireplace taking up a big portion of one wall. The problem with this is there isn't a lot of space on either side of the fireplace for chairs.
So after declaring this the living room with ONE chair, I'm rethinking that decision. I feel like this room has SO much going on architecturally with 2 windows, a fireplace, 2 bookcases and a big, framed entry that I need something to really anchor and focus everything. Something solid and bold. Like a Snuffleupagus.
Orrrrr two matching chairs. Not even just two chairs. Two MATCHING chairs. I'd like them to be in front of the fireplace, facing each other. The Eames chair in the corner is comfortable, but when winter hits and I'm sitting beside the fireplace, I can't even really see or feel the fire because I'm smushed in the corner. Which is the only place the chair and ottoman will fit at the moment.
I'd also like two chairs in front of the fireplace with the option of being able to see the television from them. Which means that television over the fireplace might get moved. Obviously having your television on your mantel isn't a design lovers dream but honestly, it's where most people put the television because a lot of times there's no other option. Yes. Sometimes even designers put their televisions there because it makes the most sense in terms of having a room be functional.
I may have a bit of a mission on my hands finding two chairs that meet all of my requirements. Seriously. Like, I might not find these chairs until after I've already turned this living room into a bedroom because I can't handle stairs anymore.
My made up, totally unrealistic chair checklist is this:
- VERY small footprint, but feel big and comfortable.
- Down wrapped foam cushions
- Swivel!
- Maybe even recline!
- But not look like a recliner.
- Have a high enough back that your head is supported.
- NO preference for whether they're traditional/timeless or mid century modern. (phew)
NOW what this means is I can't pick out a couch until I find these two magic chairs. IF I happen to find two magical mid century modern chairs that means I'll want a more classic couch. If I find more traditional chairs, I'll be leaning towards more mid century lines for my couch.
Ready for the hitch??? I've been looking around and what I'd really like is an antique couch.
Sometimes I wonder why you people even follow me. I clearly have NO idea what I'm doing ever.
I'm actually thinking of sending my room floor plan to some of my most favourite designers and hoping they send back a completed plan. I'm talking to you Suzanne Dimma (former editor of House & Home magazine), Carol Reed (designer of my kitchen) and Amy Beth Cupp.
I love my foyer ...
I love my dining room ...
I love my kitchen ...
But I cannot, CANNOT get my living room right.
The worst part of all of this is the fact that this 2 chairs by the fireplace thing means there's nowhere for my beloved Eames Chair.
These are a few of the layouts I did up quickly based on the furniture size I would be likely to get and none of them look great. Partly because it's a mockup layout with nothing else in the room.
(made with the West Elm room planner)
(I'd have a long wood or marble table in front of the sofa but it was easiest to use a long upholstered bench to simulate the right size in the planner)
You know looking at these I'd probably be smart to just keep a stupid sectional in the room. ACK!!!!!
I might just turn this into a bedroom right now.
Have a good weekend!
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Phyllis Kraemer
Don't give the Eames chair a thought...there are many of us who would simply LOVE to babysit him for you!
Elizabeth
Could you move the sectional sofa closer to the fireplace, leaving space between the wall and the back of the sofa? You could put a sofa table behind it? Not sure it would work from the photos, but might make it more cozy.
Karen
I had my room exactly like that up until a few months ago. If you look back at any older pictures you can see it. It made accessing the shutters very hard and made the room feel a bit squished. A slightly narrower sofa table would help with both those things. :) ` karen!
Barbara
So curious to see what you do. What about a riff on version 2? Sofa on wall. Move Eames chair to corner on other side of doorway (kind of where your lamp and end table are now). You will be able to see the television and fireplace. A floor lamp will make it cozy for reading. Then either add the swivel chairs on either side of the fireplace or just get one chair to put where the Eames is now.
Karen
That is a layout I've considered. The only thing that hurts it is the Eames footstool. The chair, with footstool (which the chair absolutely must have) is veryyyyy long. Like love seat long! ~ karen
Jane Baker
So why can't you put two sofas and keep your Eames chair? If you put a sofa on either side of the fireplace facing each other, and the Eames at the end facing the fireplace, you can easily watch television without cranking your neck and still get heat funneled between the two sofas right at you from the fireplace. Your sectional will be too wide by far to use. You would need two small, narrow sofas. (I've got my eye on a couple at Scan Design.) but you could break apart your sectional and move the pieces across from each other just to see what it would look like. Technically, flow should still be excellent. A very small, elegant throw rug in the middle would pull it all together and still not hide the floors.
I have attached a quick work up but didn't want to take the time to move the couches closer to the fireplace. I think they would have to move down about six inches or so.
Karen
With that, there's actually no way to get in the room, lol. There's about 1' at the edge of the sofa near the entrance that you'd have to squeeze through. Then from there you'd have a little less than a foot to maneuver around the Eames ottoman. :) I like couches facing each other but the room size doesn't allow for it. ~ karen!
Deborah Burns
How about putting the Eames chair in the entry?
Re-do your entry, remove the table (I can't quite remember the designers name) the other 2 chairs and put the Eames chair in a good corner with a window, a table and lamp.
I loved your entry way with the shelves, maybe add more shelves and turn your entry into a library entry!
Karen
Um, well I already have a dining room that's a library so I think it might be library overkill to have 2 of those types of rooms in one very VERY small house, lol.:) I love the foyer. It's perfect for me. I'm not willing to you know, turn my whole house upside down to make the chair work. :/ ~ karen!
Barb
If you check out Sylvan in Toronto they can custom make a sofa for you. I know they come in standard lengths of 72" 84" & 96" but once you get a visual on what will work for you then check them out I'm sure they will help you find the one. They could possibly make exactly the right size chair for you too. I don't work for them I just own one of the rolled arm sofas from them & it's perfect for me. I feel your pain getting a room to feel "just right" it a challenge.
Karen
There's an English roll arm I like that at Silva in Toronto they can customize. It's the same couch Suzanne Dimma had made there years ago. :) ~ karen!
Lianne
Or a custom roll arm sectional? a la: https://www.serenaandlily.com/miramar-corner-sectional/mMRSEC.html#start=1
Karen
I wish I could like those, but the reason I like the English Roll arm is that it's a classic. Once you turn it into a sectional it isn't a classic anymore. It feels a bit - weird to me. I think I'll just clear everything out of the room a pitch a tent in there. ~ karen!
Jo
p.s. They could be more squarish too....
Jo
I'm including an image from Milieu magazine Winter 2018 because on page 22 there's a swivel chair there that brought you and your living room layout to mind. Plus, I love me a swivel chair. But then I thought "the dimensions look a bit small here, arms not plush enough, back not high enough, maybe a bit too narrow - not 'comfy' enough for what Karen wants. Then I thought "why Doesn't Karen just make some to her own specs?" You have the tools (and the freakish but appreciated energy for a billion projects). It's just wood/nails/batting/upholstery...and some swivel mechanism - those manufacturers have to get them Somewhere. And, You made those fabulous one's on your patio. So what say you? Make some stuff.
Laura Bee
Have you considered putting the Eames where the built-in Billy bookcases are?
Karen
In my dining room? Wouldn't fit. ~ k!
Laura Bee
No, the foyer? I am thinking of the picture in Style at Home with the sheepskin chair and bookcases.
I can't keep up with your rearranging lol.
Karen
Ohhhh, those bookcases are now ripped apart and part of the dining room bookcases. :) That room is now the room with the marble tulip table and gold gilded chairs, white lacquer buffet and crystal chandelier. No room for the chair in there. :/ ~ karen!
Jane
So if you don't like to dump the sofa - dump the chairs and get 2 sofas? No other stuff just 2 sofas and a table between or a nest at the end? then live with it for 3 months and see what you need to add back......... or a sofa in front of the fire and the two chairs back to back or a chaise long? That can be move into a more sociable place when you have many guests? No idea if that would fit but just thought I'd stick my 10 bob in for good measure!!! Good luck....
Sarah Baranek
Place 2 couches perpendicular to fireplace w/ coffee table between them [maybe]. These couches would have recliner options, could only be love seat length if too big as a couch. Put your Eames chair near the window to utilize natural light to read. Eames is far away from fire, but you could see it and get all homey that way. Now you just have to look for another Eames chair so you have your 2 chair idea, or just have the one...
Plenty of seating, recliner options and possibility for 2 chairs...
Karen
I think you think this room is much bigger than it is, lol. I couldn't fit 2 sofas in front of the fire no matter how short or narrow. I wish it would work, 2 facing sofas are my favourite layout. But ... no can do. ~ karen!
Oriah
Hmmm.....i like the last layout the best. You should keep the Eames, buy it a matching friend, store the Eames ottoman, and move the grouping closer together so it floats in the room. That way, you can watch the fireplace or tv from the sofa or swivel the chairs around. I have a weird living room too and basically did the same thing and it made the space so cozy.
Larissa
Our living rooms are very similar in shape, and like you, I tried my furniture a hundred ways to Monday and ended up with your plan #4. We use a loveseat instead of a sofa because you wouldn’t be able to get in the room since it’s so narrow if you used a sofa. Our TV is over the fireplace too, not my favorite, but it works. Since there is a large corridor behind the loveseat, we have a set of swivel rockers and footstool against the back wall with a sofa table for holding cups of afternoon tea.
I sure hope you can find a solution that works for you.
Sondra
I have not read all of the comments so forgive if someone else suggested this. Why not a couple of ottomans rather than room crowding chairs in front of the fireplace, smaller sofa by all means and move the favorite Eames chair to the other end of the room? Maybe even an antique fire bench rather than chairs in front of the fireplace. The height of chairs could also block the view of the fireplace. One thing I learned a long time ago you have to be careful when placing furniture near doorways that make the whole entrance uninviting or visually blocked off or people are uncomfortable entering the room so no sofas across the narrow room.
Karen
Hi Sondra. :) I've tried 2 ottomans in front of the fireplace. I love ottomans! The problem is I want the chairs there to curl up and read and listen to music. Curling up in an ottoman mainly involves perching, lol. ~ karen!
Berry
I might move the TV too, but not for design reasons. It's better ergonomics to have it lower. I'd be sorely tempted to position an automated dropdown screen over the entryway for a super huge screen. I had one a couple houses ago, and it made for a fabulous movie night. (I also had the lazyboy recliner stadium seating sofa with cupholders which was comfy but such an eyesore! )
Karen
I do much prefer a lower television but it's not an easy feat in this room! ~ karen
Berry
Nope, not a bit! ;) Other than a dropdown projection screen the only option I came up with is over the wood for the fire, but that limits sofa sprawling options for TV watching. Well, ok, you can actually center a tiny antique loveseat in the entryway and put the TV where the pictures currently hang. It makes for an odd flow of traffic, but my auntie had a similar entryway between dining and living room and it worked. Requires an antique loveseat with a lovely backside and doesn't seem like your style, but you *could* do it.
Berry
Have you considered a chaise/bench/daybed? The kind of thing that is comfy for 2 people to sit on facing either way but has lounge-y arms for sprawling with a glass of wine and dreamily watching the fire. Set it parallel to the fire, and your antique couch could go either opposite or on the wall facing the opening to the room. And depending on the size of the antique couch, your eames chair might fit in a new corner.
Liza
The problem is the sectional is too big for the room - you just don't need that much sofa. I would keep the Eames chair where it is so you have your cozy spot next to the fireplace, then I would get the roll arm sofa and face it toward the fireplace, so you can watch tv - not too much furniture in the room, but all functional for your lifestyle. I really can't see you with swivel or recliner chairs.
Karen
Embrace the asymmetrical & put the sofa at an angle? Might buy you enough room to keep the Eames chair.
Sigrid Olsen
I really am not fond of a Eames chair in such a small traditional room. They really belong in much larger rooms or dens. Despite the comfort, I see the Eames chair as a bit of a fetish---for what is really ugly and very mid century modern. Trust me, I have been to the Eames exhibit in Sacramento, so I really don't have a hate on. I would nix those big antique trays, too. They look awkward. I'd put books up there. Also, the TV has got to go---I had mine up like this for a year and I felt a bit of my soul DIE. I took back my traditional mantel and put a much smaller TV on a small table off to the side. There was a grumble for about a minute, then everyone adapted. I gave the big TV to my son. Your house is perfect---this room is not. Keep working on it. However, I believe it won't work until the chair and the TV goes.
Karen
O.K., But you don't like my kitchen cabinet either!! LOL, so I'm afraid our tastes in general for design are far apart. I also see the Eames chair as a classic. Popular yes! But with reason. :) The TV stays. It's a matter of form never preceding function in a house. I'm sure I'll get it right (for me, probably not for you, lol). ~ karen!
Sigrid Olsen
not true, Karen---I seriously drool over your house and you. You are truly amazing. Not only that, you can handle all of our comments with aplomb.
Thanks for letting us put in our two bits. The fact is we would all love to live by you and or have you near us.
Karen
Oh stop, lol. It's O.K.! I'd be doing something completelyyyyyy wrong if *everyone* liked everything I did. It's O.K.! ~ karen
Abby from the garden
If you moved the chairs closer together ( in the middle example) would there be room for the Eames chair angled out from the corner of the FP wall?