I finally figured out what's wrong with my living room....

[politicat]

The windows are off-center, visually, though they're in the middle of the wall. There's a "chimney nook" on the north side of the fireplace, and the windows are in the center of the wall that extends from the back of that nook to the front door. BUT. Sometime in the late 80s or early 90s, when the pollution standards came in, the former owner took out the little coal burning fireplace and put in this much larger, more impressive (and harder to arrange around) gas log fireplace, which we don't use because the price of gas has gone up so much. The chimney nook has the kitties' scratching post in it. Argh. I wish no one had ever messed with this house.

Visually, when looking north, into the room from the dining room, the windows look like there's an extra half-foot of wall space on the west and a missing half foot on the east. (please forgive the mess in the pictures; I'm trying to rearrange, put down the new carpet and deal with this dumb window, and the tiebacks for the curtains are in the washing machine because a certain feline who shall remain nameless has been rubbing up against them and they're coated with black cat fur. So the curtains are currently tied back with a bit of ribbon I had lying around.)

Is there anything I can do to balance this out? The space is effectively 12 x 12, but there is an arch at the south end into the dining room, and the front door is at the far side of the west end of the living room (you can see a bit of it in picture #1. There are two armchairs and a sofa; everything else is negotiable.

#1 from due south, looking due north


#2 from southwest, looking northeast.

[AlCzervik]

1. i would put the couch in front of the fireplace and put the chairs by

the window with and end table between them.

[politicat]

2. The sofa in front of the fireplace?

With the seating toward the fireplace or the back toward the fireplace?

Since we don't use it, blocking it off is not really a problem, but I'm not sure if my husband won't just take me to the nuthouse if I do that. (he's already giving me those "nod and back away slowly" looks that you give to people who tell you about the aliens running Congress on street corners.)

[AlCzervik]

3. so it's facing the fireplace. it looks like you have room to do that

and having the chairs by the window woiuld be nice for guests.

[NMDemDist2]

4. yes with the seating TOWARD the fireplace

and then kinda tuck the one chair into the alcove so it tricks your eye there is a space there. I see what you mean about the problem so kinda tucking a chair in there will trick your mind into "balancing" the window when it has the info there is space back there.

or just pull out the whole damned fireplace and move it to another room :shrug:

[politicat]

5. Can't move the fireplace...

It's in there pretty solid - faced and drywalled and marble tiles. I was looking at it with destruction in my eyes when DH got home from work, and when he saw the look on my face, the first words out of his mouth were, "Oh, no, we are not!" (He's not the handiest of handymen, and every remodel project that involves more than paint and caulk has resulted in a trip to the urgent care... last time being an attempt to cut off his pinky with a Dremel....)

I'll try it with the sofa about 7 feet out from the fireplace next week.

[NMDemDist2]

6. with a DREMEL?????

OK that's it then, no power tools for that guy!

poor fella :hug:

but I just can't help it.. truly I can't...........


argh











:rofl: :shakinghead"with a dremel":

[Warpy]

7. Or leave the sofa where it is, maybe move it six inches forward

and put both chairs opposite. Or put the sofa on the opposite side of the fireplace and put both chairs in front of the windows, facing it.

Since sofa and chairs have light colored covers, try light colored window treatments (which will blend into the wall and look a bit less stark and unbalanced). Consider raising the curtain pole up closer to the ceiling, give those windows an illusion of being even bigger.

There needs to be a much larger piece of art or a mirror over the fireplace, and the clutter on the mantel needs to be eliminated in favor of just one or two collectible pieces.

Small, narrow table between sofa and chairs, small end table between chairs, lamp on table between chairs. Floor lamp next to sofa.

Think of bookshelves in that nook and on the other side of the fireplace. Keep them light.

That's what I'd do, anyway.

[AlCzervik]

8. raising the heght of the curtain pole is an excellent idea.

[politicat]

9. No bookshelves for there

The books are kept in my office, my husband's office, and the den. With 3000 of them, we have to keep them contained and organized.

Besides, the cats are part of our lives. They get to use that nook.

Bigger art... maybe. I may just have the one reframed with a larger mat and bigger frame. Our tastes are very specific and we don't have large canvases right now. I hate mirrors over fireplaces.

The mantel is not my decision. There's another person who lives here, too, and those are his babies. I've already pushed him on a lot of other things; that is not a fight I want to have this year.

We had lighter window coverings (kind of oyster). They looked worse. They're down now for a reason. It made the room look dull and colorless and everything washes out. The room has poor lighting - it faces north.

The furniture coverings also change - everything is slipcovered (we have cats.) The alternate covers are charcoal with a cream pattern.

[melv]

10. put the two chairs

one on either side of the fireplace. Angle them facing the couch, which should be moved directly across from the fireplace (parallel to it).

Base everything else (tables, etc around that).

Put a tall, narrow picture in between the door and the curtains. This will mimic the effect of the curtains and "balance" the room out.

And for goodness sakes, paint those walls! Life is too short for white walls! Based on your furnishings, I would suggest a color that is warm and cozy, to go with your curtains. I also think the idea of raising the curtain rod about 5-8 inches is a good idea. This will lend the look of height in a small space. I would also lose the ruffle across the top, but that's just more my taste.

Good Luck!

[politicat]

11. I'm slowly getting things painted....

When we moved back into this house after getting rid of the tenants, we had to paint EVERYTHING from 6 feet down because their five year old was both a filthy little thing and liked to make "art." (Her mother let her do whatever she wanted.... *sigh*) That was in August. I had to paint everything, so everything got painted with a base coat of white. Note: ink-jet refill ink will bleed through 3 or 4 layers of paint/primer. It's easier to remove the drywall and retexture, but if it's plaster, prepare to paint many times with primer.

I've got the kitchen done (it's papered in pink marble) and one bathroom (sandstone). The dining room is this week - Ocean grey to offset the tibetan red table and cream chairs.

Dear Husband and I are having an argument on the living room - I want to paper it, he doesn't. So that one's in limbo.

[melv]

12. wallpaper

oooooo

I wouldn't wallpaper. When we bought our house, I had to remove 4 layers of wallpaper in each room, which resulted in a lot of sheetrock repair. Trouble with wallpaper is that if you ever want to change the look of the room, it's a stinker to get down.

[politicat]

13. Old wallpaper is...

There's strippable wallpaper and then there's the old stuff that never comes down without demolition. I use strippable. It comes down easily when I want it down, but stays up until I want it down.

There are also primers so it doesn't have to be stripped if it's the old stuff and it's in good condition.

I love wallpaper because there are several strippables that are also scrubbable, something no paint really is. (And yes, we use good paint. Ben Moore or Sherwin Williams exclusively. It will still wear off if it has to be cleaned too much and there's nothing that stands up to ink-jet ink.) Especially in the kitchen, where things can go kerflooey... something I can scrub is necessary. (Did I tell ya the one about my husband, the stick blender and the chicken mulligatawny soup? Ya know, curry STAINS.... I love him, but he admits he's got the grace of a cow on roller skates.)

[Lugnut]

14. That depends

Personally speaking I won't ever wallpaper again because I hate having to take it down. If it's put up correctly it should be pretty easy to take down. I used some wallpaper border in a few rooms when I repainted but I used border primer underneath before I put it up.

[displacedtexan]

15. Christoper Lowell always says...

Move your furniture away from the walls.

The sofa facing the fireplace is traditional and attractive, even if you don't use the fireplace.

As for the window wall, Christopher would drape the entire wall and visually "center" the windows.

Hope this helps.

[AlCzervik]

16. he would say that and then he'd say "We love that!"

[grasswire]

17. how about a painted fireplace board?

Ya know? With a trompe l'oeil painting of flowers in a vase, or some other decorative styling? There are many smart and clever possibilities.

[politicat]

18. I have no idea what a fireplace board is.

And until the weather improves, I'm in a holding pattern on the re-dec. The weather turned too cold to have the windows open while painting, and until the painting is done, I can't get the other bits done.

Sigh. Gorram Colorado weather.

[thinkingwoman]

19. I don't have any advice

that's better than what you've already received, but I wanted to thank you for posting this thread!

We bought our house last August and our dining/family room has the exact same fireplace-window layout!! I've been struggling to figure out how on earth to arrange furniture and decorate it and thought we must be the only people in the world with a house with such a kooky configuration!

Thanks for showing me we're not alone! :hi:

Also, thanks to the other posters with the good ideas for arrangements!