We have tried to live with just one couch in our main living area since moving in, but every time we have guests over (at least once a week!), we find ourselves scouring the house for extra chairs, while some friends end up sitting on the floor. A few weeks ago, we were having a dinner party and we decided to move the couch in from the reading room for more seating. It was so nice having another couch in here, that the past couple days we moved some things around to make room for the bonus couch all the time. This is the layout we came up with:
In the near future, we'll be adding a window on the wall to the left of the patio doors. We also talked about adding a fireplace where our Lounge now sits down the road--but we'll have to see if we can come up with a way to keep enough seating with that addition--because this is heavenly. Chris and I are thinking the Lounge will probably move downstairs as soon as we turn that into a media/rec room. It's so ideal for movies and snuggling, and we'd like to get something more suitable for chatting up here.
Where the Lounge now sits (and will likely continue sitting for a year) is where our fauxdenza and television was. While it seemed like a good spot initially, mostly because that's the wall the cable is on, it was terrible to walk in the front door and see the side of a tv first thing. We moved it to the left of our Younger Furniture Lily sofa. It's so nice to have this setup tucked on this wall. It's not a focal point, and it fits so well there. The only issue is, there is currently not a cable hookup on that wall. Chris said he can wire one there, but we might opt out of cable and just stick with our netflix/hulu memberships. Those seem to be our go-to anyway.
The piano used to be on that wall, but we rolled it into the reading room--where the Lily used to live. Are you keeping up?
This room works well as a piano room. We also moved our gray chair that used to be in the living area in here so we can still have a comfy chair to read in.
Adding a round rug, baseboards, and a side table are all on the list for this room now--we're far from done--but, I had the photo of Greta hugging Charly blown up and printed as an engineer print and hung it over the piano, which makes it feel like home.
My friend, Jess, said, "rearranging=free decorating." True! Our home feels fresh again, and more importantly, more usable for our needs. I am positive these spaces will continue to evolve and that's the whole fun of it. Now excuse me while I shift those oversized photos above the couch to the right. #eek
Happy Weekend!
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I am planning to do some rearranging again too! Thanks for the inspiration!
Quick question, how is your Lounge sofa holding up? We are thinking of getting one in the microfibre. Wondering if it holds up well? Does it continue to be comfortable?
i like seeing how things are evolving. it's always a fun (if somewhat nerdy) challenge for me to try to reuse things differently in a new space. it just feels so efficient.
not sure if you have at&t uverse cable in your area, but they have wireless cable boxes now that don't have to be plugged into a cable outlet. they also have the cutest series of commercials for it (at&t u verse wireless receiver commercial). we like the flexibility of tv placement.
Hey just wanted to pop on and say I totally thought of this post when a new closet organizing system had the knock-on effect of reorganizing part of our dinning room and our entire bedroom. All accomplished for the cost of $60 :-). Both rooms are sooooo much better and make me free - I love re-arranging!
Loving these changes! I'm always moving things around our apartment and it makes me happy to see other people do the same thing. Great picture of Greta and Charlie.
PS. dropping the cable is the way to go. 99% of the stuff is on Netflix/hulu plus and if it isn't you won't miss it.
it's awesome! and i love the that you now have a music room :)
I see lots of living rooms with just one sofa and I always wonder how people do it. We don't have company over that often but when we do the second sofa is always used. Like seeing all the spaces evolve!
Personally, I am LOVING all the changes! The piano and gray chair couldn't be anymore perfect in your music / reading room. The wood tones of the piano complement the shelves so well and the gray chair really picks up on the finish of the sconces and some of the decorative pieces on display. And the photo of Greta & Charly is adorbs.
I especially like the new placement of the TV and fauxdenza. It was meant to be. If the setup in the main living area works for your family, I say go with it! If / when you move the Lounge to the basement and add a fireplace in the main living space, what about a pair of comfy, upholstered chairs in front of the fireplace? You would still have that cushy extra seating you need. Anyway, just a thought.
We've gone through a few different arrangements in our own home to get to where we are now. Rearranging furniture is a great *free* way to figure out what works and doesn't work. It's so fun to see how your home is evolving!
Thank you, Dana! We'd love to get a couple upholstered chairs in the great room. xoxo
I love watching rooms evolve! Sometimes, they don't look as pretty when they work better for each family (I know ours doesn't), but eventually you get there and its just perfect. Adore the picture above the piano... what a great choice.
I think you are going in the right direction! the living looks so much better, forget about the fire place, add the window, a couple of chairs, a new couch, and I think a bigger coffee table or maybe a smaller rug :( right now, everything seems too far away, in photos at least.
the good thing is the coffee table looks great with the lounge, so your media room is almost done!
Have a great weekend celebrating sweet Faye!
So funnily enough - I read your post this morning and then looked around my small NYC studio apt and decided that I don't really need to be relocating in a month when my lease ends but am really just antsy for some redecorating so I texted my sister to recruit her help. Rearranging will be free decorating and free relocating too. (Also, I'm not ridiculous there are several other factors involved as well but let's just say your post is very topical for me at the moment).
Best,
Jackie
Love the changes! They really make sense for your family and how you want to use the space.
I also spy white kitchen cabinets...looking forward to that post : )
Have a fantastic weekend!
Thanks, Shell! We really hoped to show off the cabinets today but we're still waiting on hardware so we can get our base cabinets on. Monday!...hopefully
Hmm. I'm not loving the new design. The furniture seems like it's really far apart. Can you move the coffee table and the smaller couch closer in?
There's definitely still work to do--furniture to buy. I'd love to move the big couch in closer, but we'd need some sort of console behind it. But since we eventually want to put a fireplace there--is it worth the purchase?? I'm rambling.
Oh, one more thing - where did you get the large frame? (And is it glass or plexi?)
It's just the largest Ribba from Ikea minus the mat. And it is plexi. Can't wait to see your prints!
AH! Love the engineer print of Greta/Charlie. We have a few ideas for some engineer prints ourselves - can't wait to put it to use.
Looking great! Your whole space is really coming together. It's so smart to re-think things and do things over time as you get to know how you live in the space.
Happy weekend! xo.
I am totally pathetic, but as the mom of a kid whose dog is also said kid's BFF...that photo makes me all teary! (along with your post the other day about Charly) We recently had some dog/kid issues come up and it broke my heart bc man they love each other most of the time (we've since worked it out). That photo is just perfect.
i like the changes. just curious: have you flip flopped the couches? my instinct would have been to have the bulkier couch closer to the kitchen. (with all your rearranging, i'm sure you tried it! :) )
The bigger couch used to be closest to the dining room (I really should have included a photo!), but we switch it so we had a little more room to let Charly out back. Hahaha. It could change back at any moment, but it's real nice to have a few extra inches because Charly is not small. At all.
I LOVE rearranging! Now if only my husband understood the fun of it when I ask him to help me move the couch for the 5th time. ;) Your spaces are evolving wonderfully!!