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Hi Lena,

I agree with Colleen about if we don't have dimensions it's really hard to gauge how the furniture place should go. Also, i think that a budget is another critical component of an room design. Do you have an Ikea or a Theodores budget?

I have always been partially to day beds (a la Crate and Barrel) and think that would go nicely in front of the fireplace along with two backless chairs flanking the day bed at a 45 degree angle. This way you can "see" the fireplace from anywhere in room.

For the couch, I would definitely get a console table and chairs for flanking. This provides more seating and also gives a symmetry to the room.

HTH,
Tino

A picture would help quite a bit -- to get an idea of what the firpeplace looks like, how much light there is, what colors the walls are, what the flooring is like, etc. There's too little to go on right now -- for instance, what do you plan on using the room for? Entertaining? Watching TV? Playing with your small children or pets?

It really is too hard to answer this question without any measurements. My suggestion is that you download the Ikea roomplanner from their website and use it to play around with your options. It only comes pre-loaded with Ikea furniture, but if you get creative with using fridges and radiators you can use them to "fake" a lot of other furniture. I found it especially helpful because as well as overhead floorplan mode you can see the space in 3D so you get a very good idea of how the furniture works in the space.

In the two and a half months between seeing my house for only the third time and getting the keys, I used the Ikea planner to plan all the rooms and I'm relieved to report that it worked a charm.

Assuming things would fit this way, I'd put the TV (ideally a wall mounted flat screen) on the wall next to the fireplace at the bottom of the stairs (but closer to the fireplace.) I'd put a sofa or love seat free-standing in the middle of the room facing the tv (but, by default, also the fireplace.) It would be about in the middle of the sliders, perpendicular to them. So sitting there you could see the tv, fireplace, or outside.

I'd put one or two chairs perpendicular to the sofa facing the slider wall to make a seating group with the sofa. They should be small enough (and maybe armless) so that you can easily walk around or between them to get to the laundry room. If chairs can't fit there because of traffic, I'd consider at least one between the slider and the fireplace where it looks like you now have plants.

An area rug and your Lack tables as coffee tables would complete the grouping (except for maybe a floor lamp.)

After that, you would have the area behind the sofa. You could put a console table behind it with lamps, and then use the rest of the space for yoga or a home office or a crafting space or another seating area for entertaining or a bar or a guest bed... whatever you need!

thanks. To answer a few questions,
1. the walls right now are off white and there is beige carpet.

2. I don't think that budget is an issue but I have a cb2/westelm budget. I don't want to pay more than 1200 for a sofa/sectional.

3. side walls are about 10 feet and the width of the room is 16 feet. The wet bar area is 5 feet wide. The sliding door is 6 feet wide and I get afternoon sun (walkout).

4. This is primarily going to be a hang out/tv area. Im soon to be 30. So I want a fresh clean look.

5. I am apprehensive about putting furniture at the foot of the stairs.

I am having a really tough time figuring out the furntiture layout of this room because it seems so akward. I want to paint but since the wall continues up the stairs its hard to know where to stop painitng. I dont have the budget for a plasma tv right now but I do need seating/tables/lamps/tvtable.

With a few additional clues here is what I'd do and I saw this on Divine Design a while back where Candice utilized the odd 30 Degree corner fireplace and instead of fighting it, she embraced and put furniture at the same angle as much as possible to the fireplace and put the TV on the wall to the right of it and near the fireplace so they both became the focal point.

I'd do that here. The sofa directly in front of the fireplace at the same angle (much like you got now) and place the TV, this time on the wall next to the fireplace's left so both are the focal point and assuming the slider's opening is on it's right, you will then have room to place 2 small chairs there and leave the path from the stairs and hall to laundry free and then utilize the rest of the space as gaming area w/ chairs anda game table say.

as for painting the walls, I'd paint up the stairs and if there is a door at the top of the stairs, stop the pain there, otherwise, run it down the upper hall to that wall ends so it and the stairwell wall are tied together, otherwise, I think it'd look awkward to have the paint just end without anything to make it obvious as to it's logical conclusion.

Hope this helps.

Hi Lena.
From your follow up post it sounds like you want the focal point of the room to really be the far wall (near the TV), but you don't want to totally ignore the fireplace.

If this is the case, I'd suggest placing a bookcase or credenza to the left of the fireplace (with art flanking or above), and then place a chair(s) and side table near the fireplace, creating a reading nook. This way you are responding to the fireplace, but not making it the major area of the room.

Then I would center the TV on the far wall. You could install a wall to wall cabinet system (IKEA has some clean systems with lots of options), that if you wanted to extend could wrap the corner and incorporate your new wetbar configuration. Moving the TV to the far wall would give you room to hang drapes or flank the sliding doors with artwork/plants.

If the room is only 10' wide, it doesn't sound like you've got much room to flank the sofa with chairs. However, if you use a light, easy to move chair in the reading area, it could move when you need more seating at the TV.

If you use a sofa with a back facing the TV, put a console table behind the sofa that will respond to the reading area. If you go with a daybed or other open backed sofa, people can sit and face either direction, depending on what kind of entertaining you're doing.

Hope that helps. Have fun decorating!