Hi Dory. I love your colors! I am not very good at doing layouts conceptually but one thing that popped out at me was your comment about how the piano fit one wall perfectly, as if that was that. I just wanted to say that even if something fits perfectly in one place it's good to keep an open mind and be willing to allow a better overall solution which requires that piece to be somewhere else. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. In this particular instance, for example, you've got no seating facing the fireplace, and moving the piano might make that easier to facilitate. If the fireplace works I would think you'd want a place to sit and look at it.

Also, I know you didn't ask about this, but your walls need art!

Dory--

you've got some great pieces, the first thing that i noticed is that everything in your place seems to be exactly the same height! have you thought about lifting some pieces (like the lamps on the floor) up to a table, to create more visual interest?

good luck!

Good lawd... that's not a living room, that's a ballroom! Jimeny, I just cannot figure out why people move into a place with large rooms and then can't figure out what to do with all of that space... and it's especially egregious when the furnishings and finishes are so mediocre. Sorry, I don't mean to be offensive, but you should consider starting with a blank canvas, rather than trying to move around the junk you have now. It's terrible!

Is there some way to see the photos larger? I tried clicking on them, not happening.

I disagree with hejiranyc, I think you have some nice stuff. It is a lovely room.

I am not sure how it would look, but I would push everything closer to the rug. That may mean that you have to move some furniture out of the "living room area." When the time comes, buy a bigger rug, it will make a huge difference.

I decided on my room's layout with a free online software from BHG and that was really helpful. This is how I found it. There are other, better software programs, but this one worked for me and I especially liked the price!
http://freebies.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=freebies&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bhg.com%2Fbhg%2Fcategory.jhtml%3Fcategoryid%3D%2Ftemplatedata%2Fbhg%2Fcategory%2Fdata%2Farrangearoomtest.xml

Good Luck!

ps - I said that you should "push everything" closer to the rug. I only meant the chairs, the couch and the loveseat if it fits. Don't more the entertainment unit.

Could you have been a little less constructive, hejiranyc?

I agree with the comments about height and about art. I think that the lack of a focal point is the main issue. The fire place could serve as a focal point, or the piano. Do you have a nice view out of the window? If so, you might want to highlight that. If you moved the piano out of the nook, the magazine rack and a nice reading chair might work well there.

The white, or just off-white chairs may be a little glaring compared with the tan in the couch and the rug, too.

Your purple couch makes me jealous.

It's not terrible, but it is a lot of space. It looks like that living room could comfortably handle a large old fashioned dinner party of 12 or 14. For more casual parties, it will easily fit many more people. If you like to entertain and have people over, it's a *great* space.

So I would start by deciding if using the space for parties is something you'd enjoy. If that appeals, you'll want to be fairly ruthless in making sure you have enough seating, places for people to put drinks, and that there's good flow. The traditional layout of coffee or tea or cocktail table in the center of a seating group, with end tables between seats became traditional because it's practical for entertaining. Everyone has a place to put down a glass or plate when food is served.

If you prefer for things to be quieter, you get more flexibility in how you lay things out.

I don't like the clash between the upholstered arm chairs and the purple sofa. Stylistically, they don't blend well. If you love them both, I would look for some Queen Anne style tables that would look good painted. That will bring together the traditional and modern styles, and give the room some more harmony.

Adding artwork will help work height into the room. If you find a big piece that you love, the room can handle it.

hejiranyc,

Regarding your comment:

"Sorry, I don't mean to be offensive, but you should consider starting with a blank canvas, rather than trying to move around the junk you have now. It's terrible!"

You certainly did mean to be offensive.

If you want to leave the piano where it is, you could add a tall bookcase to the wall on the other side of the fireplace. Then, add a large piece of art over the piano to balance both sides.

There's one photograph that you've forwarded that may underscore what's wrong - the one with the furniture arranged in front of two blank and neutral, unadorned walls meeting at an interior corner. You have furniture (appaently not to everyone's taste) with personality to spare, and walls that present a gaping yawn of boredom. If the walls could have a lot more zip, they could compete with the furniture, and at the same time unify and perhaps orchestrate the furniture. We're not talking Parish-Hadley here, but I think it would still impose some order.

Lovely space. In fact, the space is so large, have you considered segmenting it a little more? I can't quite tell from your photos, but it seems like you have a small dining table with a couple chairs. Maybe get a larger table and create a larger dining area within the living room.

Another suggestion -- if it is a working fireplace, maybe you don't want the back of the purple couch to face it.

Ok, this is easy.

I'm going to work on your arrangement, proportions of furniture and picture frames, and furniture styles.

PIANO:Yes, if you like your piano there, keep it, cool. I think it works functionally and looks good. How about putting a medium sized mirror over the piano? That little rectangular picture is TOO small.

CURTAINS: Get rid of those white drapey thin things probably and just keep shades. It is nice to have curtains if done right, but your windows are big and probably not too ugly and curtains that are gauzy seem to draw too much attention like you are at grandma's beach house.

FIREPLACE: I see you have little arrangement on fireplace. That was a good try, keep a few things and put others somewhere else (little frames/knicknacks). get rid of those two mini lamps on mantel, too little for living room.

And, what is that mushroom weird shaped thing over fireplace? If you don't put mirror over piano, then put a big mirror over this fireplace mantel, like just a little less wide than fireplace like 30 inches by 40 inches or something. Hang it like 5 inches above fireplace, nice and low. GO to store called homegoods, they have big mirrors for $50 only. No need for crate and barrel $200 mirrors.

PURPLE FUTON AND PURPLE RUG:
OH MY GOD! PUHLEASE! This may be extra seating and leftover rug, but put these together in a spare bedroom, or give them to a young friend moving into a dorm or something. THey are way too young for your fancy place! Please get rid of them, your living room dining table and couch are so classy that these two pieces DRAG the whole living room DOWN!! please listen to me and do NOT think of shoving in a corner of that room as emergency guest seating. throw out RUG AND PURPLE FUTON COUCH or put in another room or give away. no excuses!

PURPLE PILLOWS:
Now that you don't have to tie beige couch in with purple furniture and rug, you can get rid of those mauve pillows on couch! please. get rid of purple pillows on futon and couch and stiped pillow and bright throw blanket.

DINING BUFFET TABLE SIDEBOARD FURNITURE:
Near the dining room table, i see a nice brown buffet table and a white table or something with items on it? If it is a radiatior, you have no choice but to keep it there, since it is built in. but, draw less attention to it, by taking some items off it! If it is a movable table, then put the brown nice buffet table where the white table is, switch places essentially. that while is painted pretty beige and the brown would be nice contrast to it.
Decorate the top of the brown sideboard with a few slight verticle elements. A medium sized lamp, not the ugly ones on floor in living room though. A medium sized picture leanign against wall, or a big vase or large candlesticks, something like a foot or two tall, that won't interfere with shelf above it. Get rid of that shelf above it, if you can, but probably a pain and need to repaint, so don't bother.

IF you can't move brown buffet to where white one is, then keep where it is, remove white curtains, and still stick a few tall vases or things to create decorative arrangement but without bothering windows much. THink medium clunky pieces with a presence , nothing tiny and delicate, no multiple knick nacks!

put white dresser where brown one was and decorate top with something pretty, not just clutter, it will blend in with white wall. can't tell material it is made of, and if it is nice or cheap, need more photos. if nice, keep, if not, get rid of i guess, or move it away from dining room.

DIning table:
table nice and chairs nice. you can keep it where it is, just pull it a little farther away from beige fireplace wall and more out into livingroom.

Tan couch:
looks nice, but can't tell quality from picture. hopefully in good condition. move it to location of purple couch now. Then, put those two PRETTY white chairs near it, but really close to it. either one on each side of couch at 90 degree angle. or put two directly across from couch, but all should be close, not far apart like now! You can BUY one nice throw pillow in conservative color or print and small conservative throw blanket for color. no big neon brights, but dark red, beige, brown, black, navy,dark print, may be ok.

Then, as your purchases, buy TWO RUGS!!
They don't need to be expensive. nothing shag, or bright or white or weird, just two conservative rugs. one at living room area definitely. and if you can, put under dining table. if not, skip the dining one. if you buy the dining one, make sure when you pull chairs out from under table, rug is still there.
living room rug should probably be 8 by 11. you can even buy from ikea or somewhere cheap as long as you buy simple durable one that doesn't look too mod.

tan cheap furniture:
since dining room table and buffet are dark and lovely, get rid of your cheap tv stand and mini book shelf. just buy a simple dark brown tv stand. no big ugly tv media stand that will be useless in two years when flat screens become cheap and you decide to buy one. put mini bookshelf in room with ugly futon as practical storage or give away, or put in closet as shelving. do NOT hide in corner of living room as book storage. If you have lots of books, buy one nice tall bookshelf to hold your books, doesnt have to be too fancy, just nothing that looks like it is falling apart, throw out books you dont need. and buy one bookshelf to hold all yoru books, tall, like 3 feet wide and 6 feet tall.

SIDE TABLES:
the one you have is very cute but should NOT be next to those two classical chairs. put it in bedroom or somewhere else. dont throw out, it is cute and little and practical. Buy two medium sized side/end tables, like 2 ft by 2ft and put two lamps on it (that you have on floor now).

Chandelier and lighting:
if a rental, don't bother, if not, and you are sure you will keep dining room table there, then center dining table under chandelier and even change chandelier to cooler one.

Lighting:
looks like cheap ikea stuff, try to go to homegoods and buy one less dorm like cheap metal. buy something more crate and barrel style, less ikea. get rid of all that cheap tall standing lamp lighting. it is functional, just buy a nicer one, but no need to spend $200 on a lamp either. just buy tall lamp with nice looking shade and one tall upright lamp, halogen style but less ugly, to provide needed functional light.

Buy a square or big coffee table or ottoman to put in front of tan couch and to act as anchor of room.

proabably can keep tv stand where it is now, just make it look a little less american, less like all furniture aimed/angles at tv, and more like chairs aimed at couch for group conversation! put bookshelf on wall where couch used to be.

i think i didn't solve your problem yet of what should be against the walls in your living room area still, because tan couch, two white chairs, two end tables, coffee table and rugs should all be in center of living room area, on area rug, not touching walls. However, tv stand and bookcase should be against walls, your walls may still look a little empty though. seems like you should buy two big mirrors and two big pictures to hang as wall decoration and have someone help you place correctly and hang low because your walls look empty. do not just buy furniture and neglect walls, you must hang like two to 4 bit pictures/mirrors on your walls. one above piano, (this one is not so important, but just get rid of that little hanging thing), one above fireplace , and some on bare walls near living room.

this took a while, so i hope this is helpful!!
get out of room list/throw out/give away/put in closet:
blonde wood tv stand, blonde wood mini bookshelf, purple futon, purple carpet, purple/striped bright pillows and blankets, two mini fireplace lamps.curtains. just try having no curtains.

things to keep:
great functional pretty dining set, beige couch, two awesome white classical armchairs, lamps if you must, piano, brown buffet table sideboard.

shopping list:
big 8 by 11 neutral area rug for living room, one or two side tables for living room for lamps, tv stand, tall bookshelf (not ugly leaning kind, just tall and simple wood) don't mess up walls with complicated shelving). 2 to 4 big pictures/mirrors and i mean big like about 3 feet by 4 feet, one throw pillow and blanket.

do these things, then reassess basically, move your living room furniture around how you like it, but keep conversation area on area rug. and think about what to do with walls re: tv, book case and hanging pictures.

good luck, you have a great start with nice table couch armchairs and dining set, enjoy and don't drive yourself crazy.

Wow, greenfurniture, that's impressive!
I want you to come over to my home to tell me what to do. I really appreciate such a comprehensive overview of everything....

I can't quite figure out this space, but perhaps you could create a "living room" around the fireplace, and then create a seperate little reading area? I think the purple is great.

Nice large space. The problem is you've created only one seating area, around the television. It looks like a frat house. Here are some suggestions.

Put the rug in front of the fireplace, turn the purple couch around, and set the two armchairs on the other corners of the rug. The magazine rack should now go behind the purple couch. Then you'll have a nice cozy and well-defined place to read a book of visit with friends.

Move the piano to the other side of the fireplace. In this alcove you can then install wall standards and brackets for floor to ceiling bookshelves which will add some height, drama, and color to the space. Do not go out and buy boxy finishes bookshelves, which only go up three-quarters of the height. Bookshelves to the ceiling will look really awesome.

Move the dining table parallel to the windows instead of perpindicular and move the buffet to the opposite wall. Do not put anything that will visually cut that long line.

Keep the beige couch where it is. Get rid of that piece next to it and put the white standing lamp there instead.

Can you hang those speakers from the ceiling? Radio Shack has brackets. And paint the wood cabinets on those speakers to blend with the walls.

Finally, take down those curtains! Get shades.

Hmm. I agree about getting rid of all those small tschokes on the mantel. I like that idea of the mirror above the fireplace. Something big and dramatic. Or a big colorful, framed, poster.

You know what would work on the wall behind the couch? Those wall decals that are all over this website these days. Just that one wall.

I think you could just flip flop all the furniture from one side of the room to the other. Take the piano and the furniture to the left of the fireplace (I can't tell exactly what's there) and move it to where you have the sofa/rug/tv now. Then take the sofa, rug and tv, and arrange those items around the fireplace. That will give you an automatic focal point (the fireplace) and a natural conversation area.

As for the other elements, I think you need some artwork or shelving and some lighting to draw the eye up. Like another poster said, all of your furniture is about the same height and is drawing the eye downward.

Also, all of your current furniture is on legs, so you can see the floor underneath and everything behind your furniture. I think this is creating a sense of "visual clutter." This is particularly evident with those side chairs and that table between them. I think this can be fixed by either putting the furniture on the rug or buying some pieces with a solid base.

Two final things to add: new window treatments and a coffee table. The drapes you currently have aren't really doing anything but adding more visual clutter because you're seeing the sheers and the windows behind them. I think long panels in maybe a chocolate-y brown will add some weight and ground the space. And I say add a coffee table because everyone needs a place to put a drink while at the couch.

Good luck! I think you're off to a good start.

We have no idea of your room’s dimensions, but I will try to give you some advice based on the pictures.

Some basic issues: You have too many small pieces, which give the room a cluttered, choppy look. As Davis noted, your lamps need to be on tables or other furniture, not on the floor. Your walls are bare and need some sort of large artwork. In acquiring artwork, seek pieces you love and avoid pieces smaller than 22"x28".

Since your room has four focal points, piano, fireplace, entertainment center, and view, I would begin by moving your dining furniture and sideboard to the opposite end of the room where your beige sofa now sits. Place the sideboard along the wall where the beige sofa is located and the table parallel to it. This will open the wall space between your fireplace and your exterior wall. Use this wall as the location of your entertainment center and build your book shelving and space for other components there, floor to ceiling. Leave your piano in its current location. Your entertainment center should also include storage for the magazines you currently store in the low unit below your windows. This unit and the white tray table should be removed from the room

Place your beige sofa along the window wall, its low height should not conflict with your view. Place the purple sofa along the wall where your entertainment center is currently located. This will create a spacious L with the two sofas. Float your smaller chairs in the room, perhaps placing one between the two sofas and the other between the fireplace and entertainment center, or float them on the ends of the “L” configuration. Your two dark shaded lamps should be placed on tables located at the end of each of your sofas. Do not “bookend” the same sofa with the two lamps.

Your rug is probably not of sufficient size to make this configuration effective. Therefore seek a large, non-neutral rug which coordinates with your purple couch and other neutral furniture. A traditional Persian, other Asian rug or contemporary rug with an engaging design will help enliven your space. The rug should be of sufficient size that the proposed configuration of your furniture sits completely on it or on top of its edges. Depending on the size of your room, I would place one large, or two small cocktail tables, or one cocktail table and one ottoman in front of the sofas.

Due to the types and sizes of the items you have, effectively redesigning this room will require the purchase of some new pieces. You can however, reduce the cost impact of many items by researching what you want and then seeking them on Craigslist, Ebay, or home furnishings/furniture sales.

The result of all this should be a space that effectively caters to the four focal points by allowing you to enjoy the fireplace, piano, entertainment center and view from all of the pieces of furniture.

Hi. thanks to the person that thanked me. and a few more points.

1. keep the good furniture.
2. get rid of bad items, by moving to less important room or giving away.
3. buy a few items, my point is not to tell you to spend a lot of money though, a few items go a long way.
4. there are many ways to arrange your furniture.

most importantly, get rid of bad stuff, and group living room seating furniture in tight so it looks like a group setting. i like the above poster's suggestion about puttting piano against blank wall. it does work where it is, but since your living room is in center, you may need something against wall, and piano is a pretty focal point to do the job.

i don't agree with above poster's suggestion of messing up walls to add shelves, time consuming, expensive, hard to do right, and not flexible, can't move if you don't like. i like idea of decal a little to make wall interesting, although that could be kind of 2007 cheesy/at trendy, and not your style. so, there are many suggestions for furniture arrangement, but follow rules of keeping good tight living room arrangement.

focal points:
also, yes, focal point is fireplace, dining area, piano, living room seating arrangement. need a tall bookcase for functional purposes. and problem is a bit in media/tv. usually not so pretty/just keep it small, and NOt a focal point, since usually just simple tv, and some wires and functional. also, remember after you decide on where furniture goes, to hang your mirrors/pictures.

and, i like some of your stuff, but not all, but that is a good start! and your place looks functional which is great, can have meal, entertain friends, watch tv, etc... play piano, sing, dance whatever.

good luck.:) enjoy.

I agree with 99% of what greenfurniture said, and appreciate the effort it took to write that essay. I bow to you...

It's wonderful that you have so much space to work with--I love your floors and fireplace. I agree with other posters, and would make the following changes:

1. Create different "spaces" in the room, as others have suggested. Seperate the two couches across two of the spaces--keep the white sofa with the purple rug and then you've kept the purple theme in the various spaces.

2. Art Art Art Art. Please add some art to the room--it will break up the space, infuse your personality, and help reinforce the spaces you create.

Enjoy!

i really thank you all, especially to greenfurniture for the time spent on my case. in order to make it even more efficient i'll try to clear the fuzzy part of my "question".

the fireplace is not working.

i bought the purple couch and the matching carpet years ago for my bedroom (maybe i should consider putting it back there as i have even a purple curtain in the closet for its rebirth:).

the small sidetable between white chairs is a self-painted DIY. i'm glad that you find it cute, but i'll follow advises to put it somewhere else.

the cheap ikea lighting will go away as soon as we settle down.

yes, walls are empty (yet), because i didn't want to nail anything before fixing the layout. this is also why the blonde wooden cd rack is still in the corner on the floor.

brown sideboard is just a simple rack put on floor, whereas the sideboard with brown top and white face is actually better condition.

i didn't intend to decorate the fireplace and the sideboards with those small things (maybe the picture frames only), they just accumulated in the course of time.

mushroom weird shaped thing over fireplace :)) is a metal pirates sail boat bought by my husband-to-be in a holiday in Greece (so I can't put it down:)

unfortunately the view out of the window is not nice, just another block too close (I definitely agree with windows without curtains or with blinds).

the room is big by 20 by 20, but through the 24 mm lens of my camera it looks much bigger.

this may sound odd considering that the tv was on, when the picture was taken, but actually we watch tv seldom if ever. our typical evening activity is listening music with our laptops (me reading AT, him working). the main role of the tv stand is to host the hifi (so even we buy a flat TV the stand we'll need a stand) and the positioning of the loudspeakers are extremely important (actually we want the couch aim at hifi/loudspeakers not at tv necessarily). i would love to find an idea how to avoid the tv being the focal point of the sitting group.

And as a last excuse, i only bought the beige couch for the living room, the dining group came from a friend after her divorce, white armchairs from my mother, you know the story of purple couch/carpet.

So, thank you very much for your valuable comments. After reading them and seeing how fruitful this goes so far I think of putting more detailed images on flickr. I'll post the address as soon as I do so.

dory

oops, i'm slow. until i wrote mine there are 12 more comments! and now I understand why there were posters saying that I should put my lighting on sidetables and not on the floor. Well yes, but they are loudspeakers.
i am really happy to have all the ideas.
though i doubt that the idea of making the fireplace a focal point by building a conversation area around it would be still valid, as it is not functioning. (sorry for not mentioning this in the first step)
however you gave me a lot of ideas to play with.
by the way i posted few more images to flickr as i mentioned. here's the thread: http://www.flickr.com/photos/64943956@N00/
as you will see, cusions on the beige couch ware rust colored actually, i just wrapped a violet striped shawl to see how it works.

I think you have enough furniture and space to create two seating areas. My first inclination (would actually be to get rid of the purple couch, I don't think you need it. You could get rid of that and get a nice single chair of chaise an make a reading/piano listening area. If your attached to the couch read on...) would be to maybe make a dining area in front of the fireplace and then move the piano and purple couch over to where the dining table is. If you like purple, make that a kind of formal opulent rich space, to contrast with a more neutral calming space centered around the tv, beige couch, queen ann chairs. I don't know if this would actually work without being in the space and actually seeing it but it might help! At the very least, the way you have it now, there is too much furniture grouped around the tv. Get rid of the purple couch and pull everything closer together, don't push it to the walls! I'd maybe split the chairs to either side of the couch and get a round coffee table, I would do something with a glass top an d warm tone metal base, to warm the space up. Then you could hang some cool pendant lamps on either side of the couch. Definitely hang some art as well! I think I've just been rambling this whole comment but good luck, do what feels right, and I look forward to seeing the results!

For the basic bones of the room....take your purple sofa, the two beautiful matching chairs and your rug and create an intimate seating area around the fireplace.

Then put the piano against the wall the beige sofa is on & move the beige sofa to where the purple sofa is and center the tv opposite. Basically creating two separate rooms (three if you count what looks to be your dining room). Then I would add some serious paint on the walls.

Wonder if anyone else suggested this. I should really read the comments before I post. haha.

Lovely floors by the way.