This is what I would do, a long sofa along the window, two small-scale club chairs (for comfort, instead of slipper chairs) backed by a console table on the side toward the entrance, and a big comfy upholstered bench on the dining room side.

Here are some furniture ideas:

This is the bench --

http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture_item_detail.php?id=577276

This is the sofa:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/dc/furniture-design/matthew-hiltons-exquisite-hepburn-sofa-130252

Also, define the entrance with a traditional arts and crafts style rug (just google "arts and crafts style rug" for ideas).

Good luck! You have a lovely home!

This looks very similar to mine! Putting the couch right up against the wall was to close to the fireplace for comfort. What worked for me was angling the couch. Here's a pic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ph0enixinflight/6255864694/

Could you put.a loveseat across from the fireplace without impeding traffic to the dining room? If so, I'd go that route, and then add a round coffee table in front of it and a pair of upholstered chairs (club or wing) on either side of the fireplace.

I'd mount the TV above the fireplace or move it to a different room if possible. I'd then have the couch facing the fireplace, maybe with a console table behind it. And I'd put two chairs on either side of the fireplace, facing the couch. I'd have an ottoman to go with one of the chairs.

Can't tell from the pics if there is a window or a door at the fireplace end of the couch.

I tend to think your main problem is the TV, with which Craftsman era folks would not have had to deal.

Head for the library and look up some books on and by Gustav Stickley, The Craftsman magazine in particular. You will see typical layouts. In some ways the style made more use of chairs than couches [settles] and was warm and sparse at the same time.

I really like what I see of your house.

I agree with alliebear. Mount that TV and float the couch in the middle of the room facing the fireplace.

Place the sofa facing the fireplace. Place a console table behind it. Place the two chairs
at a right angle from the couch, backs to the dining room. I would find two similar or matching pieces of furniture that will accommodate the tv (http://tinyurl.com/7pzsvzh or bookcases that will fit beneath the windows), then move the tv into the niche near the window. I would eliminate the little table and chair by stairway and simply hang a floating shelf near the door to act as a landing strip.

I would prefer to see more pictures or a floor plan, but I would swing a small sectional out from the side wall across from the fireplace; back the sectional with a console table; and mount the TV over the fpl.

The area to the right of the dining room door, where nothing works, should be the media wall. Flank the fireplace with a pair of chairs, perhaps with a dining table between them, and move the sofa closer to the front door. Extra chairs can flank the media center.

I'd put a 30"-36" high, 12" wide, 30"-36" long, short end to the wall, open bookcase, next to the sofa to separate the living area from the foyer area.

I applaud you for putting absolutely nothing between the front door and the stairs. It's refreshing to see space left to its purpose.

What I would give for a floorplan and dimensions!
Barring that:
I would center a smallish sofa or left justify (word processing!) a larger sectional with a left hand (as u face the fireplace) L in front of the fireplace. Make sure you leave 3 feet passage between the right end of the sofa and the door.
put a narrow sofa table behind the sofa (maybe the dresser u have now works). Lamp. maybe 2 on top.
a couple of arm chairs -- leggy ones, easily moved -- go on the back side of the sofa. Now you have 2 rooms -- a foyer of sorts, and then the living room.
I'd move to the opposite corner -- it's really in the line of sight there and sort of orients your view to the opening... which makes the room feel unsettled.
Put a good chair -- a medium sized club chair -- and ottoman where the TV now is with a reading light -- maybe wall mounted. Two rugs - one in the foyer (maybe round, or a cow hide to break up all the angles) and another in the tv watching area to unify that. I'd hang a cool chandelier between the tv and the fireplace. Maybe just a candle chandelier? or a candle lantern. This is all predicated on the hopes that your fireplace works.
pam h
howtorunyourlife.blogspot.com

Another thing: your fireplace wall looks incomplete, as with this configuration of small windows around a fireplace, arts and crafts home typically featured short built-in glass-fronted bookcases flanking the fireplace. That would augment the bones of your living room.

Like so:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25151123@N07/2383172873/in/pool-1166834@N22

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jerseyjarzy/5134568204/in/pool-1166834@N22/
http://finelinejoinery.com/other.html

As for the eternal problem of where to put the flatscreen... you could put it above the fireplace (it'll look better once you have the bookcases installed), or perhaps on the wall opposite the picture window, to the right of the dining room entrance. Not sure if there is enough wall space there though.

Please do not mount the tv above the fireplace. If this is your main tv watching area then do as mschatelaine suggests and build some 10" deep short bookcases that flank the fireplace and place the tv in 1 of the bookcases. Then place two small leather club chairs in front of the fireplace and a coffee table.
Lose the 2 side chairs and occasional table and place a craftsman style entry way console or a small craftsman style dresser in that space. This room would be really great for art and accessories so have fun curating those items and avoid the common mistake of loading up on large furniture pieces.

I vote for "floating" the couch in the middle of the room, facing the fireplace. I like the idea of a chair on either side of the fireplace making a nice seating area. Moving the sofa there will also create a more defined "entry" space when you come into the house. It's nice to have that transitional place where you unload, put up some coat hooks and a landstrip of some kind. Kick off shoes and lay on the sofa, watching a warm cozy fire. Move the TV to your bedroom.

This place has beautiful bones. I would look for the smallest L-shaped sofa possible to run along the window and return into the room. Then I would put an upholstered ottoman on wheels as the "coffee table" -- it could be rolled out for additional seating when needed. Anchor the space with a small rug. I think a built-in on the right side of the fireplace to hold the TV would be better than the table now there. Warming up the wall color would help too. Lovely space!

Such a beautiful house! Go with aidan_NZ or ebrown's suggestions for furniture layout, and please don't mount the TV above the fireplace. I do also really the idea of having bookcases beneath the windows-- perhaps you could find some that include doors, and then have one be your tv cabinet. When not watching TV, simply close the doors and voila!-- charming craftsman living room sans distracting TV/media.

really like*

I agree with Alliebear. If you have room to place the couch parallel to the fireplace with a sofa table behind it, I'd suggest that. Also, paint the walls a warm color to bring out the warmth of the brick because the white walls are too stark a contrast. If the recesses on either side of the fireplace can hold built-in bookshelves, that might add interest and texture. Then mount the TV above the fireplace

slightly off topic but do we ever see the 'after' shots for 'Good Questions'? I'm always interested in what suggestions are taken up?

Also similar to my living room, but your landing area to the left of the door is much larger than mine. Here is what I have, which would prob work for you as well:
Couch along wall to the left of door when you enter, end tables flanking either side of it, floor lamp in the corner between end table and fireplace. Ottoman in front of couch provides extra seating for parties, as well as storage.
TV on stand exactly how you have yours. Your tv doesn't look that large but appears to be dwarfing the stand, a wider one might look better.
Wall opposite fireplace (under stairwell) tall bookcase, then armchair, then end table.
Good luck, you've got nice bones to work with!

A friend has an identical looking living room, mind it's enclosed across from the fireplace rather than having a staircase. Windows, brick, trim is all the same though as the home is from the same era.

They have the couch across from the fireplace (if it doesn't impede traffic), a chair on either side of the fireplace and the TV mounted above.

I would put a sofa facing the fireplace with two armchairs facing each other on each side of the sofa. Make the furniture COMFORTABLE, nothing too stiff. Some kind of table in the middle for coffee, feet, books would be great. I wouldn't worry about leaving much room to enter the dining room, as long as a person can walk through. Gorgeous place...keep it homey!

where is the floor plan (with measurements)? if wall to rt of d/r has room before (guessing) the hallway to the kitchen, move the dresser under it, mount the tv like pic over it, sofa where it is & sq end tables w lamps, those houses always have bookcases flanking fpl, angle chair & reading lamp in front of bkcase to rt of fpl, anchor w area rug, float existing side chair to make classic ell, add coffee table in middle. keep the bones of the room & it will work out.

Another possible arrangement would be to lay down an area rug diagonally in front of the fireplace and place four chairs on either side, so all essentally face each other; a coffee table in the center. Create a second, conventional sofa and 2 chairs, seating area further into the room or along the wall

You have a great start with the bones of the room. If it were mine i would add a low curved couch to not cut the traffic to your dining rm or overwhelm the window. And move or hide the tv. I would also do something with paint to bring out the windows and fireplace more. Good luck!

How often do people really sit on the couch and gaze at the fire? I would be tempted to turn this room into a combination reading/dining room. Bookshelves where the TV is. A comfy reading chair and lamp on the other side of the fireplace. Put a round table in the center, add a 4th mismatched chair to the 3 you already have, and enjoy long dinners and Scrabble in front of the fire. Make the dining room off your kitchen your TV/family room instead.

Invest in 2 small club chairs on either side of the fireplace (forego the built-in bookcases at least for now).
Sofa where it is but slide it a bit closer toward front door and put "dresser" across from it with tv on top. Lose the tv stand.

Little round table between the sofa and one chair. Keep one of your wood/ uphostery chairs in the living room (maybe angled towards middle of room next to the now tv stand/dresser) and move one into dining room.

For this room I would have a sofa directly infront of the fireplace but leaving the internal doorway clear with perhaps a large rug between the fire and sofa. The sofa placed here would create a good divide between the living space and stairway/main entrance at the back and cut out draughts too. You could have a few chairs on the wall opposite and next to the internal doorway and maybe a small coffee table and or footstool on the rug to finish it off.
Looks like a lovely cosy room!

We have the almost the same room in our craftsmen-esque 1920s home.

Our living room layout works very well for us and accommodates the flow of traffic through the room - see photos here:
http://itsagoodhouse.blogspot.com/2011/06/state-of-our-space.html

- we currently have a loveseat couch floated in front of the fireplace wall, however we are looking to replace with two cosy chairs.
- Our couch is placed on the wall to the right of the dining room.
- Our tv is placed against the wall to the right of our front door (so the large couch faces it).
- we have a small console table and lamp along the staircase.
- since the above photos were taken, we added a rug which really unifies the layout: http://itsagoodhouse.blogspot.com/2011/08/were-officially-grown-ups-now.html

I know many people recommended floating a larger couch in the middle of the room facing the fireplace (creating a "foyer" area inside the front door) --- but if your room is the same scale as mine, this would severly hinder traffic flow through the room.

Because the room is so narrow, it wouldn't work to put a sofa facing the fireplace.

If you were to do that, you would need to have space around the sofa on either side, otherwise it would look awkward, with extra space on the right side to "welcome" (and not impede) traffic to the dining room.

At best, you would be able to fit a small-scale love seat, seriously limiting your ability to host guests.

The only practical solution is to place a sofa along the same wall as the picture window. In fact, more often than not, this is the preferred way to arrange furniture in such a room, even in instances when it is wider.

Here are some images of similar rooms and their furniture placement:

http://artsandcraftshomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/4-oregon-1915-pcthompson-sp06-444x305.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-39d-MGWhIh8/TX0-KypaeMI/AAAAAAAAAzo/36WAS6ggUCM/living2.jpg

http://www.decorpad.com/photos/2010/04/11/8d45950a93e5.jpg

http://www.designshuffle.com/blog/files/2011/09/1-Bungalow-Style.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-zzVRTIy2WCc/TX0-MgQ-BOI/AAAAAAAAAzs/imXtcWJWRFY/living.jpg

http://img4.sunset.com/i/2010/04/small-living-room-0410-l.jpg?400:400

http://www.oldhouseonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/bungalow-makeover-living-room.jpg

And here is an idea of what it would look like to put the flatscreen above the fireplace. Not ideal, but an option.

http://www.claysquared.com/images/castle-fireplace_001.jpg

Here is a rendering of what it would might like were you to not have have bookcases on either side. Installing an inglenook was typical to the arts and crafts style, and so is also a legitimate approach:

http://1912bungalow.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/builtin_02.jpg

You could, as suggested, somehow make this work for a flatscreen.

Thank you for all of the great suggestions! After reading some of the comments, we began shifting things around a bit, and in an effort to not rule out any possibility until we tried it, I think we moved our furniture about 10 times!

Anyway, we tried the TV above the fireplace, and it was way too high for us and looked weird, so it's back where it was on that awful side table thing. The sofa is now perpendicular to the fireplace, about 9 ft back. We never tried this before, because we assumed there wouldn't be enough room on the other side, but there is actually close to four feet of clearance! One of the wood chairs with a foot stool is to the left of the fireplace, and we put a rug that we since bought in this couch/fireplace space.

Right now, our Christmas tree is near the stairwell, but we will put another chair in that corner with a bookcase along that wall to make a little separate reading space. We like this setup so far (one day!) because it breaks up the room into a living space, a secondary space, and an actual entrance area. Thank you everyone for the help!

Your living room looks too small to have the sofa facing the fireplace, so I would either leave it where it is or do like someone else said, angle it a bit. Does your tv have to stay where it is or could you move it to the other side of the room where the 2 chairs & table are now? Then you could put a chair in the corner by the fireplace.

i have almost the same setup as you - here's a link to my house on apartment therapy (please not that this was before we moved in and changed everything - curatins, mirror above fireplace, carpet, etc.) http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/good-questions/paint-to-brighten-a-room-with-dark-woodwork-good-questions-111853

i would suggest a smaller size left side sectional where your current couch is (chaise part by the door, creating an "entrance way"). then if it lines up move the tv to the wall with the dining room entrance. i'd also place a chair where the tv is now for added seating.

good luck. love the style of the house ;)

Ooh, I like birrd's idea!

A friend had a similar living room in a craftsman-style house. There was little she could do with it.

My suggestion: consider swapping the living the dining rooms. The dining room is usually more square.

That looks just like our Craftsman-style living room, except ours might be a smidge wider and has bookshelves on each side of the fireplace. We've tried it two ways -- with the couch facing the fireplace, a skinny coffee table and two small, light rattan armchairs tucked on each side of the fireplace and angled toward the TV worked really well for awhile. A bench behind the couch created a sort of "entry" (it looks like your front door is just out of the first picture, right?). Now we've changed it up and have the couch back against the window, but pulled out about a foot (looking for a super-skinny console table to fit there) and the chairs opposite with their backs to the wide open doorway. That way's a lot more open and welcoming. The key is finding furniture that's not too big and doesn't block off the space. I'll find a pic if you like. Our TV's in another room, though!