apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'm confused about the dimensions of the room. Is it 12' x 12'? Is this your entire apartment? Do you need to fit sleeping, eating, lounging in this space?

Hi Laura,

It's just the living/dining area. There is a small kitchen adjacent to this room. Bedrooms are upstairs. As for dimensions, it's closer to 15 ft on the walls with the window and the fireplace/bookshelves and 12 ft on the walls with the doors. Thanks!

You don't say what your needs are other than a sitting and eating area - so I'll assume that you need to accomodate a TV too, but not a sleeping or working area.

On the left side of the room, I'd place a loveseat (not a sofa) with a rectangular ottoman instead of a coffee table. A couple small end tables (with drawers & shelves) and table lamps flank the loveseat.

On the right, I'd place an enclosed console for the TV/Stereo, books and storage.

In front of the fireplace, choose a pair of upright upholstered armchairs flanking a 30"-36" round table that's @ 28" high - This is your reading/dining area.

If the floors are wood, a rug that's at least a 5'X8' belongs in the sitting area - place the rug lengthwise across the room, narrow ends to the loveseat and console - leaving the space in front of the fireplace bare. If you can afford larger, do so.

Maybe a slightly unusual arrangement but...

1. Round Pedestal table (ala docksta or liatorp from ikea) directly in front of fireplace.

2. Sofa and two upholstered chairs (or two small sofas) facing each other, perpendicular to the windows. Anchor seating area with rug...

3. Dining chairs. If you tend to eat on your sofa when you are solo, the chairs could be lined up against the wall. So the dining table is easy to walk around on a daily basis (and less cluttered feeling). And then moved to the table when you have guests or feel like a sitdown meal.

It was a little unclear from your posting how large the room is and that (along with your desires) will be important.

Also, as I didn't get a feeling of what exactly you want to use that room for, it might help you if instead of immediately doing the mental furnture rearranging, you step back and think about about what functions that you'd want this room to fullfill: dining room for you? place to entertain your guests?
If you do plan to entertain, do you like dinner parties or cocktail parties (as in - will you be needing a big dining table)? Or is all of this irrelevant, as you are simply planning a retreat for just yourself?

Are you planning to have a TV/projector in the room? Do you have a lot of books that will need a place?

All of this will have a lot of influence over your choices, so I feel it's best to think about them prior to jumping in.

JenPDX i like where you are going with this! two small loveseats facing each other near the windows with a coffee table would be so cosy! and then the dining area could multi task as a work space when not being used for meals. the problem would be if a tv needs to be incorporated... they are always getting in the way! pesky things.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9529823@N04/2359440754/

Slow day at work! You should either place a low bench or a armchair in front of the fireplace. at the south end of the room place a loveseat on the west wall and a dining table on the east wall... you can have two ottomans as a coffee table inbetween (Small tray on top to make it friendly for drinks to be set on top of). They can also be used for extra seating if you need them! (Storage too)

You should try to leave as much walkway space as possible between the door and the door to the balcony - you don't want to clutter that space up! The key is to have things be dual-purposed. Storage in places that you wouldn't think of! The dining table can be moved as well as the ottoman/etc.. for larger gatherings if needed. A rug really will anchor your "living area" so it can have a clear definition of space.

It would also be key to have a plasma screen on a wall or even over your fireplace so you wouldn't have to have a tv stand.

Good luck!

As unfortunate as it is, the walkway prevents you from having the arrangement around the wonderful fireplace (why on earth someone would lay out a room like this is beyond me). But, I would definitely leave the walkway free of furniture (so as to allow any activity from kitchen to balcony - dining or potting plants - to be easy and enjoyable).

I'm assuming the "doorway" is to the kitchen and the actual "door" you're showing leads to the balcony... Regardless which leads to the kitchen, I would start with the kitchen side: Just inside the room from the kitchen I would place a sofa or love seat adjacent to the windows (back of the sofa facing the kitchen wall). Place a gate leg table behind the sofa for dining and working (so, away from the wall, of course). Continue your arrangement from there (ottoman for coffee table, a couple of upholstered chairs with a table between).

It's a fairly straightforward arrangement, but I think this will allow you to keep your walkway open, as well as keep the views of the windows and the fireplace open to everyone sitting in the room, no matter where they are or what they're doing.

...just a thought since I had the templates on my desktop. Let me know if anyone wants links to the specific products used.

http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=atmaxaltoclaysr7.jpg

C.