Hello AT,
Anybody have any idea what to do with this small living/dining room area? There's a granite countertop in the kitchen where I'm thinking we can put some stools and treat it as the dining table most of the time. But we would also like to have a small dining table so that there is a place to sit down when we want to do some paperwork...
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But there's hardly enough room to put a dining table, a sofa, a love seat, a coffee table, a TV and a stereo there. Does anybody have any space saving suggestions? Also, would a flat panel TV on top of the fireplace help or would it be too high up?
Thanks for your help! SC
Dear SC,
First of all: Lovely Apartment! What a great layout even if it is a little tight, you have so much LIGHT. We'll give you two thoughts and leave it open for others to give you a few more.
1. Definitely install bar stools to make your kitchen, but keep it to two so that it doesn't get cluttered.
2. Install a small sofa/loveseat facing the windows and separating the dining area from the living area. Allow a passage on the right to the study.
3. Face the sofa with two armchairs.
4. Put the flat screen on the wall opposite the fireplace and lower down so that it is at head height when sitting.
Anyone else??
Whatever you do, make it happen in shades of brown and beige.
I like Maxwell's idea for the layout.
If you don't have enough space for both the dining table, the sofa and the two armchairs, you could place the desk/dining table directly up against the back of the sofa and hide 2-3 short stools under the table when it is not being used as a dining area/desk.
You didn't ask for this opinion, but if I were you, I would pull up the carpet and install hard wood floors in the living room/dining room area. The light from the windows would shine on the floors and would make the space feel larger and cleaner. If you like the cozy feel of carpet, you could always place an area rug in living room, in front of the fire place.
You've got a beautiful space to work with!
For some reason this apt came to mind when I saw the photo:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/small-cool-2006-entries/14-jenny-cloves-laish-pad-007000
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/small-cool-2006-entries/finalist-10-jenny-cloves-laish-pad-007949
I know the layout is not identical but Jenny and Clove's place looks smaller and they have managed to fit a dining table and sectional in a space that is similarly configured. The murphy bed and cover could be seen as a similar feature as a fireplace when it comes to placement and it is on the opposite wall but I still think this place could give inspiration.
They don't have stools but I think stools and a dining table would work in your place SC.
P2's place is also good for inspiration. The kitchen counter, table and sectional placement would be very similar.
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/small-cool-2005/finalist-4-patricks-cosmourban-studio-rental-002700
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/small-cool-2005/apartment-13-patricks-cosmourban-studio-rental--002580
SC, great apartment. Question - if you have a living room AND a den, why are you trying to fit so much into the living room? Why not use that space for a small table/dining area on the side of the room closer to the kitchen and a conversation/entertaining area (with smaller pieces of furniture) around the fireplace, and then put the TV and larger sofa into the den area?
You could add this type of expandable console/dining table behind your sofa:
http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=7604
And perhaps if your stools could raised/lowered to chair height, they could be used at the dining table as well.
Just to add to Maxwell's suggestions -- Add a drop leaf table behind the sofa/loveseat. This table can function as sofa table and as a dinning room table. You can also use the den as a tv/library room. Good Luck!
one great thing about having a bit more space is that you don't HAVE to have your television in the living room. without knowing any specifics other than your floor plan, i'd suggest keeping the TV in either the second bedroom or the den area. that way, A) you have more room, and B) you can keep the living room for socializing and relaxing.
i'd also jettison the loveseat -- in a space this small, you just aren't going to have the kind of crowd where you'll need that much seating.
that leaves you with two chairs and a couch, which you should build a conversation area with. if you don't have a coffee table, you should get one. you should also get a small storage piece with a secretery or slide-out work surface, as well as a chair that can double as additional seating for guests. you can probably put the stereo on said storage piece/secretery, as well.
I hate living rooms dominated by the TV (which is why mine is hidden in a cabinet . . .) -- so, pursuant to KMW's comment, I vote for using den for TV and couch, and getting some nice chairs, clusted around your hearth, for Living area in addition to a nice dining set.
Also, definitely go for bar stools -- but is it possible to place them on inner side of countertop, so you are facing into living room when seated? (not clear from pics if countertop has an overhang on either side .. .)
Whatever you do... PLEASE don't put a flat screen tele above the fireplace. That concept has to be one of the worst interior design choices ever created. Not to mention how terrible it is on your neck to watch anything at that angle.
I agree with the opoponax, hide or ditch the tele and make the focal point of the room something interesting... not a TV.
I'm just sayin'.
Storage :Make a combination of open/closed storage on the length of the wall(as shown in the 1st picture) .
Color:Use a dark colored paint on the other wall ( something which will bring a lot of cheer in the room )
Light:Use morrocon hanging lamps for light
Seating arrangements:Low seated sofa - i have seen low indian furniture in some stores and an equally low indian side table.
Art:colourful textured pillows.
Additional seating arrangements: 2 chairs equally low. ( something very scandinavian)
A glass center table
A medium sized sculpture.
Bring in a little green into your room or fill your deck with a lot of greens.
and as Maxwell said bar stools of course.
if you would like to retain the openness of the room and enable conversation between people sitting at the bar and sofa, you may refrain from dividing the room.
enjoy the process.
I kinda agree with Maxwell. Definitely put the sofa or loveseat with the back to the bar. And hang the tv on the wall OPPOSITE the fireplace. This will provide wonderful and much needed balance to your room. Then I would tuck a small gaming table or small round table with two or three chairs into the space to the right of the fireplace in front of the window. This provides a wonderful sunny place for dining, working, games, etc. I think it is especially fun at night to dine next to a window. Then I would place a chair next to the fireplace on the left side. I'm not a fan of placing two chairs side by side backing up to a window. I like to use the window, sit in it, look out of it, bask in the rays. When I have two chairs backed up to a window, I can't get to it. Like a famous decorator once said after he had designed a 20X40 living room for a rich NAME you would recogize, which by the way had a gaming table tucked between the fireplace and the window, "I just wanted to create a room she could hang out in."
I like the idea of the dropleaf table behind the sofa, as a console. I'm not sure what style you like, but I saw this C&B table in the fall catalogue and think it's great; it incorporates storage as well, so you can hide that paperwork after working on it. It might work for you if you're not averse to traditional.
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=885&f=10722
I agree with KMW, make the Den your tv room and make the dining/living area your entertaining room.
And I disagree with whomever said it's too small a space for entertaining many. I think it would make a great party room as long as you don't fill it with unnecesary stuff.
i hearby announce my jihad against breakfast bars. they all remind me of that edward hopper painting of a guy sitting alone at a counter at 3 a.m. breakfast bars keep people from seeing each other, making eye contact, and talking to each other as they do at family meals, which are, as we all know, the corner of civilization and the socialization of human beings.
round table.
always have the same amount of seating, that is, number of seats, in the living room as you have at your dining room table. use ambient light (lamps with translucent shades) to create warmth and coze in living area, and a nice $25 ikea chandelier over the DR table. or a $3 chinatown one.
rant over.
SC--
Where are you in the US? Would love to help you furnish this place!!!!
See my recent AT: Chicago house tour:
http://chicago.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/house-tours/house-tour-emily-scotts-fruit-warehouse-rehab-012274
I think we have a similar kitchen, dining, living room layout although yours may be a bit smaller (do you have dimensions?). We have barstools, a 4 person dining table, a bookcase, sofa, & 2 sidechairs. Our TV is in a niche cut about the fireplace into the drywall but I think a plasma hung there would be fine, especially since the wall is cut back some.
Great space though, well layed out floor plan! I like the master bath suite.
I second patrick(the other one)... where are you? If you're in Chicago, I'd love to help!
Knock down the wall between the living area and the den - then you'll have one large living area at the window end of the room and can put a table just the other side of the kichen counter
I'm confused, though... floorplan shows a kitchen island, while photos show a breakfast bar that appears to be attached...
If reconfiguration is an option, I think I'd reorient the door to to the ensuite walk in closet...
What a beautiful apartment! In my opinion, you can definitely use two bar stools easily at the bar area, and still put a dining room table in the dining room part of the room. I would divide the dining room from the living room by using two love seats or two sofas. One backed up to the dining room area and the other one across from it with a table inbetween them. I would use the TV in the Den area possibly with some kind of entertainment center. You can even use a sofa table behind one of the sofas. You really have lots of options to consider. Good luck.