apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

One idea: set up your dining area, then position your couch in the middle of the room with its back to the dining area. Then set up your living room. I had a set up like this for a year and a half, and it worked pretty well. I eventually got sick of it and moved the couch to the corner and opened the whole space up again, which I'm liking better.

I would experiment with your furniture BEFORE you paint, because you may decide you really don't like the feel of one set up or another. You don't want to paint yourself into one option. I know everyone always says it's so easy to paint again, but I personally find painting a hugely disruptive chore and would rather cut down on the re-dos.

I always liked the idea of hanging a visual divider from the ceiling. A couple of old 4 pane windows hung from the ceiling between the dining room and living room would divide the space, but still have an open feel.

Buy Maxwell's book, but go to the library and check out Lauri Ward's Use What You Have Decorating. Her advice on furniture arranging is compatible with Maxwell's but includes more detail -- his book is more an overall approach to making a place "home," and if you move often, it's a lifesaver -- and lots of before-and-after photos.

I've set up my one-big-space with the working space (which is where I sew & cut fabric, read the paper, do my bills) as you enter, divided from the rest of the room by a wrought-iron screen which divides the space but is open/see-through, and then using rugs to visually distinguish the living and dining areas in the rest of the space. That way there's a flow (visual and physical) through to the windows and balcony at the end of the room, but there are distinct areas.

Painting one wall red while leaving the rest of the room white is too much of a contrast. If you really want a red wall paint the rest of the area as well - it could be any neutral color that won't make the red stick out like a sore thumb. And I don't know how you feel about the light fixture over the dining table but if you're not wed to it I'd change it.

Your sofa doesn't have to be the piece that delineates the living from dining area. A free standing, tall, open bookcase would do the trick as well. But then don't fill that bookcase with tons of stuff. Keep it simple with nice pieces, a few important books, well placed tealights, etc..

Buying the Apartment Therapy book is probably one of the best ways of spending 12 bucks (buy it on Amazon used for a lot less. lol) It will really help you understand the functions of your space, and help you "hand in hand" to rid your place of cluttter... but won't give you an EXACT WAY of how you should arrange your furniture and kind of relies on a degree of design expertise or a lot of taste from your part. Curtains might help as dividers on some cases (for example in a kid's room where you want to conceal ugly stuff, or really nice looking drapes. ie last episode of Top Design.) But there's the problem of blocking natural light. A mid-height room divider such as the Expedit would give you more bang for your buck and give you display / storage space, which in your case might be better than just a curtain. You could place all your books in it, have it behind the tv and on either side place the sofa and dinning set. Keep it all in the center so you can access everything whenever, just make sure the divider has enough weight and/or anchor it to the floor so it's safe if you've kids. Here's the plan, hope it helps. www.deliciousrepublic.com/DivideTempl.png

I have a similar situation, with one boxy room, and I have divided mine with a sofa as Maxwell suggests...it works well for me.

Dear Tamara,
you can visually divide this room space by the help of Divider screen. If you like you can visit the following link for the dividers screens: http://www.globalartinteriors.com/partition_screen.htm

Thanks
Anne

I recommend using Google SketchUp. It's free software, easy to use, and you can even download furniture peices from the web from major retailers (ikea, crate and barrel, etc.). You can paint walls, add window treatments, and experiment with furniture placement. It is really quite a gift for those not gifted with "visualizing" new furniture arrangements.

in half

throw some d's in that bitch