apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

where did you buy the rug?




http://www.modern-sofa.net/products.php?id=00000001

I definitely think the entertainment center is too big and too dark for the space. I would get something long and short... you've got length, so work with it. Also go with a lighter color. White is great because it would blend in with your walls. I would also get a clear glass coffee table... better yet, get nesting table. If you don't use that closet at the end constantly, move the chair in front of it. It helps wides the space a little. Finally get some art work :-) Rather than getting one big piece, get several small pieces in different frames. Hope it helps!

Get a coffee table in there. Circular/oval will probably make it seem less like a walkthrough room.
And are you extremely tied to the media unit? If so, consider painting it a lighter color. If not, you could go for some wall shelving elevated up high for storage of media and maybe putting the tv screen on an occassional table?

throw some throw some d's in that bitch!

You should have asked the question before you started buying stuff. The media unit is disastrous. Sell it and buy something as JuliaL suggested long and and low but for god sakes don't get white. Get a light colored wood and make sure it has space for your audio video stuff. Second, I hate your rug. That room is narrow and long and I suggest something light and sort of asymetrical like an animal hide. The narrowness of your rug accentuates the narrowness fo the room. I would place something over couch like the West Elm Starburst mirror(3 of them would give good symetry).

to avoid the bowling alley look, I would consider using acrylic coffee tables. If you own the place, definitely consider some track lighting. If not, get some lighting but make sure they are light and don't weigh down the room.


Finally I am gonna go against my usual advice and suggest you remove the shutters that lead to your bedroom adn replace with a billowy curtain. If the bedroom looks anything like your living room, keep the curtain closed at all times. If its decent you can keep it open. It will make the living room seem bigger.

Maybe hand a nice curtain where those wooden doors are.
Maybe curtains made from raw silk in a light color. I like raw silk because it looks cool, and is slightly reflective.

I don't know if you'd really want to get of the entertainment center since those things cost a lot. But if you can get rid of it do so and replace it with something much smaller.

In that corner next to the wooden doors (where that small chair is) put a long mirror. You need a mirror somewhere in that room and that's the best spot!

Above your couch you need something decorative. Doesn't have to be a painting. You could hang anything like masks, plates, whatever. Just don't hang a mirror there because the tv will be reflected.

Could you move the armchair to the other side? It just looks a little akward where it is now.

By the way, I didnt mean that you should replace the wooden doors with raw silk curtains. I meant you should hang them from the ceiling to block those wooden doors.
BedBath&Beyond has raw silk curtains that are inexpensive.

That's not a closet, it's her bedroom.
The suggestions above are pretty good. Since you just bought the wall unit I know there is no way that it's going anywhere. Consider painting it or sanding and restaining it (if it's real wood) in a lighter color or shade.

You could hang some floor to ceiling curtains on either side of your bedroom doors and the dining room arch in order to give the affect that the room is larger...and it would also give you the opportunity to put color on the wall. Pick a color from your sofa pillows.

Go for a glass or acrylic (lucite, plexiglass) coffee table (not too big or deep). One that would dissapear to give the space a roomier look.

I'm a total amateur, but for some reason I think that something tall and narrow in the four corners, next to the doorways, would help pull in the short walls.

P.S.

After reading Edina Monsoon's (gotta love that screen name. Where's Patsy?) comment above, I agree with the rug advice. I would go a step further and suggest maybe even a circular rug if not an animal hide. The current rug is too long and narrow and quite busy.

Does the wall unit come in two pieces? perhaps it could be separated and pushed apart. Could it be painted the wall color?

If you can't get rid of that media unit than definitely paint it white. I would switch the position of that chair to the wall by the entrance to the dining room and put a lamp on a small table next to it. I would some art on the 2 narrow walls as well. Lastly I would hang a horizontal mirror above the couch to open up the narrowness and hang 2 smaller mirrors on either side of your bedroom door entrance.

At risk of making a completely reduntant suggestion, would you flip the living/dining areas? Theres something a little depressing about a room with no windows!

The media center definitely dominates the room - if you must keep it perhaps hit the container store and pick up colourful magazine holders and baskets to place on the shelves, that will help tone down the hulking blackness of it. You could also line the shelves with a bright paper also. CB2 have acrylic coffee tables, they also have a C shaped acrylic table on wheels you could potentially use...

I would be inclined to push the media center to one corner of the room, and turn the TV at an angle (if it will work with the unit). Place the chair next to it, so it is facing the couch. Hang some fabric/art bring in a plant or two...Have fun!

I like the idea of flipping the living and dining areas. Could work, unless the dining area is next to the kitchen and you like it that way. If you keep everything in the long room, I would get a shorter unit as suggested perviously, and get it in white. Then put some artwork above it, I think that will make it dominate the room less. My mom has a small room similar to this, and she had white built-in made for one wall, and it had the effect of making the room bigger.

Maybe you could push the media unit into the corner at the dining room end with the sofa opposite. That would give you a space at the other end, beside the louvred doors, for a corner with your chairs and a coffee table for reading or just sitting not looking at the media unit.

Move the unit to the corner beside the dining room with the sofa opposite. You will then have a space beside the louvred doors to arrange your armchairs and a coffee table for reading etc. or perhaps an office space.

I agree with flipping the living and dining rooms. Otherwise, it's hard to tell from the picture, but have you tried re-orienting the living room? So turn the sofa 90 degrees, and put some chairs across from the sofa and have the tv in the corner or to the side? Then instead of walking through the middle of your living room, you'd walk around it? You may not have enough room-width, but it might be worth a try.

The ideas of a circular or oval rug and an oval coffee table sound great - I just want to note that you don't have to buy new stuff, necessarily! You could try repurposing other things in your apartment. Do you have a low sideboard in the dining room? It could turn into a media center with room for colorful art above it. Do you have a queensized mattress? You could slide that media center behind it to create a kind of visible and hidden storage combination.

Also, I think the yellow sofa is a great choice for a sunless room. I did that in my last apartment and loved it.

i know this is off-topic but which area of the city is this apartment? i'm surprised to see such a layout. perhaps it used to be part of a larger apartment which was halved? don't despair, though - you can definitely make that space work!

There were some useful comments posted on my Good Question a while back, where I have the same shape room as you but really low ceilings. One interesting suggestion was using a rug with horizontal strips.

I am moving this week and will have the same exact problem to deal with. My living room is 17' x 8.5. I was thinking about dividing my room up with some big shelves, to give myself a walk-in closet sort of area... Not sure though.

I read all of these comments with interest, as I live in a bedroom that is more or less 8 x 18 feet, although there are odd architectural details that make it a little irregular. I've been trying hard to make it seem less long and narrow which is difficult. I think I may have given up!

switch the living/dining room and the problem is *almost* solved.....the entertainment center is ginormous and really...off with its head!

however, the couch/chair and rug look good together.

sell the entertainment center and with that money, buy something cool for the rooms, like great lighting in the dark middle room or a nice used credenza off craigslist for the tv.

I'm going to add another vote for flipping rooms. You spend far more time in a living space than a dining one, and that room is way too narrow and claustrophobic. And the media unit definitely WAY too big for that space. Since you just bought it and probably don't want to replace it - I'd paint it a lighter color and put it in the larger, more open room.

if you don't have money to buy a new rug, try turning it 90 degrees if the dimensions allow it. i did that in my own similarly awkward living room and it helped visually seperate the space into 3 smaller rectangles instead of one long one. also, i second the tall items in the corner concept- i hung a globe lantern and it helps shorten the room to even out the proportions. and a big round mirror over the couch will help as well to give the room some depth. if you can't remove the entertainment unit get something light colored and uniform to put in the shelves- light colored metal or cloth bins, etc. good luck!

shorter, wider furniture. a surfboard coffee table. try to sell the expedit media center on craigslist and get something shorter and wider or even build something simple with painted plywood.

definitely lighter colors.

for the walls, consider smallish pieces (8 x 10 b&w photos would be good) in a line across at about 57" high.

for the wall behind the couch, consider a grouping of 4 11x14 mirrors in simple black frames to give the impression of a window.

floorwise, ideally something with horizontal stripes parallel to the plane of the room or a good zebra print (the one from west elm is a good, inexpensive choice).

I really hate to say that Edina may have some good points. first off, you have to put things in the room that basically dont touch the walls. in other words that couch should be be moved parallel to the opening wall, with some room to get in and out of the room. One low clear coffee table and place the chair facing the couch. get a short long piece of furniture ( try ikea the LACK shelf turned on its side with short legs or wheels)for the tv and other stuff. nothing is wrong with the rug. Alittle paint perhaps? But if you do go with something that compliments the rug and the couch.

i think you have to get rid of the tv unit, get a small one, only big enough to house your tv.

put the new unit in the same position as the old one; centered opposite the couch. then get another chair and put one chair on either side of the tv unit, then add a small coffee table. if you need additional storage you could get a couple of bookcases for either side of the archway.

i think a long and low tv unit would only serve to emphasize the akward qualities of this space.

Is Laxmi going to be able to walk through the room at all if there's a coffee table in the middle?

I think lauraWaHi almost has the right suggestion: there needs to be seating on both sides of the room. However, instead of flanking the TV with chairs, I say get rid of the TV all together. If you must own one, put it in your bedroom.

Why are we assuming that the dining room has any better proportions than the living room? Re: The living room. Couch is great. How about adding yellow accessories across the room to make the eye look left to right? The media center is a little overbearing. Like the idea of separating the media center, if that's possible. How about angling the couch against a corner and angling a portion of the media cente across from the couch, if it comes apart. And, I agree, the rug just accentuates how long and narrow the room is. Also, love the idea of painting the media center the same color as the walls, except if they are white. A white media center against a white wall will look like a hospital examination room.