apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

All your furniture is against the walls. Try floating some pieces in the center of the room (such as the dining table, or a couple of chairs that could face the couch -- or even the couch itself. Why sit with your back to the view?).

I recommend experimenting with furniture placement before going shopping.

Gorgeous place!

1. Move the dining room table so the short side is against the wall.
2. Put the couch against the other wall, at the other end of the room by the window.
3. Put the plant in the other corner, by the window (across from the couch wall).
4. Put the two chairs in front of the window, with the small table in between OR put one chair in front of the window and the other one facing it on the other end of the sofa (so they would face a coffee table placed in front of the sofa).
5. Put the tv/media center across from the couch.
Matilda

First off, can I move in with you?--gorgeous place! I agree with pulling the sofa out--either facing the window, or perpendicular to it. Perhaps then put the 2 chairs with their back to the TV? I'm not sure spatially how that will work but it will create a nice little "conversation area." I think you need a larger rug too. I wouldn't personally go for white wash on the floors unless you want it to open up even more. If you want a cozier feeling, go darker. It depends on the feeling you want. I have loved some of those all-white rooms, but I know that I couldn't pull it off myself.

Congrats on the gorgeous space. I'd line the wall of the gallery with bookcases (built in or freestanding, floor to ceiling) and use it as library/office even incorporating the lovely desk you already own. Maybe paint that area a few shades darker than what you paint the living area just to offset it further. Or add a trellis-like patterned runner down the length. The chairs that you don't use from living area could group in front of the bookcases for a nice place to plop down before leaving your apartment or coming home to take on/pull off shoes and flip through mail.

Agree with the sofa facing the window (with chairs framing the window).

You could also put the dining table behind the sofa...pushing the whole seating arrangement closer to the windows to make it feel cozier. With the table behind the sofa, you can add a vase of flower or a small plant as a 'centerpiece'

Thanks for the comments so far! I really like the idea of moving the dining room table (George Nelson Gate-Leg) perpendicular to the wall. The park cannot be seen from the middle of the room, and so we have thought about buying the Wells 101" sofa from R&B (http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/collection.do?method=get&id=4197478&cat=91552821) and placing it perpendicular to the window against the same wall as the table. Then, from the couch, we could see the park, and the TV would be mounted on the wall directly accross from teh sofa. We could then place a couple of chairs facing the window and a coffee table. Also maybe a stool or two?

Perhaps one of our problems is that low, black chinese chest under where the TV would be mounted. It's 18" deep, and perhaps we could use that space for chairs under the TV.

We were also thinking about a small arm chair and ottomon in the gallery under the mirror. This is where we currently place hte Eames Management Chair when not in use at the desk. But I'd like this nook to be more useable instead of just a space to walk through.

Any lighting thoughts? We have such high ceilings that we're having trouble getting our arms around this. All recessed or some sort of dropped fixture in the LR? Rules of thumb for small recessed low-voltage fixtures? Spacing, etc.?

Thanks, Everyone - this is our first post here, and we really appreciate the feedback.

Here are a couple of other thoughts:

1) what about a floor-to-ceiling wood panel (maybe 6' wide) where the tv would be mounted?

2) larger crown mouldings to accentuate the ceiling height?

3) larger rug (that was a great comment) turned so the short side is against the window, accentuating the length of the room.

4) different rug (the pattern drives me nuts).

An L-shaped sectional couch (placed perpendicular to the window, with the chaise part closer to the hall) would also help create some kind of separation between the dining and living areas. However, to have the couch and dining table both along the same wall will seem very unbalanced.

I would put the couch along the wall where the table is now, and then move the table to the other side, or alternatively place the table so it is centered with the center of the two arches off the hallway; if you move the table to that spot, you could then actually put some of those casegoods along one of the living room walls, although it may not end up looking right. (Built-in bookshelves, possibly with drop-down workspaces, are right on for the foyer.)

I would also suggest an oval dining table and round coffee table to break things up a little more and make it seem less like you have a lot of large objects arranged in a narrow space.

I agree with the thoughts on rotating the dining table and putting the couch along the long wall.

In the gallery area, maximize its potential for storage, but in an unsightly way. Use tall casework/cabinets the entire length of the wall. Whatever you do in the gallery area, don't chop it up with such big bulky pieces of furniture of varying styles. Big would work fine as long as all of the same type and/or lines.

A final note on the R&B 101" couch you're considering buying. Great looking couch, but before buying first make sure a piece of furniture that large will fit in the elevator, down the hallway(s), through your entry door and to its final resting place.

eeek and Daily Nuance have made some really excellent comments - thanks. We were thinking of replacing the dining room table with a saarinen oval table. That might look a little less boxy. I'm not sure it works to put the dining room table on the opposite wall from where it currently sits - would visually block the step down into the room, no? Centerint the table lengthwise on that column may work. We may need a new table. But we love those chairs - from Dune in green ultrasuede - not sure if they'd look ok with saarinen. How deep do you think we would need to go on the built-ins along the gallery wall? Could the depth vary? What about an extension of the kitchen with a dry-bar and wine cooler? worry about losing that throughness from the entry all the way to the kitchen window.

No one has yet to fully address your lighting query, so here goes.

Definitely do recessed lighting, halogens if at all possible.
(Let's try and avoid the yellow glow of those 80's pot lights!)
It's always wise to go around the perimeter of the room with overhead/general lighting. It casts a nice overall glow without being overwhelmingly bright. Also, "rough in" with your electrician where you plan to hang pieces of art or photographs, so they can position the lights accordingly (accent lighting). In general, rule of thumb states 3-4 feet of distance per fixture, as the canopy of light it creates covers this amount of square footage. (Truly subjective, depending on which particular fixture you go with.) But be careful, too much overhead lighting can become 'hag lighting'. Be aware of the shadow an overhead fixture can create under your eyes, making you look unecessarily tired/haggard. I know, it seems silly now, but why not use lighting to enhance, rather than detract?

With that in mind, lighting is definitely as much about the shadows you create, as the light that you radiate. Layer your space with different light sources, from floor lamps like torchieres, to uplights and table lamps. It's a fantastic idea to have a light fixture installed in the center of your LR, so discuss this with your electrician to see what would be the best option. I've always been a huge fan of hanging fixtures just above a coffee table. It creates another elevation in the room, not to mention adds drama and designates importance to your seating cluster.

One last thing: Dimmers are your best friend! It doesn't matter how gorgeous you are, but everyone can still benefit from the soft glow a dimmer can create.

Good luck with everything!
It's hard to make mistakes in such a beautiful space like yours!

Thanks marc from vancouver - I appreciate your comments. I had not thought about a hanging fixture above the coffee table - we have that huge Artimede Mega Tolomeo lamp, but I agree that a hanging fixture at hte end of the room near the window above that seating group could be cool. Lightolier 3-3/4" recessed halogen fixtures have been recommended to me - any thoughts?

If you mirrored something in the window area, would it give you an "expanded" - or more visible - park view? For example, if there was depth to your window frames, putting mirrors INSIDE the frames, at a right angle to the glass, would create an illusion of more view.

I think that you should exploit the rounded corner arches as a theme in a couple of ways:

* Create a cornice that's KIND of like a proscenium for the window area that basically imitates the openings at the other end of the room, except that it would go all the way across. But I mean, literally trace the shape of the rounded corners for it. And then put whatever curtain or sheers or whatnot, behind that. This might be fashioned from MDF.

* I love the idea of the panel to attach the TV to, but instead of floor-to-ceiling, think about having it go only as high as those arches go. In fact, have it look as if it were the negative space that had been cut out of one of those arches! Build it the thickness of the arches, literally, and that would give you plenty of room for cords, etc., and that should be built out of MDF, as well, except that the outside curves that would create toward the top corners, would me made of very thin Masonite, so it could make the curves.

* The sectional sounds great, but I'd like to see the corner of it have a slight curve to it, too, so it would also echo that curve.

*Although I like the Saarinen tables, I think that if there's a fairly modern table that's basically a rectangle, but with rounded corners, I'd go for that.

*Another place to acknowledge those arches would be to paint some slightly darker version of whatever wall color you end up with, and paint the darker color on each of those two walls that are perpindular to the wall with the arches, to carry out that shape there, which might also make that end of the room cozier on the sides, to counter how open the arches make it.

A combination of some of those might help tie the room together.

I'm not dead sure that the dining table needs to be centered on that middle post, but it must come away from the wall. I'm inclined to want to see it centered within one of those spaces, though. Across from it, you might put some kind of serving buffet, though, and if you need those extra chairs somewhere, perhaps they could flank it.

For lighting, you could do one of those flexible track-type light fixtures, and whatever direction you have them go in, you could just be aware of that arch shape in the way you direct the tracks.

Another lighting possibility would be some kind of trough at the baseboard level, where you basically create a faux baseboard in front of the baseboards, and do flourescent lights in one line along the wall at the floor level like I did at the foot of my mural. You buy some of that "egg crate" stuff so that you're not looking straight into flourescent lights, when you look down. Just a thought. It's very atmospheric and pretty.

Oops, did not realize your step was only on that side! Between that and your view I now understand why all your furniture could end up getting clumped on one side :-(.

I would do a test run by moving the table to align with the center column and seeing how it feels, it may not work (and I would keep a rectangular table if doing that btw). Also try moving it parallel to the window as suggested, or at least pulling it away from the wall.

You can also test out a sectional idea by moving your couch to the rough area it should be and then arranging your two armless chairs where the chaise part of the sectional would be. Whatever you try, leave it in place for one day to see how you feel about it before discarding it out of hand. You have some quirky issues going on with that room - which is good, it adds character! - so it will take a fair amount of trial and error to get it right.

I did little mock-ups in "paint" of what I'm talking about, just to give you SOME idea:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artycurtis/2182652892/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artycurtis/2182652886/

I hope this helps.