optimal?

You could put the TV on the bedroom wall and float the couch facing it. As for the foyer, I see a closet near the door. You can use different flooring or a runner to direct people to it.

It looks like you're going to have to put the TV on Bedroom Three's wall unless you can figure out a way of maybe enclosing your wood stove.
OR
use a projection system in the ceiling and drop a screen above your wood stove when you want to watch TV. Make sure the screen is fireproof. ;-)
As for the foyer, turn your porch area into a foyer if you have the funds for a contractor.

Try the TV on the wall of Bedroom #3, so your couch/chairs are facing "north" and you can make a pathway along the wall of the Utility room to the bathroom. Or, put the TV on the Utility room wall, float your coach in the middle, facing "east," and people can walk BEHIND the couch. If you put a coffee table in front of the couch, there won't be much room for walking anyway.

As far as creating a foyer, if there's room, you could install two sturdy book shelves, one on each side of the door, jutting out into the living room. Have the shelves be open to the rooms, and install coat hooks on their backs, ie in the foyer. I don't know if that'd work, with your room only being about 12' wide, though.

Try flip the dining room with the present living room.......leave an entry walkway to the bedroom area. Left of the door, do you have a buffet, desk or credenza-type piece of furniture? If not, what about a white long, "church" table, covered with a pretty cloth, then having a place for purse, gloves, mail as you enter the door (and under the table, storage boxes for ?????). Yes, the living area would then be small, but let's call it cozy and let TV placement determine furniture arrangement....or vice versa.....Please let us know how you solve this problem! Good luck!

We have a similar set-up as yours, though our front door is equidistant between our living room & dining area. We turned one of our bedrooms into a TV room and created the feeling of a foyer by putting a low bookcase directly across from the door and a coat rack next to the door.

If you can't spare a bedroom, the only solution I can see is to put the TV against the wall of Bedroom # 3.

More from Mary13207----the walkwayfrom new living area to the bedroom area can be out the opening by the wood stove and the kitchen door, then joins with the entry from above comment. Also, what about taking the wall down, and leave columns to handle the load-bearing wall. That way, your heat can get to the dining area.

I too would float a sofa with its back to the stove, a tall console table along its back, facing the bedroom wall where the tv would be. You might even be able to fit an L-shaped sectional with the the corner at the right hand side of the room, making a long walkway along the right edge, and sort of a room within a room.

Here's my suggestion on how to create a foyer with limited space. Since you enter directly into the living room, a traditional foyer will only reduce your valuable living space. Instead, consider adding an exterior portico or small enclosed front porch. This will give your guests a more welcoming entrance without sacrificing square footage. Good luck!

Put the TV on a stand where the ____ is between the living room and dinette. Basically put the couch where the living room is written and make that the foyer behind. That way people can walk behind the couch and still get to all the other areas. And the tv will be a visual barrier separating the living and dining area.

Agree with Mary - Try swapping the dinette and the living room. If you have a rectangular table, when not dining, shove the table against the wall of bedroom 3 (traps one seat) to free up the entryway.

Two birds with one stone -- get/build tall shelves in front of the front door, that on the living room side hold the TV, and on the front door side serves as the barrier/storage for coats, keys, etc. Though it does cut the room a bit, I think the room is large enough that this won't be a problem. I would float the couch across the TV and parallel to the utility room wall, leaving enough room behind the couch for people to walk to the bedrooms. Hopefully this helps.

What you need to do is install - either on the wall or over a sideboard or dresser - your T.V along the wall of 'Bedroom #3. Then you take your longest sofa/sectional and put it to the wall (right side) directly bordering the dinette...and a loveseat or two side chairs beside that - against the parket...open wall thing you've got going at the dinette.

He can't put anything on the ___ wall (between living and dinette) because the wood stove is there.

To make a foyer, you could put the back of the sofa facing the front door, and use a long sofa table behind it. That way, when you walk in, you have sort of an aisle and a landing strip that is separate from the rest of the room. You could get a chest-type sofa table, or put a pull-out bench and storage baskets/bins under it for shoes and things. A lamp or some tall flowers/accessories on the table would add some height and visually block the rest of the room.
As for the tv, if you don't mind the sofa at a right angle to the tv, put the tv on the bedroom 3 wall. But, that seems a bit cramped to me, so I would probably keep the tv on against the utility room wall and place a side chair to the side of the tv, blocking access from the dinette/kitchen doorways. People would just have to walk around through your new 'foyer', but you'll get used to it, I would think.

LOL...when I wrote "optimum" I knew it didn't sound right!

The first layout I am going to try is placing the TV on the utility room wall and the back of the sofa facing the front door and a table behind the sofa. The table would make a great make-shift foyer. The flowers or something on the sofa table is a good idea because it would block some of the reflection from the windows/front door on the TV. This is the project I plan to complete this weekend. THANKS everyone! (Sorry for the different user name. I couldn't remember my user name, so had to create another one...oy.)

just an idea... nothing to do with optimizing with location, but this is optimizing luck/ life using fengshui. all houses have a energy chart based on the facing of your house, and when it was built/ used. i would put the tv where there is good energy based on this chart. then cross reference it with another fengshui formula using the birthdate of the owner to determine whether the person belongs to the east or west group. people of the east group when they face east directions (or north, south, east and southeast) usually maximize good luck in life. i know this sounds strange, but there is such a thing. and some people do use fengshui to optimize life by placing their furnitures right.

I would also take the approach of having an A/V/L integrator come to the house. These professionals for residential applications also use the term Home Theater specialist. Find a specialty shop in your area and consult with them.