When it comes to design, I usually don’t plan ahead. I have no one to explain myself to but myself. Well and husband, but he’s usually really good about seeing my vision. I spoke once before on instastories about my credenza conundrum and the living room layout is single handlely responsible for why that’s a conundrum in the first place. It’s a really long room, a room that more than likely should be split into two parts. Part living room, part dining room. My husband is adamantly opposed to the notion of formal dining when we don’t need it though so that idea was nixed. This left us with a really long room with no intent.
Between my huge credenza, the need to store our huge dogs crates and our insistence upon having a tv in our sitting area (while still having a fireplace) and you have a problem of epic proportion. Especially since there’s a window on the one free wall and a sliding door on the other.
It became imperative to plan. I downloaded the app “Rooms” one midnight when I couldn’t sleep and got to going on a layout that made more sense for our space.
Here’s our current situation, and by current, I mean three weeks ago before I rotated these bad boys all over the place at 2am.
Key
- Striped rectangles are dog crates. I took used the measurements to make them to scale. There are other places they could live in the house but Sirius barks if he isn’t on the lower level with views to the doors. Eyeroll at him being temperamental.
- Gold table is a bar cart that I thrifted years ago before brass was really in style. It’s been through three homes with us and was a prop at our wedding so it has some sentimental value. I wanted to keep it if I could even if it was as a printer stand (again).
- Rectangle behind the sofa is a white parsons desk. We have two of them. One lives in our office and has a new life as a polka dot desk and the other is in the living room so we can work while enjoying our living space.
- The Brown box on the right is the credenza. The amount of room it’s taking up is to scale.
- Purple rug is a 5×7 rug that we purchased before we knew what size this room was.
- Tv on top of fireplace which is to the right but it’s way too high to watch tv from
- Long white- sliding back door, Right white stripe- Fireplace, Bottom white stripe- window
Trial 1
Moves: Credenza offset of the fireplace, dog crates flanking the sofa, bigger rug
Problem: Credenza takes focus off fireplace and tv is off sight of the sofa, can’t see tv from chairs. Dogs are on the rug. No go
Good: bigger rug is a must
Trial 2:
Move: Bigger Rug, both dog crates near back dog, all furniture on rug, back of sofa to fireplace.
Problems: Sofa back is to fireplace and that’s a no go as far as establishing a focal wall.
Actually try by moving furniture
Moves: Bigger rug, All furniture legs on the rug, leave credenza, Both crates near front window, tv on credenza, bigger sofa
Problem: Crates feel awkward credenza takes up a lot of space
Actually try by moving furniture 2
Move: Bigger rug, Bigger sofa, All furniture legs on the rug, dog crates behind sofa to make a sofa table
Problems: credenza may still be taking up too much space
Ideal but nuclear option: Get rid of credenza
Problem: Got rid of the credenza
Final Solution: We went with the option labeled try three. Doing so meant that we had a large space to the left of the front window. We managed to put the parson desk that originally started out in the living room in that corner. So far we are pretty satisfied. Doing this by way of an app beats the heck out of manually moving every single piece of furniture. Especially when you are struck by this genius idea at 2am when your husband is sleeping and you’re moving all of the furniture alone.
Promise I’ll show you our living room once its complete
Thank for following along with my home woes
Love, Prepford wife