Room design

[Beezerk]

Don’t suppose there’s any interior designers on here, I know Orikoru visits Mumsnet so maybe he can help ?

Anyway out living room is like this…


We currently have it set up like this…


We’ve moved the dining table (wife’s work station) in here as it’s a lot cosier during winter otherwise the area on the right is just a wasted space. The current dining room is a lot bigger and a better shape for a living room however it needs a lot of work to be able to do that.

So before we commit and turn the dining room into the living room, does anyone have any ideas how can transform the above room into a much better layout for a living room?
I’ve thought about all sorts but I can’t come up with anything, the fireplace that sticks out is a pain as is the internal door position (we can’t change that).

Answers on a postcard to…

 

[Mel Smooth]

Get yourself signed up to Floorplanner buddy - it's free for the basic level, and pretty easy to use once you've got the hang of the basics.

Floorplanner - Signup

I've used it for loads of work projects, this one was an empty space in an underbuild in a house in Spain, was able to get the layout as the client wanted it before I started any work.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Download every episode of Love it or List It and see what her ladyship, Kirstie Allsopp does. She gets you looking at rooms in a different way. The hardest thing is seeing a room differently to how it's always been and she is great at that.

I'm useless at the above, sorry.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Might be heading Floorplanner way as my Mrs is thinking maybe changes to our proposed new kitchen (and living area) layout, now that our extension is pretty much built and internal walls and doors have been knocked out and we can see the space we have to play with…?

Suppose it’s best to have such rethinks now rather than later.

Just as well Howdens only requires two weeks lead time from order to delivery - a benefit of going with Howdens that I’d never much considered never mind valued…

 

[Lord Tyrion]

When my wife does a room she goes on Pinterest. Apparently lots of ideas on there.

 

[Bratty]

If you'd done the measurements in feet and inches, I'd have helped! ?
Pinterest is a great source if inspiration for sure.
Is the fireplace a working one? Is there a fireplace in the bedroom above and a chimney on the roof? If not, you should be able to knock it put, and that's a good start.
The windows and French doors make it tricky to do much, sadly.
At least the door opens out of the room, which helps a little.
Is this your forever or long-term home? If so, and the dining room makes a better living room, why not just change it now - unless doing the work will cost more than the value it adds to the house price (ceiling for road/immediate area). You could put a display cupboard in one alcove for plates and serving bowls and the good cutlery. Put a drinks cabinet in the other alcove and a couple wing back chairs facing the patio doors if there's room?
Sorry, I've done your dining room, not your living room!.?

 

[GreiginFife]

Hard to say, you don't really say what's wrong with the layout as it is. What is it that you feel is off about it and why would the dining room do a better job? Are you missing something?

Sofa, TV, dining table seems sparse, admittedly, but if that's all you need then is that a problem? Maybe you need something like a bespoke coffee table, or a music centre - something useful to fill the empty spaces.

Personally, I'd use the dining room for a pool table and a bar

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

When my wife does a room she goes on Pinterest. Apparently lots of ideas on there.

Pinterest is where my wife gets most of her ideas and inspiration.

 

[Bratty]

The only warning I have for looking at Pinterest is that it doesn't know your budget...! ?

 

[Bdill93]

Media wall on the fireplace wall?

 

[Beezerk]

If you'd done the measurements in feet and inches, I'd have helped! ?
Pinterest is a great source if inspiration for sure.
Is the fireplace a working one? Is there a fireplace in the bedroom above and a chimney on the roof? If not, you should be able to knock it put, and that's a good start.
The windows and French doors make it tricky to do much, sadly.
At least the door opens out of the room, which helps a little.
Is this your forever or long-term home? If so, and the dining room makes a better living room, why not just change it now - unless doing the work will cost more than the value it adds to the house price (ceiling for road/immediate area). You could put a display cupboard in one alcove for plates and serving bowls and the good cutlery. Put a drinks cabinet in the other alcove and a couple wing back chairs facing the patio doors if there's room?
Sorry, I've done your dining room, not your living room!.?

Yes the chimney goes all the way up to the chimney unfortunately, it currently has an electric fire in it that we never use, I want to block it off completely.

 

[Beezerk]

Hard to say, you don't really say what's wrong with the layout as it is. What is it that you feel is off about it and why would the dining room do a better job? Are you missing something?

Sofa, TV, dining table seems sparse, admittedly, but if that's all you need then is that a problem? Maybe you need something like a bespoke coffee table, or a music centre - something useful to fill the empty spaces.

Personally, I'd use the dining room for a pool table and a bar

It feels like we are cramped into one side of the room re the sofa, the tv in is a poor place and the soundscape with my surround system is narrow and poor (I like my sound ?).
Just had think, we can move the door to the corner which would give us a longer wall where the radiator is, then we could mount the tv over the old fireplace ?

 

[Beezerk]

Media wall on the fireplace wall?

That would be my ideal spot.

 

[fundy]

Which way does the room face ie when do you get the sun from which windows?

 

[GreiginFife]

It feels like we are cramped into one side of the room re the sofa, the tv in is a poor place and the soundscape with my surround system is narrow and poor (I like my sound ?).
Just had think, we can move the door to the corner which would give us a longer wall where the radiator is, then we could mount the tv over the old fireplace ?

OK, so I'm personally not a fan of mounting TVs over the fire place (I too like my sound) for two reasons.

Heat from the fire rises and the TV is above this so absorbs that. This is not good for electrical equipment.
The TV is often too high that it makes viewing uncomfortable. The room is only 3m wide and so the range and height would be mismatched.

The most important thing though is that your speakers will either be too high if you have them matched to the TV height (optimal) or will be offset by a large degree by being too low in relation to the image.

That's all just personal, of course. But then, I'm quite particular about the sound.

 

[fundy]

Initial thoughts table in front of the window, sofa which is on the radiator wall (having moved the door to the corner) ideally L shaped and comes out towards the fireplace and TV in the top right corner of your drawing

Weve always found drawing to scale and cutting out furniture sized pieces to move around or in the modern era using a basic cad like roomsketcher really helps

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

It feels like we are cramped into one side of the room re the sofa, the tv in is a poor place and the soundscape with my surround system is narrow and poor (I like my sound ?).
Just had think, we can move the door to the corner which would give us a longer wall where the radiator is, then we could mount the tv over the old fireplace ?

Moving the door is good idea for you, I‘m guessing your house must be relatively recent (last 50yrs?) as traditionally doors would always be in a corner, opening inwards and ‘against’ the room (your door opens out?)

We are currently having a downstairs door moved and it ain’t so simple due to the way the joists above are running and the joists and load above are sitting on the wall and above where the door currently is and where it will be.

Yours should be ok but my current experience tells me not to assume so.

Taking a chimney breast out can make a huge difference to how you use the space…again we have experience of that both in the past and in our current project. But again if you don’t take out the chimney breast above…and the stack..you are looking at potentially quite significant steelwork. And you’d have to ask whether or not it would be worth it.

It worked for us as the rooms were not big and the alcoves either side of the chimney breasts we removed were narrower than yours. Removing the chimney breast made the alcove stretches of wall much more useable.

 

[Bratty]

Yes the chimney goes all the way up to the chimney unfortunately, it currently has an electric fire in it that we never use, I want to block it off completely.

That's a bit of a bugger then!
Although, if you're not taking the chimney out, you can mount the TV lower than most would. I'm with Greiginfife, most are just too high.
Another benefit to keeping the void is you can chase the electrics through to the void and raggling the cables into the wall becomes really easy.
Samsung Frame TV mounted on the wall, and a wide but narrow depth TV unit for soundbar, speakers and sky box and maybe router all hidden away nicely. Job done.

 

[Beezerk]

OK, so I'm personally not a fan of mounting TVs over the fire place (I too like my sound) for two reasons.

Heat from the fire rises and the TV is above this so absorbs that. This is not good for electrical equipment.
The TV is often too high that it makes viewing uncomfortable. The room is only 3m wide and so the range and height would be mismatched.

The most important thing though is that your speakers will either be too high if you have them matched to the TV height (optimal) or will be offset by a large degree by being too low in relation to the image.

That's all just personal, of course. But then, I'm quite particular about the sound.

The fireplace will be blocked off so it will just be a blank section of wall.

 

[Beezerk]

Which way does the room face ie when do you get the sun from which windows?

The French doors are south facing so we get it through those.