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Sat, Apr. 21st, 2007, 02:44 pm
So, I'm desperate to rearrange my living room. I'm so tired of it that I could scream. But I'm stumped.  One terrible wall. Four random pictures because I'm a compulsive shopper and needed to put them somewhere where kitties couldn't demolish them before I decided on a permanent home for them. 7-ft sofa (about standard?) Cute little semi-circle console table with curvy legs and scrolly iron-work. The bar stool doesn't belong there-- I'd been rearranging my dining room and didn't really notice that the stool was out of place until the pic was already loaded. Notice on the back wall that there's a door to the balcony. Pretend you don't see the hideous green carpet.  The not quite as terrible wall. This is the terrible wall you see as soon as you walk in the door. What I like about what I have done in the room: 1. The entertainment center is not in the middle of it. The thing is massive. I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but it's about five feet tall, seven feet wide and two feet deep and the television is several inches too small for it. It's a big, gaping cavern of oak and glass. I don't really want that to be what you see immediately upon walking in the door. 2. The diagonal set of the entertainment center. That's really hard to tell from this photo, but it sits at an angle, which helps that little bitty rectangular space immensely. What I hate about the room as it is (ie: what I'm trying to accomplish by rearranging) 1. I can't raise both sides of the window, which sucks. 2. The chair is really awkward, extending into the living room as it does. Hey, cut me some slack-- I bought it for $5 at a garage sale in December and it inherited the spot my tree was in when the tree came down. One more composite shot:  That is taken from my kitchen, incidentally. Which should tell you that I haven't got a lot of room in there. As I see it, I have two choices for arranging. 1. I can put the sofa on the wall where the shelf/chair/entertainment center is, move the entertainment center to the wall where the sofa is, put the chair on the wall with the window and door, get rid of the round table and the little curly table that's hard to see but is currently under the window. Move the half-circle table to the corner. Put the short shelf elsewhere. This would allow me to use the window and the door, though neither would be terribly convenient. I could arrange pictures above the sofa, potentially including the portraits. The entertainment center would be more or less hidden on the same wall as the door. Downsides: The chair will be kind of all by itself. I couldn't put a table beside it without blocking either the window, or the access to the door. Also, my pretty half-circle table would be hidden, and I'd have to move the short shelf, which I really like. Also, the lamp that's on the short shelf is the one connected to the light switch at the door. A practical consideration, though not a deal-breaker as the overhead light is also controlled by the switch at the door. 2. I can leave the sofa where it is, move the entertainment center where the short shelf currently is, put the chair in the corner with the round table beside it with a lamp on it. Move the short shelf out probably. This would be the coveted chair-in-the-corner arrangement, but it would also be the dreaded entertainment-center-as-focal-point arrangement. Once again, I've gained the use of the window, but lost the short shelf. The short shelf can go in the dining room under a mirror, though, so I'm not going to make too much of an issue about that. Alternate to using the round table beside the chair, I could put the half-circle table there. Which do you think? Or do you have another suggestion? The room is about 12 ft wide and 14 ft deep. The sofa would take up exactly the entire wall beneath the window if I were to put it there. At the moment, I'm probably leaning more towards option 2, just because I really want that chair in the corner. I hate hate hate hate the entertainment center in the middle of that wall opposite the door though. I'm very much open to suggestions, though, especially since I don't particularly like either of my ideas.
Sat, Apr. 21st, 2007 09:15 pm (UTC)
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) seaislewitch
My professional opinion: The two largest pieces of furniture -- the entertainment center and sofa -- need to be opposite for balance. That's the most important design element. Put the chair and the short shelf by the window. Wouldn't the shelf fit in the niche where the entertainment center is now? That's the ideal place for it, next to your chair for your books. Your pictures are too high and not balanced. I can't tell the sizes from the photo, but the biggest picture (Is it the one opposite the sofa?) should be centered behind the sofa. Add some colour with a nice throw on the chair and some decorative pillows on the sofa. Also, a 5x7 area rug could be used to define the space in front of the sofa or a 3x5 with the chair. Consider putting your console table in the dining area or in an entry way so it will be functional. Sometimes less is more, so try to reduce the clutter a bit. Good luck! Sat, Apr. 21st, 2007 10:09 pm (UTC)
dazzleberry
So do you think I should leave the sofa where it is and move the entertainment center to the center of the wall that the shelf is on? Or switch walls?
The door is actually right beside the console table, just out of the picture. I don't have a proper entryway. I might be able to put the console table in the dining room, but if not, I can find a spot for it.
As for the pictures, I was thinking about moving the two vertical ones to the dining room or else into the hall. They were literally on that wall just because I didn't want the cats knocking them over anywhere. The two square pictures are about the same size-- about 35" sq. The one above the sofa might be an inch smaller, but I was having a hard time getting my tape measure to not bend, so I'm not certain of that. Regardless, the one above the shelf has that really thick, solid frame, and dark matting, so it's more solid or something.
I was pretty sure one of the big pictures would have to go elsewhere, maybe even both of them in favor of the portraits (which are of my great-great grandparents and I really want them on the walls)
I've already been flirting with turning one of the bedrooms into the same color scheme because I have so much red and gold crap lying around. Or I could take some of it to my office because my office is even more haphazard than the living room.
I've finally more or less committed to staying in this apartment for a while. Before, I've always thought I'd be out when the lease expired, but two years in a row now I've decided that the hassle of moving isn't worth it, so I've been taking cautious steps towards turning it into a more permanent type of space.
Thanks for the advice! Sat, Apr. 21st, 2007 10:31 pm (UTC)
seaislewitch
If the short shelf is going to be on that wall in the niche, it would be better to have the sofa on that wall too, breaking up the wood and giving you a more direct path to the balcony door (functionality). I like the more solid framed and matted picture over sofa, but you may need to lower it a bit -- approximately 12" above the sofa is ideal because it needs to 'relate more' to the sofa. *g* The portraits might be nice in your guest bedroom, a hallway or even better, would they fit (slightly staggered) over the short shelf in the niche? They are personal pieces, so it might be a nice touch for your new reading area. I'd avoid putting them over the sofa, in your own bedroom or in the dining room. You could move the other large picture into the dining room. If you don't mind breaking up the set of two pictures, you might consider hanging one over the console to help define your entry area a bit. (Remember, hang it no more than 12" above the table, and add at least one accessory to the table.) Finding a good place for the other one should be easy, given it's size. Anytime. :) Sat, Apr. 21st, 2007 10:53 pm (UTC)
dazzleberry
I would love to be putting the portraits in the computer room because that's where I'm putting other family pictures. I've got a ton of family photos. I've kind of inherited the role of keeper of the family history.
I actually have three more big oval portraits, a 20x24 (or something weird like that), and dozens of 5x7, including graduation pictures of every one of my cousins. I keep trying to come up with a way to put those oval portraits in the computer room with everything else, but the computer room is more modern-- black and white and big orange poppies-- and I don't know how I'm going to put those victorian frames in there.
Actually, I don't know where I'm going to find three more frames period, but that's another story... there were a total of eight of those portraits, and I'm about 99% sure they're either my twice-greats or my thrice-greats... When my grandmother had her stroke and we were cleaning out her house in advance of moving her into a nursing home, we found them stacked three deep in terrible frames. Someone had painted one of the frames this horrible shade of melted-chocolate brown. A couple of the frames had the veneer curling off them. And they're concave pictures, and do you know how hard it is to find bubble glass that isn't $150 a frame? Not even counting the frames, which run $50-$75 apiece? And no one around here does custom oval framing. So anyway, those portraits are a mixed blessing. I'm very tempted to hand them off to my aunt, who *does* have space for them and more likely the means to have them properly framed. She's already got three of them. I desperately want the pictures, but I'm terrified they're going to distingegrate before I figure out what to do with them. I'm actively (as in my hands are covered with paint as I type) in the process of trying to do something about the chocolate-dipped one. I think my mother said she has another one or two of those damaged frames as well.
Anyway. /random
I'll figure out the pictures later. I had more concerns about the furniture. Pictures are easy to move. 500-pounds entertainment centers and sofas are not. Sun, Apr. 22nd, 2007 03:23 am (UTC)
grinnifer
I was a custom framer for about seven inglorious years. *shakes head* Oval frames are a bitch, let me tell you, and getting the glass for them is even worse. One of the things we've had clients do is take their antique photos out of the oval, cut an archival oval mat, and then put the photo and glass into a square/rectangular frame, and pop in some flat, conservation glass. Still, something like that is going to run you at least a couple hundred bucks, depending on how big your photos are.
Sometimes another (simple) thing to do is take out your antique photos, photo copy them at a really high resolution, and then frame those while putting the actual photos away in something layered with archival papers, to help protect them from further deterioration. We did a whole bunch of museum watercolours that way once. Sun, Apr. 22nd, 2007 04:51 pm (UTC)
dazzleberry
These aren't even photos. They're charcoal portraits, and they're about 12x20 (so not only are they big and oval, but they're big, oval and a strange size).
I've been crawling e-bay lately for frames. The frames were actually very popular around the turn of the century, so you can find them (usually with someone else's charcoal portrait in it...)
I'm just still wavering over whether or not to even go there. I could invest a lot in them and have nowhere to put them, you know? Sat, Apr. 21st, 2007 09:48 pm (UTC)
grinnifer
What's the fourth wall look like, the one where the kitchen is? Is it a half wall thinger with the kitchen open, or is it a full wall seperating the two? Sat, Apr. 21st, 2007 10:21 pm (UTC)
dazzleberry
half wall thing with a bar separating kitchen and living room, and a little doo-wop coming down from the ceiling. [ Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<img [...] http://photobucket.com">') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.] half wall thing with a bar separating kitchen and living room, and a little doo-wop coming down from the ceiling. <img src="<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/dazzleberry/living_room4.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>"> Sat, Apr. 21st, 2007 10:23 pm (UTC)
dazzleberry
heh. let's try the html again, shall we?  Sat, Apr. 21st, 2007 10:35 pm (UTC)
seaislewitch
After seeing this picture... Do you use the bar at all? If not, consider placing the console table centered under that counter. It will show it off the table bit more, make the other wall less cluttered when you add that entertainment center and be very functional for you. Sat, Apr. 21st, 2007 10:56 pm (UTC)
dazzleberry
I don't use the bar. Well, I use the end of it, where the stool is. It angles on around a bit. I'll try that suggestion. I'd just attempted to put the console table in the dining room, but it really doesn't fit, and the picture hanging above it caught the glare of both the living room window and the spare room window so it might as well have been a mirror. And the whole thing looked off-center (mostly because it was-- the table isn't centered because it's under the light, which isn't centered and I can't do anything about) Sun, Apr. 22nd, 2007 01:16 am (UTC)
closetravenclaw
I think a reading corner would be nice. Maybe the short shelf and the chair in the corner by the window. Please post pics after you rearrange. :) Sun, Apr. 22nd, 2007 05:02 pm (UTC)
dazzleberry
I want the reading corner. That's one of my goals. I actually intended a reading corner when I first moved in, two years ago, and I left that corner open for a reading corner until I put up the Christmas tree that year. The Christmas tree wouldn't fit in the spot I had designated as a reading corner. Besides, I just found the chair in December. It needs to be recovered, but it's serviceable for the moment. All I need now is a little stool to go with it, but I wasn't going to do that until I got the chair into a place where it would stay. Sun, Apr. 22nd, 2007 03:33 am (UTC)
grinnifer
Well, it sounds like I'm late to this party, but I'll throw in some suggestions too. (Please be aware that I'm terrible at moving furniature, and that I'm one of those people that moves the couches around at least three times before finally settling on anything.)
* Moving the neat little bookshelf under the kitchen bar thinger.
* Moving the awesome $5 chair into a corner at an angle (perhaps under the window?) Because, yeah, reading corners are always nice.
* Moving one of the tables near to the chair (to put random books, and/or drinks upon, with a lamp)
* Centering the behemoth entertainment center
* Aaaaaand, leaving the couch where it's at
Maybe?
Sun, Apr. 22nd, 2007 04:59 pm (UTC)
dazzleberry
one of those people that moves the couches around at least three times before finally settling on anything...
yeah. that's what I'm afraid of. that couch is heavy, and it's nothing compared to the entertainment center and... uh... I live alone and don't really have an army of guys at my disposal. I'm working on building the room in a 3-d architecture program I have for precisely this purpose-- so I can do my playing virtually.
The thing with the shelf is that it currently houses on top of it my collection of nineteenth century vases, and they won't fit on top if I put it under the bar. I tried that when I first bought the silly thing. And I have to take cats into consideration when I'm deciding what to do with the vases-- they can fall onto the carpet from the top of that shelf and they're fine, but I don't think they can go much higher unless I can prevent kitties from exploring. And considering I have one kitty who has taken to eating the popcorn off the ceiling, keeping the kitties off shelves is a lost cause... Sun, Apr. 22nd, 2007 06:46 pm (UTC)
aramintasnape
I agree with seaislewitch that it would probably be better if you had the entertainment centre opposite the sofa. That way you'll probably get more light from the window too. I think I'd put the sofa along the opposite wall from where it is at the moment, with the entertainment centre opposite, the bookshelf in the little niche and the chair by the window. Just my two cents! |
contemplative