SFGate

tjaklitsch Hi newbie -- I have a similarly configured space so I will be anxious to hear other's suggestions. For the light fixture, the rule of thumb is to take the length + width of the room in feet, and that's how wide your fixture should be in inches. So a 15' x 12' room gets a 27" fixture. Keep in mind the height of the fixture, too, with that high ceiling of yours. And with a light, airy fixture, like some of those orbs I've seen, you can go larger. I personally think bigger is better for light fixtures, but that is a matter of taste. Also when my electrician hung my foyer chandelier, he held it at varying heights so I could get a feel for what worked best before he hooked it up.

newbie1431 Hi tjaklitsch - Thanks for the information on the light dimensions. Our room is about 14 x 16 so the light fixture we had in mind is 28" in diameter and wouldn't be too far off.

tjaklitsch really 30" should be your minimum. Can you do a mock up, with, I don't know, balloons or coat hangers or something, to give you an idea of how that size will work in the space? I'm just saying -- I just built a house and had to choose light fixtures for EVERYWHERE and getting the right size was very challenging -- the rooms were larger than I was used to and I was uncomfortable with the scale. I also ordered everything online and returning would have been a p i a.

All About Interiors LLC Hi I would definitely suggest adding stationary drapes starting at the upper windows. You want to draw your eyes upward. The previous comment about the light is correct regarding size. I would also suggest to have your electrician show you the different heights, I am not sure the height if the ceiling. I hope this helps.

newbie1431 Thanks - our ceiling height is 17 feet. I was thinking about 7 to 8 feet off the floor? Not sure what the guidelines are.

newbie1431 Any other suggestions please?

2dogssashatess The room looks a bit crowded to me. If you need a coffee table how about getting rid of your exisint g coffee table and getting a glass topped one? I think I might get glass topped side tables as well. The light wood doesnt seem to go with the other colors in my opinion

Suzanne Regimbal You may want to move the chair facing the fireplace to another location, it closes the room too much. How about a long stuffed stool , you still have seating but visually it will make the room look bigger. When you do the drapes make sure they touch each end of the walls to give more width to the room, and they should also be the same colour as the walls :-)

Kari Palomo I think it's a beautiful space! A few small tweaks and it will be fantastic! I agree with PP about the lighter wood end table and coffee table not working well with the rest of your furniture. I'd look for something either glass or possibly wrought iron.

lastplace I think you are not taking advantage of all your space. Move the sofa or love set on the left side of the room back to the wall to gain more space in the middle. The two end tables in the forefront should be moved to the other ends of the loveseat and couch with the lamps as these are also blocking the space. Now with them in front of the windows it will be a graduated height from the couch to the lamps to the windows to you high ceilings. Move the beige chair closer to the corner with the couch and put your pole lamp between the two. The height of the pole lamp with blend better with the height of the stairs. This arrangement will totally open up your room, give you more space and balance it all out.

JAMEITE Hand-painted Silk Wallpaper Co., LTD You should consider it

Sue So I'm no expert but I would do higher than 7 feet on the lighting height - we had to lift ours b/c it was too low for tall people and it might obstruct artwork and TV in certain spots. Personally, I would move the tv to the artwork wall to make component set up easier (worked for us) and play around with seating placement. May need to remove something to make sure you don't obstruct the beautiful staircase. If artwork can comfortably fit over fireplace I would move it there and do curtain rods flush with its top with curtains to the floor. Beautiful room already though!

yvesun I would remove the oak tables as they are competing with the dark colours and they are too big for the space. A round coffee table (28"-32"wide) or nesting sides used as a coffee table would look really sharp in your space. I would hang Roman blinds in cream or light beige with a print on all the windows see attached picture. Finally the large lamp near the hall should be moved onto the end table on the far right side of the "wall couch", as right now that's all you see when you walk into the room.

nukiegirl Yes tables are the wrong color. If you can afford it I would go with glass if not I would paint your tables in white! Actually I would try the white and if you didnt like it then donate them and go with glass!

newbie1431 Thanks so much for all the suggestions - keep them coming, please! We'll start playing around with some of the configuration ideas and I will re-post with some. With the furniture configuration, I had gotten an idea from another photo on houzz:




Previously we had the one sofa against the tall wall and the other backing right up against the staircase - the one against the staircase did not work. The chair and ottoman had been in the corner to the left of the fireplace and seemed far removed from the two sofas. I agree about the coffee and end tables - I'll just need to work on my husband since he is quite fond of them!

sharpkl I think it is important to preserve the focal fireplace view. Can you switch love seat and chair and place console table behind love seat? The lamps are distracting and maybe can be moved to far side near fireplace. I agree with different style tables to enhance leather furniture. Glass and metal. Maybe one long swag on either side walls going over top windows peaking at top. Could even be sheer texture to soften windows.

rozajac I think there is not whole a lot of options when it comes to palcement of the furniture. I believe you did a pretty good job on that. I would humbly suggest two things; for drapery, look for some contrast in color and the hight should only be little above the lower windows. I believe the TV is at best location in the room but I would use a TV mount that allows you to tilt it slightly down. I am posting a photo of my living room which is a similar set up except my windows are not on the same wall as fireplace and my kitchen is right across from the fireplace. My TV is also mounted pretty high but a little tilt makes viewing much more pleasent.

newbie1431 Ok - I've moved a few things around, as suggested. Thoughts?

Maureen Randall I think this looks great! I would add some kind of textural curtains to the windows and decorative black iron rods about 6" from the top of the window frame to add depth to the wall. Good luck!

Maureen Randall Another thought, how about adding some decorative shelves on top of the lower windows, you could add alot of interest up there with some larger accessories!

patriciarhall really helped to remove the end table that matches the coffee table. replacing the coffee table with a large round table will balance all of the squareness in the room. Love the art, rug and wall color!

lastplace The chair and foot stool look great there. I makes you want to curl up and read a book. I would still move the loveseat back to the wall so your room will be balanced on both sides of the fireplace. This will open up the area in the centre, show off your carpet and give more space. I know it will feel better and look better. Let me see the results.

Sue So Already better, and no $ spent! woot!

sharpkl Wow, what a difference! Congrats!

newbie1431 Thanks! I think I've convinced my husband to get a different coffee table and may switch the two sofas. They're actually both sofas, but one is smaller, so with the chair now having been moved, I think the smaller one might work better next to the chair. This is fun! Will post more pictures soon!

2dogssashatess much better already

Suzanne Regimbal Your room is definitely better!

Sue So Pillow with strong dark brown accent on the armchair to tie with the sofas?

smakk05 My living room is very similar to this, but I have no clue what to do with the dvr and Blueray cables leading to the tv. How did you hook yours up to your tv without the cables? Any info would be helpful...thank you!

koehlej Better already, but I still think your coffee table doesn't fit size-wise and color-wise. I would also move the left loveseat all the way to the back onto the wall. In terms of curtains, I wouldn't do them all the way up to the ceiling since you have a TV that would look kind of closed in by the curtains. You could try hanging curtains on the lower windows though. Also, getting a colorful rug and accent pillows would make it more interesting.

newbie1431 Hi Smakk55,
The cables actually run behind the walls down through the unfinished basement and up on the wall beside the sofa. The DVD and blu-ray player are at the end of the sofa close to the fireplace - just not visible in the photo. The cables had already been run when we bought the house.
Let me know if you still have questions.

patti4520 try making a "L" shape with sofa and love seat and move chair to corner by floor lamp. use glass coffee and end table and keep all accessories light (pillow, etc.) tie a color from your carpet or picture to use for pillows and use minimal accessories. Use shears or light airy curtains with a simple design that go from the second window down to the floor. or wooden blinds (but that will be hard to open and close )

patti4520 get rid of that big table lamp

newbie1431 Do you really think the left hand sofa should go right back against the half wall?

nukiegirl To others hanging a TV above the fireplace please reconsider the height. I really dont know how you can watch it without having neck pains. My hubby had them hang it that high and it was throwing our necks out and we are all 5' 6" to 6'2" tall. It is now at the level of your picture.

lastplace Try pushing the couch against the wall. It will say yes or no right away. Your room is very tall so the base being your floor should be the widest. More importantly it willbalance rhe room and fireplace

cjohnston No, don't move the left hand sofa back against the half wall. You are right to arrange the furniture so each piece has at least the front legs on the rug. I think you need curtains and pillows in an accent color of your choice. Nothing shiny though, since the leather, TV, lamps, and painting all appear at least somewhat reflective. I think what makes the coffee table and end table not look right is that the wood tone comes across as fairly orange, which doesn't go with the browns, taupes, and cream in the rest of the room

newbie1431 Hi Nukie girl - We're big time loungers so we kick back, feet on coffee table heads back, or lying down with heads resting against the arms of the sofa. For that reason the tv height isn't an issue for us... For many it definitely would be.

cjohnston May I ask, what is the distance from the fireplace to the wall on each side?

newbie1431 It's approximately 54" on either side of the fireplace.

spunkychic oooo looks good!

cjohnston I was thinking about how to accommodate your tv components. Would a small storage bench such as this one work under each window? It might cover up the bottom of each window, but I don't think it would be that noticeable.

Kevin Retired Decorator I think since you moved the chair and ottoman into the corner the room looks great. I would hang drapes a foot over the top of the windows and use a wider rod so the curtains just frame the window. I would go with a 36" round lite fixture at a 7' height . I like the color of the tables they have a good contrast to your sofa's. You could use a console cabinet in a painted finish under the left window to hold the components for the TV and move the end table back to the other end of the sofa on the left. You have a beautiful room. Retired Decorator, Kevin

Kevin Retired Decorator PS I would do drapes starting at the top 2 windows all the way down to the lower windows to the floor. I would get a leaded glass insert or a iron insert made for the center window over the fireplace.
Kevin

Sixesand I need it @6:25pm today.

Kevin Retired Decorator 625 pm what ???

Donna Van_Atta Looks a million times better.I would move the table with lamp to the place between the sofa and chair so lamps will be on both sides of the couch for balance.Iwould leave the 3 windows up top alone.They are accent windows no need to cover.The 2 on bottom I would put curtains but put the rods half way between the empty space above the window.

elmckie I love the artwork above your sofa! Would you mind telling me where you found it?

newbie1431 Thanks elmckie - I found it at Homesense - love that store! It wasn't that long ago, so you might still be able to find it somewhere.
Thanks everyone for all the feedback. I moved the end table with the lamp to frame the sofa at either end and plan on swapping out the sofas, and picking up a new coffee table, overhead fixture and possibly some curtains. Will post some pictures when we make some more changes. I really appreciate all the suggestions, since we had run out of ideas. What a great resource Houzz is.

elmckie Thanks! Lucky you! Did the artist sign their name on it? I would love to find the painting somewhere. I don't have a Homesense near me.

newbie1431 There was information on the back regarding the artist. I believe she is from Australia. I will look it up for you when I'm at home and post it.

newbie1431 Hi elmckie,
The painting is called Middle of Nowhere by Sarah Brooke.
Good luck!

elmckie Thank you so much!!!

Megan Love the new layout!

504199ab what color, brand is your paint? Congrats! Trying to figure out my living room and yours as inspired me!!!

newbie1431 Hi 504199ab - We bought our house resale and the previous owners had painted the room using a custom colour. Sorry I'm not able to help with that.

PYRAMID DESIGN GROUP While you are thinking about lighting--here are a few further suggestions. wall sconces on either side of the picture above the sofa would look nice and provide good lighting, then you could consider removing the table lamps. Also the floor lamp looks like it is just stuck in the corner, I think you can find a better place in th room for it. Lastly full length drapes hung from a black iron rod a few inches above and extending beyond the windows would help the space.

yvesun You've done a great job! The area seems more spacious and brighter already!

sjmd42 Are they bisque? The company I bought my set from is called Cochrane Ther furniture is customized to your taste. Look at www.cochrane-furniture.com and request a catalog. I think you could be satisfied with the selection.

sjmd42 Oops, wrong person

sjmd42 Nice balance. The tall lamp, however is bothering me. Doesn't t seem eye appealing.