SFGate

t3tanya I think adding some silk/artificial trees large enough (6 -7 feet) would help to fill in the space while you're making the more crucial decsions.

LizaJane If possible, I would paint the walls a warm colorer (say a soft gray/green). I would place the love seat and sofa together at an ange and move the recliner across and in the corner. I would suggest a larger tv console as the one you have is too small in scale. You need a coffee table and lamps.

jarav This is the wall unit we are considering for the living room. It measures 110.5 inches in width, which means if it is placed against the left wall it will extend to a point 2 or 3 inches to the left of the light switch that is next to the fireplace. Our concern is that it may give a closed-off look to the fireplace, especially from the entry way. Your thoughts are appreciated!

Carolina Photo To Go LLC I would just leave the walls light and add color via photography and decorator pillows in the color of your choice. Blue or coal look great with brown. Check out Etsy.com. Input what you are looking for in their search engine such as blue pillows. While you are there Chech out my photography shop,nancyhehmann.

Terri Bennett, Allied ASID A general rule in furniture arranging is to put the largest/longest piece of furniture on the longest wall. So, maybe the sofa on the wall under the window - it will leave a little more clearance than what you currently have. LizaJane's idea of a diagonal placement is a great suggestion, too. Are there 3 pieces of leather furniture? What about replacing the leather chair with something with color and pattern.

groveraxle Your matching furniture is all very dark and bulky, producing a heavy feeling and not offering a great deal of interest. The entertainment center you're considering will contribute more of the same and it doesn't go well with your modern fireplace.

I agree with the idea of angling either the sofa or loveseat to face the fireplace, place the other piece to form an L-shape, and put the chair across in a corner. I would also add an area rug, drapes, toss pillows, and art to bring some color into the room. Instead of an entertainment center, I would get a low console for the television, something with clean lines to match the mantel, perhaps in a reclaimed wood to add some interest.

Look at the the leather chairs below, with lighter pillows and throw and a light-colored stump for a table in between.

groveraxle Some ideas for your consideration:

carolins I do like groveraxle's ideas. Your room as it is feels unlived in. The furniture would be better arranged in an L-shape, with the sofa in front of the windows and the loveseat where your sofa is now. The chair somewhere near where the plant now is, angled towards the sofa's. A low, longer media stand would not be as 'invasive' as the one you've chosen. Add some not so heavy looking furniture (different tables, console, lamps) and lighter, brighter coloured cushions and it will all look much cosier.

jarav need more feedback please

Melanie Hon I would leave the couch where it is but closer to the window wall (not enough room in your walkway), put the loveseat on an L-shape to it so it's centered to your window. Put an end table between them to share with a lamp. Put the recliner where the plant is, facing the couch/loveseat. And try your rug from the dining room in the living room. Your dining room isn't formal and doesn't need a rug but it would add color to your living space to offset all the beige.

Melanie Hon Other suggestions would then be to get curtains on the living room windows and a coffee table.

Serra Design Inc First thing I would consider is to REFACE the fireplace, box it in and Reface with hardwood flooring running on the horizon. Add a heavy rectangular Mantle that floats cantilevered into the room. I will post a LR mantle I did so you can se what I am referring to. Then i would loose the vertical and horizontal blinds and replace them with woven shades.

I would move the TV to the wall between the dining room and the entry to the family room and purchase a console that would fit that wall. It would raise the TV to a better viewing height too.
I would loose the sofa and chairs and replace them with a boxy Taupe chenille sofa and I like the two leather chairs from Grover. Take that fan down and replace it with a Casablanca Stealth fan, with remote to loose those chain pulls.

decoenthusiaste I think t3tanya may have some artificial trees you can get cheap! lol! I see lots of pink in this space. Do you like or want to eliminate that shade from the palette?

rockinkaratebabe I think you need art on your walls, some end tables and an eye-catching coffee table. At least a valance above the window as well. Your plant needs to go into a pot and next to something, like the fireplace or window. Try centering the tv with the room, not the wall it is on. For your tv, consider a wood tv console but something slightly wider than your tv and with at least the same height as your tv, if not somewhat taller. In regards to your furniture, I think the sofa should go under the window and the loveseat should be centered in place of your sofa. I think the chair is too much bulk for the room, but you could put it where the plant is, if it must go in the room. I think the vertical blinds make the room look dated.

jarav In our floor plan layout software we rearranged the furniture so that the sofa and love seat were at an angle, but we think it looks strange. Also, neither piece of furniture would seem to be optimally positioned for watching TV
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judyg When someone buys matching sets of furniture, it becomes hard to make them look "custom". The chair looks damaged in the back, so no matter how you arrange it, it will look tattered. Is it in your budget to get another chair and other accent pieces for the room?

Melanie Hon Try the L-shape using your software.

jarav The chair doesn't have any damage, it does rock and recline. Perhaps you saw the 'flap' at the bottom that permits the reclining? The sofa and love seat also recline and have similar flaps at the bottom in the back.

jarav Here a couple more different layouts for the room, for your commenting pleasure.

Melanie Hon I like the first one, don't like the idea of blocking traffic flow with the chair in the second picture. However I stll think the couch should face the TV and the loveseat under the window. This would make the fireplace less "closed off" from having the end of furniture too close to it, and give the most people the best TV viewing angle. And the couch also separates the living from the dining. You could even put a sofa table behind it to hide the back of the couch and serve as a display area for the dining table.

jarav Like that?

Calzphotography putting some art work on the walls will help give it a more personal touch,seeing as it is mostly earth tone perhaps adding some pieces with strong color would help. I offer a wide selection of fine art. to choose from

anikouellet Wall mount your tv on top of the fireplace to create a nice focal point....u need one and one focal point only in there . Then move your recliner where the tv use to be. Install a dark curtain pole larger then your window casing and put some nice sheer natural colour curtains!!!!!

Melanie Hon Yes, like that. :) I might put the couch closer to the loveseat so they are almost touching. Anchor it with a rug (perhaps the one from the dining area if it's large enough), a coffee table and end table, and maybe a sofa table behind the couch. It would look cozy. I think the entertainment unit you are considering is too overpowering and you should stick with a low-console. Put the plant next to the fireplace.

jarav We moved the furniture around and posted some photos. We didn't move the sofa. The space behind the sofa is 3.5 feet. We centered the love seat on the windows, which leaves an unnatural looking hole between the sofa and love seat. If we move the sofa forward so that it is even with the love seat, that leaves a carpeted space of about 6.5 feet behind the sofa, which also looks off. If we instead move the love seat toward the sofa, it leaves a large space between the love seat and fireplace. Our plant can go into this space, but will look small there anyway.

Melanie Hon Yeah I see what you're saying... the loveseat looks lonely by the window.

Photo Captures by Jeffery Hum do you need a new console. Buy two chairs a nice round table place those in the window. Place the TV in the corner and on the wall where the TV currently is located place family photos or some nice shelves. Just my 2 cents.

jarav Another try. Now the recliner looks out of place/off kilter. The walkway seems too wide as well.

itsjena Usually designers suggest 8' to a maximum of 10' between the sofa, tv, love-seat, conversation area, etc. Therefore, can you try moving the sofa 8' from the FP, with a coffee table in front; the loveseat between the sofa and FP in front of the window; and the arm chair across from the loveseat; so you basically have a square. You have a lot of space here; but this arrangement would give you a comfortable tv and conversation area. After that , you can decide what to do with the rest of the space.

jarav We appreciate the idea itsjena, but there is no wall opposite the love seat, there is the arch to the entryway.

patti4520 the chair loooks too big next to the tv. I like the idea of the wall unit, but watch the scale against the TV. You might consider 1/2 the size you are considering in height....watch placing all the furniture to one side of the room. Makes it appear too heavy. Balance it out. Since the furniture is heavy and bulky keep everthing else fairly minimal. Its a big room though so you can get away with black end tables or an ottoman as a coffee table.

patti4520 Meant watch the scale of the wall unit against the fireplace....and consider 1/2 the size of the wall unit so its not competing against the fireplace.

rachealy I think you need a coffee table and two end tables, with some lamps! It just looks like too much unfilled space, also because the wall are so simular to the carpet colour it makes it look like the room is not complete, try adding a rug or changing the wall colour, or both!

turner5173 First of all choose a main color or two and choose accents with your chosen colors. Add drapes, rug and pictures. Choose a light colored coffee table and end tables. Paint accent wall and center Tv on wall, put floating shelves on each side. Put sofa n loveseat in L shape with recliners facing them. Maybe add sofa table to fill space behind sofa.

groveraxle OK, clearly your room is way too big. How about dividing it into two zones. Make the fireplace zone a conversation area with the loveseat and two new chairs. Move the television to the wall between the living room and kitchen (move the dining table toward the kitchen a bit) and arrange the chair and sofa to focus on the TV.

groveraxle BTW, I wouldn't buy any new furniture until you get this arrangement to suit you. Otherwise you're likely to end up with another piece that will just make arranging even harder.

jarav I LOVE all my furniture, but I do not know how to make it work for me)

carolins Agreed, the chair does look rather big in the corner. What is your favourite arrangement up to now?

rockinkaratebabe I think the loveseat should have some end tables, so it will look less lonely. You could steal nightstands from a bedroom to get an idea for how the loveseat would look without buying some. Your plant could go between the window and fireplace, in a more substantial pot. I think either of the last two furniture arrangments would work, but prefer the sofa under the window. Add some wall art, window treatments and an eye-catching coffee table. Right now you have a tall fireplace with nothing else in the room, that brings the eye above the tv or furniture. Window treatments and wall art would help bring some vertical balance. You could also add a tall plant or lamp, or even a floor vase with some bamboo or other organic vertical items in it.

nikitasmom I like the cabinet piece but feel that you may grow weary of so much brown. Wood, stone, and furnishings. I saw this image and it reminded me of your room.

Ella at Wishack.com Would it be possible to rip up the carpet? One of the reasons it's hard to move furniture in this room is because the carpet acts as a visual partition. If you get it out of the way, a central throw rug would ground the room a little better and you can choose one that's more colorful, something in a red that would pop against your brown couches.
Something like this: http://www.wishack.com/Surya_Modern_Classics_CAN_1950_Rug_p/sur-can1950-58.htm

If you're set on not taking out the carpet, leave the current couch arrangement that you have but use a sofa table to put against the back of your couch in that empty space. You can add some plants or nice decor items for visual interest and it's really not expensive. http://www.wishack.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=pla-slths_%2854_x_16%29_%28b%29

A nice wall color is a sage green or olive green. I myself have brown suede couches and olive green walls. They're complimentary colors and with a white rug on my wood floors, it's actually a lot brighter than I thought it would be.

Another thing, your TV stand is a bit small for this room. You could go with a corner unit or a low-lying stand that is longer so it just helps add dimension to your living space. As for the middle of the room, consider a square coffee table, they're generally larger so they can cover more space or look at the photo I posed to show you what other options are available.

Good luck!