My dining/ living room space decorating confusion consumes most of my mind when I ponder my apartment. The rest of the space is coming along well, with only minor adjustments needed to start seeing big improvements. But my dining/ living room is a toughie. Similar to the photo above, you enter the joined space from the side (right in the middle) and it's the first thing you see when you enter my apartment. Directly across from the entrance are three cathedral-esque, iron-paned windows (which I love). At one end of the room is a fireplace with built-in bookshelves on both sides of it. At the far end opposite the fireplace is a blank wall with a view over the half-wall into my kitchen. Are you visualizing this? Anyways, my struggle comes in part to the furniture pieces I already have (a lovely antique square table that used to be my grandmothers (although I kind of wish I had a round table instead - easier to work with), a yummy rich-brown leather tufted chesterfield, a rectangular ivory-coloured shag carpet that's not big enough to fill the space, a soft blue tufted chair on wooden legs and a few random side tables that currently hold my tv, blankets, computer and overflow kitchen dishes). There is definitely potential, but given my tight budget, I'm trying to do as much to improve the space as I can without spending a penny - okay, well, limited pennies. If a splurge is in order, I would purchase an identical shag rug and sew the two together to make a larger, more space-fitting rug and a much-needed coffee table (preferably of a modern rustic natural wood variety but I flip flop on coffee table preferances all the time). But really, I needn't worry about any of that because my limited budget has been put aside for an upcoming east coast roadtrip, so furniture reorientation and already-owned or future paintings by moi will have to suffice. For now. (I realize that my space might not sound that difficult to work with but the real tough bit is that it's challenging to create a 'living' space encircling the fireplace because the entrance to the room cuts right into the middle of potential said-space...okay, okay, I'll post photos soon to make better sense of this)...but all of that to say that I am gobbling up ideas wherever I can find them on dining/ living room layout ideas and am stoked with all the yummy visuals that domino magazine has to offer - my favorite of which you see here. And before I go, definitely worth noting is sfgirlbybay's super inspiring living room transformation.
6 comments:
Hi J.
Really hard to be much help without some photos!
I assume you will create a seating area facing the fireplace? I am thinking:
- sofa facing fireplace
- blue chair beside fireplace facing towards windows
- ivory rug in center
- this creates a seating area that faces the fireplace with the chair facing the windows?
- or put the sofa facing the windows on the wall farthest from windows but adjacent to fireplace (is there room?) i.e. between door and fireplace. Then put the blue chair also next to fireplace facing the door to create a seating area near the fireplace that faces the windows more. Use the rug in the middle.
- For the dining, I would create a divider, unless you put the sofa facing the fireplace in which case it will be your divider.
- then put the square table behind the sofa near the kitchen wall with no rug underneath - use a great tablecloth maybe to draw focus?
Use similarly coloured accessories to connect the two "rooms", say a matching throw with the tablecloth?? Or a little objet. I use very small quantities of slate grey-blue to connect my adjacent dining/living room, which are both green/pink based, due simply to an inherited pink rug that i love but isn't my colour style.
Post photos!!!
Hi Terri - thanks! Very impressive considering my lack of photos :P I'll post some before the week is over - promise!
Inspired, I spent most of last night moving furniture around and am really happy with the current (although uncompleted) look. There wasn't room for the couch against the wall between the doorway and the fireplace so I put it where the kitchen table had been, but not flush against the wall. It's pulled in a meter from the wall to cozy up a sitting area space around the fireplace. Behind the couch and against the wall is a shelf with a lamp, painting and stereo, etc. The kitchen table is under the windows now, the blue chair is in the corner between the kitchen table and the fireplace, and a long wooden bench is now against the wall between the doorway and the fireplace, topped with some cushions for sitting on. The rug is positioned in front of the couch. Anyways, photos coming soon to illustrate this. I just need to get some art up on the walls and some plants set up to fill some of the empty spaces...:)
I'd say something but I haven't eaten dinner yet and I had a long boring day at work...so all this talk and lack of pics of your place leaves me totally bewildered and unable to comprehend what your space looks like. And terri is clearly the shit. I'll check back again soon.
Hey Jocs,
great pics. Alene and Andy are designing their house (in White Rock, a long story) before leaving to LCC and were well impressed with some ideas on your site.
Credit given where credit's due!
Call you soon,
J. Glad it is working out. Do post photos! Your room sounds a bit shorter than what I pictured, as I thought there was room between sofa and kicthen for dining table, but I guess not. And you have it near windows which sounds great! Anyway, we will see the pics! Can't wait.
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