Well, I had wonderful success selling my home and with help from this board! Thanks! On to the next design challenge! (This time we are going to try LIVING in a cute house, instead of just waiting until we want to sell!)

The home we are buying has 3 living rooms/family rooms. One is on the children’s floor and the other two are off of the foyer. Because they are the first two things you see when you walk in, I want them to look nice, however, I do not want to create a bunch of wasted space with sitting rooms that really serve no purpose. We are not that formal and we have three little children. Since we are moving to a much bigger house, I can’t say we really have a need for the room at all. We already have a playroom, bedroom for each child, extra bedroom for office (if we decide not to use living room), kid’s family room, and guest room. I think the “formal living room”-currently a sitting room, right off of the foyer, would make a good office or t.v. room (t.v. in armoire with love seat and coffee table). The one straight ahead, “family room”, has a bizarre layout and also has the only fireplace. I have no ideas, but I have a set of leather (sofa and loveseat) that I could put in there or in the kid’s family room. I am half tempted just to keep the fireplace room empty, b/c I cannot visualize anyplace to put furniture in there! I really need placement help in there.

What you are seeing in the pictures is the current owners’ stuff. Sorry for the bad photo angles. I know you can’t tell, but behind the rather large, misplaced sectional in the family room, there is a set of French doors going to the balcony-so that wall is out for furniture placement. (You can see a little slice of a tassel in the fireplace shot-that is the curtain for the doors.)

I’m trying to figure out something initially, so that we can tell the movers where to put stuff. I will not be there-only my hubby.

The red/yellow room is the kid’s playroom.

Here’s the link with the pics!

http://picasaweb.google.com/seiza.mokuso/LvingSpacesInNewHouse

Any ideas???

Thanks!
JMC3 mommy

 

what an interesting house!

i would make the family room area off the kitchen/dining area YOUR tv room (think of it as a hearth room).

but that tiny little space you're calling the formal living room, off the foyer, looks so tiny that i wouldn't even call it a living room! it's strangely small. what are the dimensions? the 2 pieces they have in there look like they barely fit. i don't think i'd even put sitting room-type furniture in there. do you have anything odd you could put there, like a fish tank or a piano or a coat rack, grandfather clock, antique something-or-other, etc? or a collection of some sort that you could give it's own little display room? or line it with low bookcases & a comfy chair & make it a little library/reading nook? or maybe use it for the office and use one of the other extra bedrooms for a sewing/craft room (something that would be messier than an office that you wouldn't want guests seeing right off the bat).

 

Annette,

Thanks so much for your reply! It is a small room, I'm not sure of the dimensions. The house is in a very LDS (mormon) community. We are not mormom, but I learned from our LDS friend that they used these very small rooms for home visits from the church leader, which are weekly, and that way they don't feel pressured to clean their whole house all the time. I have nothing against the LDS religion, but I do not want to use the room in such a way that one would speculate we are also LDS. An office was my first feeling, since it is so small, but we have trouble keeping our office tidy (we both work frm home) and it is the first thing you see.

A piano room might work eventually, we had to sell ours, (too long distance of a move to move it!).

Any thoughts on what furniture arrangement might work in the family room? I would be fine with the tv in there, but there is only that one wall, to the right of the fireplace. Also, it seems high traffic, with the kitch and dining behind it, and then trying not to block the french doors too.

Thanks again!
JMC

 

i can't get a good idea of the floorplan of the family room area to suggest a furniture arrangement.

is that dining area the only eating area?

 

Yes, it is the only dining area. We have a 54" square table, which seats 2 on each side, so that will be great in the little nook where their table half is. Then there is space between the dining area and kitchen. We could potentially even put our table closer to the kitchen and use the nook for something else...just move the light.

The family room has one whole wall which is the half wall, going to the stair case. Opposite that is the french doors with very little wall on either side. Opposite the dining room end in the fireplace in the corner and then the rest of that wall is just empty wall. It is the only place that is a real wall. That's what I'm having a problem with. If we have a couch face the fireplace, then there might not be much room to walk around, or maybe just enough. If we put the couch and love seat facing each other, the door would be blocked if they were "on the walls" or you'd have to walk behind them to access the kitchen/dining area.

Part of this could be distortion of how it looks, with that huge couch sectional of theirs, right in the middle of the room. How weird is that?

 

since it's all right there together & so open, i was wondering about maybe switching the spaces, and putting your dining table in the fireplace area and using that back area (shown with the dining table) for your family room? it would eliminate the traffic pattern problem and you would feel like you were nestled in a more private back area watching tv, rather than right there by the front door.

just a thought, it might not work. but i have seen plenty of fireplaces in dining rooms, which i think is really neat. i've also seen lots of dining rooms right off the foyer. so it's conceivably doable.

i think you're just going to have to play around with it, once you're in there & have your stuff to see how it all fits.

 

Front parlors were at the height of their popularity here in the Victorian era. They were reserved for strangers and social callers and were often filled with an assortment of memoriabilia, photos, and furnishings and were often the showplace of a home. The parlor often served as a reception room until guests were announced by servants and then announced that the homeowner would receive them elsewhere in the home. Or, the master of the house would meet the caller in the parlor and briefly dispense of business. Larger parlors were often used for more intimate entertaining.

While it is true that for many, the preacher may be the most important caller, a room reserved for important guests where children often were not allowed, was referred to as the parlour. Later, this room came to be what is currently known as the livingroom. In reserving this room for entertaining of important guests, came the advent of what is now an additional room known as the familyroom.

Morman Brigham Young's home had a parlor where callers waited to discuss important issues with the religious leader. Each of his 50 wives had individual living quarters which included a reception parlor. Even so, the parlor is not credited to LDS Mormons but rather to a period of architectural history where such a room for receiving guests was valued. Today, such formality has for the most part gone by the wayside along with parlors and reception rooms.

Your small front room, which is reminiscent of the era when parlors were prized, is too small for much more than a couple of receiving chairs of small scale and smaller scaled pieces of furniture and some art and accessories that tie into your color scheme, decor, and theme. If keeping the formal light fixture, these pieces could be a little more formal than the rest of your furniture style, keeping scale small and lines and patterns small and simple. Because there is no formal diningroom and the remainder of the house less formal, a change of light fixture to something less formal may be helpful in tieing the room into the theme of the rest of the home. Because of the openess of the floor plan, the colors you choose will be important in tieing everything together.

The fireplace tends to reflect mission style with its arched niche as do the arches in the parlor. (Mission style is often used to describe the architecture of Spanish missions in the southwest US and design elements of the Arts & Crafts Movement.) Corner fireplaces tend to pose some design challenges, especially when used as a focal point in a room. And, fireplaces are traditionally the focal point. (Every room needs a focal point!) The furniture grouping in front of the fireplace tends to require a smaller scale couch or love seat with a couple side chairs and the area defined by an area rug. An area rug on the hardwood floors, if carefully selected, could provide you the color scheme you need to punch up the color in your new home as well as tie together the grouping. The niche above the fireplace could be used to display art or could house a TV. If wanting to reserve the livingroom more as a 'parlour,' TV watching could be done in the familyroom. Note: With the advent of the familyroom, TVs have for the most part moved out of the livingroom.

The oversized seating staring into the kneewall above the stairs is not the way to go. A knee wall is not a focal point. This area is a transitional area between the livingroom and kitchen diningroom. The kneewall could have a buffet cabinet or table placed in front of it. It provides an opportunity for display and additional storage. Or, a drop leaf table could be placed there and pulled out for additional dining or more formal entertaining. Side chairs could flank the table and the captain chairs placed in front of the opposite window with an interesting mission style table between. A beautiful area rug with the same or similar color scheme as the one in the livingroom could provide additional drama and should be of large enough size to accommodate a table and chairs should you opt for a drop leaf table for additional dining. A change of the light kit on the ceiling fan or perhaps a new chandelier in keeping with the style of a new one in the parlor would enhance this area. Because the fixture of the kitchen table is so visible from there, you may want to consider changing it as well to continue the updated look that is more in style with the home. The wall mounted bar in the dining area with the unattractive supports is not in keeping with the beauty or style of the home. The picture hanging above is too small and way too high as are the other pictures in the room. A beautiful chest or buffet that complements the dining furniture could offer storage and serving options. Perhaps even better, a large armoire or pantry, antique or new, would provide depth, warmth, and storage options.

Due to its location it is impossible to remove the wall in the parlor. The openings in the wall that overlook the stairs is an attempt to compensate for its small size by allowing for a feeling of more light and air. It is difficult to imagine what you can do with such a small room when it is dominated by an overstuffed love seat, an area rug that defines the small space, and a mirror that offers nothing to the decor with its reflection.

The room would be an excellent place for wrapping the solid walls with low bookcases for books and other displays. Although not used as a receiving room, it could be a special room where you could steal away for a cup of tea and a good book or a chat with your husband or a friend while your children play together in the playroom.

The playroom colors are very loud! One accent wall would likely have been enough and would open up the space. Except for the red valances upstairs and some reds in the parlor, the rest of the house seems to be devoid of color. Then, wham! You are hit with very loud colors which seem out of place and consume the room. Depending upon ages of children and if you plan on turning the entire familyroom space over to the children, this may work for you. Many adults, however, also like to use this space to entertain. A great place for Super Bowl Sunday, cards, etc.

The oversized furniture is poorly arranged and appears to have a too small entertainment center as its focal point. That wall would be ideal for an entertainment center with built-in bookcases and cabinets surrounding it. Perhaps toning down the colors, downsizing the scale of the furniture and arranging it so that it is more conversational friendly, and pulling it closer to the entertainment wall would be helpful. Depending upon ages of children, the space behind the couch could be reserved for children if there is not another room nearby that could be the playroom.

 

Twelvepole,

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Wonderful post! We have this big dark wood (very similar to the dining table) cabinet. It is currently in our living room at this house, but we are moving it (can't not, we use the heck out of it, it is solid wood, and we only paid $1 for it at an auction) and had NO IDEA where to put the thing. Also, I hate that counter in the dining area and do not know why in the world it is there, except that the current owners have 10 children, and they probably just needed more space. We are totally taking it out and putting our cabinet there!

Second, I love the idea of not letting the children totally have the run in the red/yellow family room, so we have entertaining options. We have a leather set that I wanted to put down there, but it seems too expensive and nice for a glorified playroom. If we keep that more "family room" than playroom, then, presto-furniture isn't wasted!

We have a smaller loveseat couch that might work in from of the fireplace....hard to tell until we are there. This house is 2000 miles away from our current house. We move in a couple of weeks.

It makes total sense what you said about the parlor and the history. This is a newer house (12 years old), so it was built post-parlor era, however, since the LDS culture still has a need/use for this room, that is why they are still building them. I think we might run with library for now, until we get another piano. I like the idea of having a quiet spot. (And one that doesn't get too messy!)

We could put our office in a bedroom (there are 7 bedrooms in this house-we only need 4 for sleeping).

We totally aren't ready to address colors yet. That will come later-when we know we've got the spaces set for what we will use them for. Red and yellow room will get painted, I promise!

Well, hopefully in a few weeks I'll have some great pictures to put up!

JMC