Decorating and Design - Living Room Layout

I have a long, narrow living room with a fireplace at one end. Right now (standing in front of the fireplace) we have the couch on the left, windows on the right and the opposite wall has the tv (and shelving I just put up over the tv). The way it is now - if we sit on the couch and watch tv - we are going to need a chiropractor (constantly turning our heads to the left to watch tv). What are our options? There's only about 3 feet on either side of the fireplace. Do I need to rearrange the whole living room so that the tv is on another wall? Or will new furniture I can situate better do it? If I move the tv and put the couch opposite - will the shelves (with pictures and knick knacks) that I put up over the tv look dopey on a wall that would now have a couch or a snake tank or whatever else under it?

Is there any way you can host a picture and provide us with a link ??

http://www.geocities.com/aforcebrat/ photopagespiral.html
Hope this helps!

nope......."the page you requested was not found"......


where's the doorway into this room?

can you put the sofa under the window(s) and the tv on the opposite wall?

the tv really shouldn't be opposite the fireplace. the furniture should be situated to where you can view the tv AND/OR the fireplace at the same time.

what are the dimensions of this room?

and my final question.........snake tank? seriously? :rolleyes:

Take the space out of the web address.

This link works: http://www.geocities.com/aforcebrat/photopagespiral.html

wow, yep, that's a tough room. is this the only living/family room? seems more like a living room than a family room. definitely not laid out well for a tv room.

i would try the tv on the wall opposite the windows, and put the sofa under the window. at least then you're not ignoring the fireplace. you'll probably then have to address glare from the windows on the tv though.

if you're able to purchase new furniture, i'd look for a corner tv cabinet to put on the right side of the fireplace, and a couple of swivel rocker recliners.

also, if you haven't already, consider painting that dark paneling.

Here's one idea maybe.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p208/kindofblue525/IMG_0642.jpg

I think TV in the corner could work and you could play with various other setups. Maybe make the TV even lower than my picture suggests. A friend of mine has a TV next to his fireplace and it's a nice setting.

that'd work. or you could get a flat tv & mount it over the fireplace!

must the snake be in the tv room??? :p if so, i won't be over to watch tv tonight!!! ;)

I think Annette makes a good point. The snake, I think, will take all the attention away from even the most well-placed TV or fireplace. Such an interesting creature makes balanced design a bit difficult for a room meant to be a relaxed space. That's why fishtanks are popular accessories; non-threatening, visually complementary. Snakes...well, it's your house!

I'd give a snake his own room!

I'd GLADLY give the snake his own room - for my would-be visitors who reconsider because of him and for me - well - he just takes up space. And - yes - he could live in another room if we had to.

In this house - there's only one room that works as a living room. It's roughly 12 feet by 20. Without looking it up - I imagine the house was built without a tv in mind - I lived in Queens my whole life - there was no tv room/living room/family room separation. I guess that's why I had no imagination of my own when setting up the room. Plus, my husband didn't want the couch under the window - (I think *he's* seen too many Scorsese movies) but I'll consider that again (in addition to it next to the fireplace.

The doorway to the room is off to the left when facing the tv now.

Paint the paneling? Really? Is there a trick to doing that so it doesn't look....well...cruddy? I like the wood but it's so *dark*.

Thanks again! And thanks for the pictures!

i'd either paint the paneling or the brick (actually, i'd paint both), but one's gotta go. it's very dark & dated now. the paneling wouldn't have to be painted white, it could be just the same color as the walls. or, it would be pretty easy to just cover it with 1/4" drywall, so you wouldn't have the vertical lines/grooves.

12x20 is pretty long. you might be able to divide this room into 2 areas, if you can float your sofa out from the window wall into the room perpendicularly. so that, when you walk into the room, you'd sort of come upon the side and back of the sofa. the sofa would serve as a room divider, behind which you could have your stereo equipment & Mr. Snake (i'm thinking of hiding him under a sofa table behind the sofa, and the stereo stuff against the end wall). then in front of the sofa, you could create an L- or U-shaped seating area with the addition of a loveseat or a couple chairs (and the tv in one of the corners by the fireplace).

the best way to do this is really to just move your furniture around. or make templates of the pieces with newspapers taped together, & move those around.