This week, I’ve been working on a design plan for a client with an oddly-shaped living room. For me, space-planning is all about creating a furniture arrangement that is in harmony with the architecture. That can be particularly challenging in a room like this one:
Living Room with Diagonal Wall
The room has 5 walls, and the wall with the bank of windows runs on the diagonal. The area opposite these window walls is almost a hallway from the front of the house (to the right of this room) to the dining room and kitchen (to the left of this room). My client wants new seating and a rug for this room, as well as accessories to warm up this tiled space. The first thing we needed to do was to establish how to arrange the furniture to address the unusual architecture of the room. This is the floorplan I came up with:
Rather than ignoring the architecture, we addressed it by using the bank of windows as our focal point for the living room. Now you are facing a lovely view, but can also see the television when seated. An art grouping will replace where the television was formerly, which is the first thing you see when you walk in from the entry (see arrow). My client was having a difficult time visualizing the finished room, so I created an Inspiration Board to bring together the items I selected for the living room:
Inspiration Board by The Decorologist
Do you have a room that stumps you when arranging your furniture? What architectural feature gives you the most difficulty when arranging your room?
I just arranged a living room on the diagonal this past weekend and boy what a difference! The room not only seems larger but the focus went from being squarely on the television (which couldn’t be moved due to the cable outlet placement) to the lovely — and often used — fireplace. It also helped create an atmosphere of intimacy in the room whereas before it was cold and uninviting. Great post! Thanks for sharing.
Yes! Our living room is basically a rectangle but our fireplace is set in a corner, so it’s on the diagonal. It completely throws me off.
Sara,
I have a post I wrote about the corner fireplace dilemma – see if this helps: http://thedecorologist.com/how-to-arrange-furniture-in-a-room-with-a-corner-fireplace
That DOES help! And it provides a nice visual to give my husband when I make him help me move the furniture, haha!
My master bedroom! I can’t figure out how to create the romantic serenity I desire! Our room is huge but the windows are awkwardly placed. Our bed covers half of the one window on the far wall… It looks awkward. I wish I could find a solution!
hilary – focus on making your bed the focal point of the room. where do the windows fall on the wall opposite the entrance? that’s probably where i would try to put the bed.
Kristie, you have done it again, left brain/right brain–they’re both workin’ for you! Super plan…and you make it seem as though this was so obvious! The swivel chair is a really good detail too, with it’s flexibility for TV or conversation. (I really like it that you DID NOT make the TV the focal point!) Will we see the finished room in another post? For Hilary would you suggest that she graph out the room and cut out furniture pieces and play around with it?
So much easier than shlepping a bed across the room!
My foyer! I have a really weird shaped entrance way (with a mirror, to boot) that I’m never happy with the arrangement, no matter what I try! I wish I could hire you Kristie, to come down to Miami-lol! I’m sure even YOU would be stumped!
Miami? That’s quite tempting . . .
Coming down anytime soon? I have a condo right on the ocean side in Miami Beach that I’ll trade (a few days lodging) for your services!
Yes, I absolutely can relate! There are 4 fireplaces in our home and each fireplace wall is on the diagonal! I recently redid our music room and moved the couch away from the wall and put it on the diagonal to face the fireplace. It made the room much cozier.
I’ve got a funky shaped living room. I’m learning about space planning in my interior design course and this room has been challenging. I like what you’re doing in your client’s room.
I think what you’ve done there is brilliant. That is one tough space to work with!
This home is open concept in a weird, stepped (birds-eye view stepped, not sunken stepped) layout. There are also more windows than walls, and then there’s a 3-sided fireplace that seems to have been installed as an afterthought jutting out between the LR and the DR. We’re kind of left with this wide open area that feels a bit like a dance floor! Only, I’m not Ginger, and hubs is not Fred! But… we rent, and that’s why we’re doing the best that we can with the pieces we already own. A true test for redesign!
Great post, Kristie! My immediate thought when I saw the pic was to go with that diagonal wall. I have a rectangular living room with a large picture window flanked by equal built-in bookshelves and no place to put a TV. I want the window to be the focal point as that is what you see when you walk in the room and my two sofas are in an L-shape facing the window. I just can’t figure out where to put the TV. Right now the old behemoth (til it dies-it weighs 157 lbs) is sitting on the built-in bench in front of the window and I hate it. I have considered cutting out some of the shelves to fit a flat screen in once we upgrade, but I am just not sure.
I love your inspiration board for this room! It’s so much more cheerful and bright than the existing brown and beige color scheme. I hope that we get to see the “afters” of this room.