THE ROOM

This is an L-shape living/dinning room. Although it is not a small room, it is not easy to arrange the furniture. It doesn’t have a lot of walls for furniture placement. It has two large windows and a patio door on the long side of the walls and a doorway leading to the hall and another door to the kitchen. Adding to that is an angled fireplace at the corner of the two long walls. The window looking out to the patio has a spectacular view. Its southern exposure also lets in a lot of sunlight during the day.

BEFORE

The dining table is logically placed at the space next to the kitchen, then the sofa, coffee table and the TV stand left to be considered. While in theory the furniture could be arranged around the fireplace to create a focal point, it is impossible here because the sofa will intrude into the dining area, leaving the other side of the living room empty. Another common practice is to put the long sofa on the long side of the wall, which is the case here.

The loveseat and TV stand have been put on either side of the long sofa and the coffee table was placed in the center. This is a very traditional arrangement, however, the person sitting on the loveseat won’t be able to see the beautiful view outside the window. The loveseat also blocked the traffic from the front hall into the room. This created a dead area in front of the fireplace, which is a waste of space. The living area and the dining area were isolated.

AFTER

The dining area remains unchanged because it is more appropriate to have proximity to the kitchen. The sofa is moved away from the long wall and adjusted to a 40-degree angle, in alignment to the angle of the fireplace (see floor plan). This arrangement opens up the passage from the front hall into the room. People can have easy access to the sofa from both sides of the room. This also opens up the area in front of the fireplace, blending it into the room. Now, people can enjoy the spectacular view from both sofas. The living area and the dining area are now tied together instead of being isolated from each other.