Revisiting the Living Room
As soon as we walked into this house for the first time, I knew how I’d want to arrange the furniture. That giant bay window needed to be featured and since there weren’t many walls, all the furniture would float in the center of the space.
It’s a long, somewhat narrow room and our sofa just fit comfortably across the room width-wise (if we didn’t want to go behind it often). It also made things a little more economical since we could anchor the room with a smaller, 6x9 rug instead of a 9x12 rug had we arranged the space the other way.
We had a local craftsman create these custom shelves for us and they just completely make the space and gave some purpose behind the couch.
It was a really pretty set up but it didn’t always feel practical. When people would come in from the front entry (behind the green chairs), it felt like a bottleneck and not super welcoming to walk into. When Hyler was born, we really never used this room at all. It felt clunky to get around the furniture and then to sit on the couch, it felt really closed off from the rest of the house. Once Hyler started crawling and walking, it was a constant redirecting game as she would want to get behind the sofa and push the chairs around. We hadn’t really considered rearranging (other than moving the plants off the floor and clearing the coffee table) but then we found a hutch.
I guess another issue with our layout is that the dining room isn’t directly off the kitchen. You have to go through Austin’s office or the family room to get to the kitchen. So when a baby is ready to eat or ready to be done at the table, having all the things on hand was a challenge every meal.
We had a photoshoot coming up at our house and the vibe for the shoot was a little more eclectic than our dining room was. We picked up a set of caned backed chairs from Craigslist for $75 and a then I found this amazing mid-century hutch in a nearby town for get this — $40. I told Austin we needed it for the shoot (and we did!) but as soon as it got inside our house, we both fell in love with it and knew we’d be keeping it.
But the hutch displaced the IKEA credenza we had behind the dining room table. While Austin’s parents hung out with Hyler, we rearranged (and rearranged and rearranged) the living room to make everything fit. The long side table that had been under art in the dining room was moved to behind the family room sectional. The credenza from the dining room was placed right in the middle of the archway joining the living room and dining room. The sofa was placed inside the bay window and the two green chairs were set by the window, opposite the entry door.
wasn’t my favorite layout
but it makes the most sense.
IMMEDIATELY it felt so much more open and kid-friendly in here. The space went from an area we tried to keep Hyler away from to another fun place to play. The hutch stores all of the bibs, washcloths and plates within easy reach to make meal time with a toddler so much easier.
We’re still waiting on our new rug to arrive. The 6x9 rug looked so silly when turned lengthwise in the space. We were able to sell it and sell other things at a yard sale a few weeks ago to save up for a new rug. Once that arrives, I’ll make the final call on the curtains. I can’t decide if we need to change them up to follow the windows behind the couch or to just get shades or to leave them framing the whole opening. I don’t want to impede the view but they also don’t make a ton of sense as they are with the couch sitting there now. Thoughts?
new rug on its way!
