We are in the “choosing furniture” stage of the river house (they moved in their old furniture last week and began living here this week after our family reunion). The room is big and very open, but it’s off to the side (not a pass-through living room THANK THE HEAVENS) and while there are multiple focal points (fireplace/TV and big doors to the outside), this one feels easier than others have in the past. And before you get your panties in a bunch (I’m looking at you Orlando) about the TV over the fireplace, this house is meant to really be lived in and was designed for my brother’s family. While it looks high-end (and it is), my brother is a high school football coach, so sports will be watched in almost every room and Annie (the architect) designed the house so that the TV can be seen from the kitchen and dining room. This house was also designed/laid out during lockdown where we were obviously spending so much time in our homes and we really really want every room to be lived in, a lot. Max is also a huge TV person (which surprised me) and therefore the TV on the tiled fireplace was the clear winner. We chose black tile which we think integrates the fireplace box and the TV the best. If you want quick resources here you go: wood flooring, ceiling wood, fireplace tile (chalkboard matte in Peaks and Valleys), fireplace stone, ceiling pendants, semi-flush mounts, and sconces.

It’s also near the home office (that currently has my brother’s baby grand piano in it right now – yes he plays the piano, too – we were raised Mormon!! It was a requirement in the 90s!). I love those wall washers by Blueprint Lighting, they create such a pretty soft light (we are likely going to manipulate them so they hang opposite ways flanking the doors).

So for the sake of the blog here (and for our design purposes) Gretchen drew in some options to walk you through the thought process for how we are thinking of arranging the living room.

A Sectional + Accent Chair

I really like this option, it creates a clear conversation area. But I think we could spread it out, use more of the space, and sit even more people. They’ll have a sectional in their TV/family room too so this is an opportunity to do something more interesting, in my opinion.

Two Facing Sofas

I love two-facing sofas as it keeps the room open and symmetry makes my eyes happy. It allows you to play in other ways while still looking curated. But it’s not right for this room because neither faces the TV and one of them would block the view. Fun to see but a no.

An Angled Sofa And Swivel Chairs

I asked Gretch for options and she drew in this one (in addition to many others) which cracks me up. Y’all, I HATE furniture on an angle (and rugs for that matter), so don’t do this but I think my strong offense to this layout was worth sharing. I have so few strong design pet peeves, but in a room this squared-off, angled furniture is an absolute crime.

P.S. I found out that this was a little joke she played on me lol but I’m glad I could let my opinions be known!

A Sofa, A Loveseat, And Swivel Chairs

Now there we GO. While the sofa could be bigger (the room is huge so we’ll go big) I love the idea of a huge sofa facing the fireplace, a smaller sofa (either a loveseat or even an 84″) on one side, and then yes two swivel chairs opposite it. This requires a huge coffee table and a pretty darn big rug, but all doable. (Remind me to do a roundup of huge but not crazy expensive coffee tables – I feel like they are so hard to find!!).

As you can see the swivel chairs will be able to rotate to see the view which pleases us so much. So now, we are on to furniture selection and we have some exciting ideas happening. Thanks, Gretch for your excellent drawing skills – I’m VERY excited to get this going and hope to show you some progress in the fall.

*Photos by Kaitlin Green