Day 3: The Day I Thought Would Never Come - Living Room Redo

It finally happened!! I thought it never would! What am I talking about? The Hubby bringing up the subject of rearranging the furniture. Usually, it takes some scheming on my part and usually the furniture gets moved while hubby is at work and little man is sleeping. This time was a shocker for sure.

When we moved into our home, we loved it. It was after we had been there a while that I started trying to rearrange the furniture in the living room. It was frustrating to say the least. The architect really planned a room in which the furniture could only be laid out a couple of ways. The fireplace is on the end wall with the staircase going up to the left. The right wall is a complete wall of windows. The left wall - the only blank wall for furniture is also the only wall with a cable hookup. The entrance into the living room is open with a half wall between it and the kitchen.

So, you can feel my pain by now I am sure. The biggest issue with the room is that I have always wanted to have the TV on the wall beside the fireplace. I always wanted the fireplace to be the main focal point. But, when we were given the option of where to place the cable hookup, we were given only two choices - on the one large wall or above the fireplace. Now, I know it is pretty customary these days to hang the TV over the fireplace. But, I have never liked that placement.

Here is our living room before: The couch was on the window wall and the rest of the furniture was placed around the room. The TV as you can see is on the one long wall. Excuse my dog - photo hog. Our TV is quite large and I complain about its size all of the time, but it was an out of the box special and it is great for watching movies I must admit. The extra dining chairs are chairs I am in the process of covering - my projects are usually spread out everywhere. The telescope needs a new home.

BEFORE	BEFORE

Well, back to the topic at hand. Having a very mobile one year old has caused us to rethink the placement of everything. Having the TV so open allowed him access to all of the buttons and cords. It also caused us the worry of having him pull it over on top of him.

We recently purchased a Roku box that allows us to watch TV without the use of a cable box. This also allowed us to move the TV to another place in the room (It also saved us a lot of money!) In order to move the TV while still on a cable box, we would've had to drill a hole through the outside of the house and run a cable - not a chance - put a hole in our house?

So, the project began. One day while Gary was at work, I did what I could. I then messaged him and told him I wanted him to come home for lunch - with ulterior motives. He did and we moved the TV into its new position.

Here is our room with the new space plan:

In this new plan, the Pottery Barn Entry Way Table (now replaced with the dresser I refinished and re-purposed) is now on the large wall and is being used to hold puzzles and games. You can see that Declan has already found the puzzles. Smile. There is also room on either side for additional seating. These two chairs are from a previous dining set. One is completely slipcovered and the other is a work in progress {Upcoming Blog Post Coming Soon}. You can see I have a few photos yet to hang.

Another option for placement of this table was behind the sofa, but it is too tall. Sofa tables should not have a height taller than the back of the sofa.

"New" Seating With Room for Games and Puzzles	Dining Chair with Slipcover

More Open Floor Space	New TV Placement

I love the TV in its new placement. This is not a permanent solution. I would really love to see built ins on this side of the fireplace, but that is a major thing and will have to wait :) The baby swing is temporary until we can move it into storage.

With this furniture layout, the TV is a better distance from the sofa. It was too close to us before. There is also a lot of space for the dogs and Declan to play (As you can see in the photo, Gabby would rather sleep than play most days). The chest belongs to my mom and I am trying to decide if I want to move it somewhere else or try to get it back to her. I like the chest as a family piece, but it is too high as it is used as a coffee table and takes up too much space. I eventually want to have round ottomans that serve as additional seating and storage.

One other necessary item in our living area is the dog crate. Both dogs are crate trained, but Gabby now calls this home. She has been known to chew here share of table legs. The green and grey pieces are additional floor pads from our playroom. I put them down for Declan when he plays in the living room.

Dog Crate

There is also the issue of the end table. We purchased it when a local furniture store was going out of business. It is wooden with a glass top and has additional storage. Its square shape also gives it a little bit of a modern edge. We will be keeping it for now since for every seat there needs to be a place for a cup to land, but it is too large in scale for the space so I am on the lookout for something smaller in scale.

So there you have the new layout. I must say I am very happy with this plan. And, hubby is actually loving the new TV placement as well.

End Table