Discuss New here: trouble planning a living room! on IKEAFANS.com. We're Personalizing the IKEA Experience. New here: trouble planning a living room! - Paints, rugs, accessories, hardware. Discussions of all the elements that make a room more than just a room..
My name is Alex and I just graduated from NCSU, in June I'm moving into a new townhouse with my roommates and I have volunteered to buy the living room furnature (graduation money).
I'm having a bit of trouble with it though, I don't really know how I should arrange things and what all to buy, as well as what colors.
The room will be used by all of us mainly as a TV/hangout area. We have a 56" DLP TV that we use for movies, tv, and video games often so we sort of have that as our center of attention. The stand for it is black and very basic in design (would go well with modern looking stuff) and we have an audio tower that is also black w/ frosted glass shelves.
While looking around I really like the Karlstad series and was planning on getting some pieces out of it. Problem is I don't know what to buy!
In general I like dark wood (love the black/brown and have it in my bedroom) and I'd like to get some color in the room so its not so dark and bland. I'm open to any wood tones so long as they'd work well with the TV stand, I'm willing to go for a new audio tower solution but the TV stand must stay.
I'll upload some pictures of the room with the current tenants stuff in there, I'd love to give you guys a blank slate to see, but I need to order before we move.
The wall from the banister to the corner where the current people have their TV is 17ft and the wall from that corner to the fireplace is 7ft. We think putting the TV in that corner is our best option, but I'm open to other ideas. Sorry I don't have more measurements but the realty lady was looking at me funny and my friend had to get to work.
So far I was thinking a couch, loveseat, and some sort of armchair. I like the korndal Blue a lot and the brown. I was also thinking a black/brown LACK coffee table but I'm unsure of how it will all go together. I'm also willing to paint the walls (I like doing accent walls especially).
I don't need anyone to plan the whole room to a T, but some help getting started would be really helpful, I'm a bit new to decorating a living room, only really done my own bedroom so far.
It would be helpful to know more about how many people will be using the room on a regular basis, what sort of activities you expect to engage in, whether you need separate seating groups or all one big group is best...that sort of thing. Are you planning on eating in this room at all? How big an issue is durability of the fabric...do you have messy friends who spill red wine regularly? How difficult is it to get large pieces into the room (I saw a staircase)? What is the lighting situation? How handy are you, is putting up curtain rods and painting something your landlord would allow, etc.? Who will be keeping the furniture and how long will it need to last?
If you could draw a rough sketch of the floor plan indicating the fireplace, staircase, any windows and the lengths of the walls that would be incredibly helpful.
There will be about 4-5 people using it on a regular basis, we're not particularly messy but I don't think white sofa's would do well here. One big seating area would be best as we all are usually watching TV together, though we have enough space to do a seperate seating area in there if we wanted. I'd like the furnature to be fairly durable, we'll be in this place for about 2 years and I'd like to be able to take it with me after. We're alloud to paint and hang curtains as we please so long as we return it when we move (I don't mind doing that). Moving it in shouldn't be terrible, we could manage it.
Ok heres a rough, I estimated the windows but it should be about right. I didn't go all the way back to the wall on the one side because I'm focusing on the TV area for now.
OK, here's an idea using the Karlstad in Korndal Blue, with the fireplace wall painted a buttery yellow and your TV bench in the corner. You should have just enough room to angle the sectional towards the TV as well as the fireplace. There shouldn't be too much glare on the TV from the windows, and you can place end tables at the ends of the sofa and a sofa table behind the backs so you have a place for lighting and drinks. You could get an oversize ottoman to serve as a coffee table and extra seating if needed, or simply use a nesting table as one of the end tables and pull out the extras as needed.
I'd put drapes on both windows in a nice print, hang a couple of paintings or mirrors, one above the fireplace and one between the windows and probably some dark floating shelves with pottery or art on the wall to the right of the windows.
The wall to the left of the fireplace would be a great place for a sideboard to give you more storage, and you could place a round table and chairs in the space beyond for a separate dining/games area.
I did the plan to scale using the measurements on the IKEA site for the Karlstad sofa and chaise. Let me know what you think!
It inspired me to have at it with photoshop (using dimensions from Ikea).
Karlstad Sofa, loveseat, and chaise are used. I'd get the blue and buy the black/brown legs for them. For the Coffee and side tables I chose LACK pieces in black/brown.
I'd need to get some sort of rug and lamps and stuff, but the basics are starting to come together!
Looks like you have a plan! You'll have to see how much room you've really got, and where exactly that TV will work best, once you move in, but I am sure these pieces will work well for you.
Great plan. Looks like you've found a terrific townhouse. I'm very impressed that you are thinking about design from the beginning. My first place just evolved organically and very badly. Wish I'd had someone like you for a roommate back in the day.
I like the separate S/LS because you get more table space; For guys, TV and snacks/beverages sorta go together. But, in my dotage, I have become decidedly anti-chaise. I do love the look and they do work beautifully in certain space plans. But they are very space plan specific. When later you move to another place or rearrange the furniture, they're just so clumsy. If the foot isn't pointed towards the focal point, the look out of place to me. And, if they're not leather, they nearly always get dirtier at the foot (I was never able to enforce a no-shoes-on-the-furniture rule).
A chair and ottoman (Ikea calls them footstools) combination would give you the same functionality with a lot more flexibility when you get ready to move or move around. Ikea (and others) also have a couple of recliner options that should not be overlooked. These are definitely not your grandpa's recliner, but have a lot of the same comfort and space saving advantages.
My other comment is to add some variety. Whichever you choose, chaise or chair, add interest by changing the style, color, contrast, and/or texture. I find that over-matching is one of the biggest mistakes of new decorators. The goal is to coordinate, not necessarily to have everything match. Even in an all white room, you'll want to vary the textures and tonalities of the whites. A room with all square tables looks much more interesting if you bring in a oval or round piece.
Another great site to search for small space design ideas is Apartment Therapy
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