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Furniture placement question

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7.6K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  tamjamb  
T
#1 ·
I'm hoping to get some input on my problematic living room placement.

I have a couple of things in the living room which I have to keep -- specifically a coffee table and two end tables which are family pieces. My husband has 2 further 'must haves' - he wants seating for at least 6 people and he wants at least one recliner placed opposite the TV.

My living room has a focal wall, rather than a focal point, really. On one wall, I have a fireplace with built in shelves right next to it. Between the fireplace and the shelves, the whole wall is taken up. The TV is placed on the shelves. The room is not large.

This has been a struggle, obviously and I have finally come up with furniture and a placement which I think will work. I found a 2-seater sofa/ settee which I like and will buy 2 of them to flank the tv/fireplace wall; then found 2 small recliners that I want to place side by side opposite the tv/fireplace wall, with the end tables set to the sides. Like so:

Now my husband, whose main function in this process seems to be to shoot down all my solutions as I find them, is concerned that placing the chairs side-by-side without a table in between will 'look odd' or 'be breaking some furniture placement rule.'

What say you all?
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
An L-shaped reclining sectional was my first (and favorite) suggestion. I think that's the perfect furniture for the space, and I found a great deal on a beautiful, comfy example at a local furniture store, with a super cute matching accent chair. If I only had myself to please that's what would be in there now.

Unfortunately, my husband 1) hates sectionals for some reason and 2) feels that seating for 4 isn't enough seating - even though there is only the two of us and a puppy living here and 3) wouldn't even consider floor pillows for guests in a million years.

So there you go!
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
Yep, tkh1957, I thought of that too, and that would have worked and looked great. Unfortunatly, it failed the 'husband test' on the grounds that 1) he wants his recliner in front of the TV and 2) would only provide seating for 5.
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
BabsHoney said:
So what is your husband's solution for this space?
Click to expand...
His first choice was to buy the same set we've always had: a couch, loveseat and one recliner. I never liked this because I feel like the space is just too small for a large couch and I would kind of like to have a recliner for myself. Also the couch- loveseat configuration just seems kind of expected... I'd like to try something different.

That said, he doesn't dislike the current plan -- he just wants me to find another small table and put it between the 2 recliners. I think this spreads the whole grouping too far apart and adds one more piece of furniture to a room that will already have plenty. I think that the two chairs will be fine side by side, since they will be identical.
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
He's a conservative guy -- he thinks there are rules for everything. His actual words were, "I'm afraid it would be a design faux pas."

My guess is that, once I got the furniture in there, he'd like it fine. That's our usual design pattern -- he frets over whatever I'm planning, then loves it once I'm finished. That said, I really never have seen 2 chairs lined up side by side like that and I couldn't find any pictures online either... So I just thought I'd bounce the idea around and see if I was missing anything.
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
Problem solved. I found a couple of pictures of side-by-side chairs (thanks, KevinPh!) which calmed him down a bit. Then we went to an RV show (believe it or not) and several of the fancy rigs had recliners placed side by side and that calmed him down a bit more. Finally, we went back to the furniture and noticed that several of their groupings featured side by side chairs... and that calmed him all the way down. We have ordered the recliners (custom fabric so it will take up to 10 weeks to get them back) and are going to get started on the new flooring (golden teak, yay!) next week. Whew!
 
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