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Sat Feb 22, 2003
Long, narrow Great Room has some great problems
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 In my previous home, I used a floor plan provided by you in our local paper. It was marvelous and certainly made much better use of my space.
Our new home, however, is an open concept design with a long and narrow living room/great room.
Each expanse of wall (except for one) has some type of architectural feature that prohibits furniture placement — a fireplace with a window on either side; an open space to the kitchen; a half wall on one side with a raised breakfast nook at one end extending into the kitchen area and; a large opening to the hallway.
The color scheme throughout the house is mostly established with the walls in the great room and kitchen areas painted in a warm, country green (monsoon green).
The curtains are a check print which accents the walls and the floors have dark hardwood butting up to ceramic tile in the kitchen and foyer.
This room is used on a daily basis and must be functional as well as provide space for entertaining (not something we do a lot of), and there should be an easy flow from the hallway, through the livingroom, into the kitchen.
We have been unable to figure out a floor plan for placement of furniture which would suit our lifestyle and provide sufficient seating.
We are willing to purchase new furniture and an area rug to pull it all together.
The only item that must stay is the TV, although we have also entertained the idea of housing it in a wall unit.
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Sat Feb 15, 2003
Traffic flow and lack of wall space create a spatial challenge
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My wife and I bought a new house two years ago, but still can’t decide where to put the new furniture we planned on purchasing for the family room.
The problem is, we have always done the standard thing – place the furniture against the wall.
In this home, we wanted more openness and decided to have open entrances from the family room to the adjoining kitchen and office.
But doing this meant we have no wall long enough on which to place the proposed new sectional.
I feel the room is wide enough to place a sectional sofa away from the wall with enough room to walk behind it, but my wife thinks this would be odd.
Is there any way we can place a sectional sofa, a reclining chair, a chair with foot stool and large sofa table in this family room?
What size sectional, if any, would you recommend?
Do you know of any sectional sofas that have a single seat on the left side and two seats on the right side (a sectional such as this would not block the entrance into the office).
We would really appreciate your thoughts.
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Sat Feb 08, 2003
A strong plan of action will keep the decorating budget in check
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Our new home has a large family room with a large patio door that looks on to a beautiful wooded area.
The room has dark-stained, hardwood floors and the walls are currently painted in an icy blue colour that I am anxious to change.
I don’t think furniture arrangement will be a problem, but I would like to know the type of sofas and chairs I should buy for the room in order to create a cosy atmosphere for our small family.
The furniture we have is comfortable, but old and tattered and I would like to replace them in time.
I should mention that our budget is minimal but we would really like to have the room finished, or at least useable, by the spring.
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Sat Feb 01, 2003
Unique home designs present unique problems
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The unique design that first attracted us to our new townhouse is now causing us some concern as we begin to plan the furniture layout.
The dining room (which is also the main entry point) is an octagonal shape which sets the tone for the rest of the house which highlights many angled walls and interesting niche features.
Among our dilemmas is the uncertainty of where to place the furniture so as to be able to see the beautiful white stone fireplace, as well as the television.
While this is not a small space, the living room has many traffic paths that restrict any traditional layouts and we are beginning to feel frustrated by the whole process.
Also, any help you could give us with design and window treatments would be appreciated.
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