Removing furniture helps you visualize your space

DEAR MI-LING: I want to redo my living room, but it doesn’t lend itself to rearranging. It is 24 by 16 feet and has hardwood floors, two 7-foot windows (one on the front wall facing the street, one on the far end of the right wall).

At the opposite end of the right wall (toward the front of the house) is a dark red brick fireplace with a mantel. The TV is positioned on the wall across from the right-sided window facing a taupe leather sectional sofa that sits in front of that right window and curves onto the back wall.

I also have two radiators — one below the front window and one below the back right window. The back radiator sits behind my leather sofa and there is an iron-and-glass sofa table between the sofa and radiator. I do have a chaise that sits at an angle in front of the front window facing the fireplace.

I would like to get rid of the chaise and replace it with something else, but I don’t know what will work. I have an iron-and-slate coffee table in front of the sofa and one iron-and-glass side table at the end of the sofa that is closest to the fireplace.

Could you possibly have any suggestions for this seemingly impossible setup? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Darlene

DEAR DARLENE: My head is spinning just trying to visualize the space.
My suggestion to you is to first remove all of the furniture from the space. Decide which side of the room will be your focal point, and arrange the space to accommodate your needs. You might want to create a cozy little nook for reading and enjoying the fireplace.

You can change out the chaise with two chairs or a chair that reclines. This will make it easy to sit and read. Or maybe a floor lamp and a comfortable chair would work in that space.

Design the space with a purpose. Make it comfortable and livable. You might want to consider looking at a few radiator covers. I had a situation in my daughter’s dorm room where I used a tall sofa table with glass and iron over the top of the radiator. It didn’t get hot and gave her the table space she needed.

Now go out and create your own unique comfort zone!