long narrow living room furniture placement

Hi Jeffrey, My partner and I recently purchased a semi-detached house in Toronto’s Leslieville neighbourhood. The previous owners renovated most of the main and top floor, making it the perfect space for us. However, we’re having trouble figuring out how to configure our living room furniture. Upon entering the front door we walk into an open-concept living and dining room. There is a three-foot long wall that separates the entrance from the living room but it is by no means a foyer nor is there a hall closet. Our living room has a front window that faces the street. We have a larger TV and plan to wall-mount it on the long wall but we’re having trouble deciding on where best to put our couch and two small chairs. Our sofa is very large (94”) but if budget allows we are considering purchasing a new, smaller one. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated. Judy

Congratulations, Judy, on your recent purchase. I love Leslieville!

When you reference hanging the TV on the long wall I assume you mean the longer wall in your living room and not the long entrance wall.

That said, from where I sit, let me offer a couple of scenarios for your furniture placement.

Scenario 1 If you have room, place your sofa with the back parallel to the entrance wall and the front facing the TV wall. This way, the back of the sofa helps define the entrance space while the front of the sofa serves the living room. Ideally, you will have enough space to have a narrow sofa table/console behind the sofa. You can place books, a plant and a dish for keys on this table so that it acts not only as a sofa table to the living room but an entrance console to the hallway. With any luck you’ll be able to place a lamp on it (running the cord under the sofa and out to an outlet by either the window or on the living room side of the three-foot wall.)

This sofa placement allows you to have one small chair in the window and the other facing the window on the other side of the sofa, with a coffee table between.

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