ᐅ Furnishing our open-plan living and dining area with a split-level design
Created on: 12 Jun 2016 10:00
G
Grobi82
Hello,
After countless discussions with our architect regarding the floor plan of our little house (...we are building on top of an existing partial basement and foundation slab),
the living/dining area is 50cm (20 inches) lower than the surrounding rooms (kitchen and hallway), so it is a split-level design.
The furniture layout the architect drew is doable but we are not 100% happy with it. Since I have already received great ideas here during the planning stage, I am turning to you again with this topic. Do you perhaps have some suggestions on how to arrange the room?
A few details about the background:
- The wall to the kitchen (which will be arranged differently than shown) is a knee wall about 1 m (3 feet 3 inches) high.
- The large "corner windows" on the right and top right of the plan offer a wonderful view over a valley.
- By the way, we have a large U-shaped sectional sofa.
We have of course also thought about it ourselves but always get stuck with the placement of the TV.
1. The obvious choice would be the wall at the bottom of the plan, but then sitting on the couch you would have no way to enjoy the beautiful view.
2. Another idea was to build a half-height knee wall from left to right and mount the TV on it. On the opposite side of the knee wall (top of the plan), a bench could be placed as seating for the dining table. The couch would then go along the bottom wall of the plan. The problem here is that further furnishing with cabinets would be difficult, and I doubt you could comfortably watch TV on the couch without obstruction from the knee wall.
3. Another possibility would be to place the couch in the top right corner of the plan and hang the TV on the terrace wall (left side of the plan). However, the view would then also be behind you.
I would be very happy if you could take a look at our plan and maybe share some ideas with us.
Thanks in advance.
Best regards,
Grobi
After countless discussions with our architect regarding the floor plan of our little house (...we are building on top of an existing partial basement and foundation slab),
the living/dining area is 50cm (20 inches) lower than the surrounding rooms (kitchen and hallway), so it is a split-level design.
The furniture layout the architect drew is doable but we are not 100% happy with it. Since I have already received great ideas here during the planning stage, I am turning to you again with this topic. Do you perhaps have some suggestions on how to arrange the room?
A few details about the background:
- The wall to the kitchen (which will be arranged differently than shown) is a knee wall about 1 m (3 feet 3 inches) high.
- The large "corner windows" on the right and top right of the plan offer a wonderful view over a valley.
- By the way, we have a large U-shaped sectional sofa.
We have of course also thought about it ourselves but always get stuck with the placement of the TV.
1. The obvious choice would be the wall at the bottom of the plan, but then sitting on the couch you would have no way to enjoy the beautiful view.
2. Another idea was to build a half-height knee wall from left to right and mount the TV on it. On the opposite side of the knee wall (top of the plan), a bench could be placed as seating for the dining table. The couch would then go along the bottom wall of the plan. The problem here is that further furnishing with cabinets would be difficult, and I doubt you could comfortably watch TV on the couch without obstruction from the knee wall.
3. Another possibility would be to place the couch in the top right corner of the plan and hang the TV on the terrace wall (left side of the plan). However, the view would then also be behind you.
I would be very happy if you could take a look at our plan and maybe share some ideas with us.
Thanks in advance.
Best regards,
Grobi
Sorry, this was done a bit hastily, but here is the basic idea:
Square (or nearly square) rooms are generally not ideal for dining and living areas, so some compromise is probably necessary.
Personally, I would go with one of the two layouts. In the first one, the dining table benefits from good natural light, and the U-shaped sofa layout allows you to enjoy the view through the corner window without awkward stretching.
The downside is that the double doors at the top of the plan are somewhat blocked by the dining table.
In the second layout, the sofa takes center stage and is well positioned for both the corner window and the TV.
The disadvantage is that the dining table ends up in a relatively dark corner.
I don’t really find either design perfect, but I would probably lean towards the second option.
Square (or nearly square) rooms are generally not ideal for dining and living areas, so some compromise is probably necessary.
Personally, I would go with one of the two layouts. In the first one, the dining table benefits from good natural light, and the U-shaped sofa layout allows you to enjoy the view through the corner window without awkward stretching.
The downside is that the double doors at the top of the plan are somewhat blocked by the dining table.
In the second layout, the sofa takes center stage and is well positioned for both the corner window and the TV.
The disadvantage is that the dining table ends up in a relatively dark corner.
I don’t really find either design perfect, but I would probably lean towards the second option.
@Grobi82, I’m not sure how far along you are with the construction. I’ve left out the fireplace for now as well.
But I would probably:
But I would probably:
- move the kitchen level further in and avoid placing the steps immediately next to what I consider an inconvenient door to the hallway. That door usually needs to be double-leaf and then blocks the staircase to the upper floor.
- change the door from the entrance hall to a single-leaf door, 100 cm wide (39 inches), that opens outward and has a narrow glass panel beside it
- have the front door hinged the other way
- as a result, have just one table measuring 180x90 cm (71x35 inches)
- install a low partition about 100 cm high (39 inches) in yellow, with the sofa behind it and a lowboard with TV on the right wall
- place the remaining existing living room furniture along the top wall
- put bookshelves on the left side, on the way to the living room terrace door, for example
- fit a reading chair with a great view in the upper right corner
- keep the kitchen as shown
- the path to the kitchen from the upper floor won’t require going up or down stairs anymore
@matte1987
@ypg
@kbt09
Thank you all very much for your contributions and ideas.
We can no longer make any changes to the floor plan since the foundation slab and partial basement, including the split-level, are already in place.
We will most likely go with a free-standing wall, as suggested by @ypg.
Best regards,
Grobi
@ypg
@kbt09
Thank you all very much for your contributions and ideas.
We can no longer make any changes to the floor plan since the foundation slab and partial basement, including the split-level, are already in place.
We will most likely go with a free-standing wall, as suggested by @ypg.
Best regards,
Grobi
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