Furniture arrangement

[Roadrunner53]

Not sure if this question has been asked before but here we go.

I have a downstairs family room that is rectangular. One side of the room is smaller than the other. There is a closet in back of the wall. This part of the room has a fireplace. It drives me nuts because it is too small to arrange furniture nicely. If we use the fireplace it is too hot to sit in that area. We also had the big screen tv jammed in that area too on a floor cabinet. The other half of the room is quite a bit larger and we used to have a pool table over there. I want to basically throw out most of the existing furniture and do something with that room!

I do not want to put the tv on the fireplace chimney.

Does anyone know of a computer program that would help figure out how to arrange furniture, tv? I am considering a fold away couch that could be used as a bed. I am thinking of putting in an area for a coffee maker and the stuff that goes along with it. I would like some nice recliners but the room is so awkward I don't want to create a monster. I just can't come up with anything creative. I have looked on line but nothing is screaming out to  me.

The fireplace should have been put in the center of the room or on the larger side. It makes me crazy that the smallest area of the room has the fireplace. The fireplace is like the focal part of the room but everything is just wrong with it!

On top of this fireplace there are quite a few windows and there is a wrap around shelf around the whole room. There are only two full walls without doors or windows. The walkway is between each wall.

The large side would be perfect for arranging furniture but then it would be like what to do with the side of the room with the fireplace?

I am almost ready to just toss everything out of the room and leave it empty. We have no kids so the room is really useless and needless.

The room is kind of junked up right now. I had a death in the family and  a lot of stuff just got dumped down there. I am ready to move on but it seems so overwhelming when I don't know where to begin on what kind of furniture and how much furniture and how to arrange it! Seems really dumb but I would hate to spend money on stuff that isn't going to fit and then I will hate it. Money not well spent!

This is probably the dumbest question!

[Pushkina2]

There’s a great design community on Houzz.com who would be more than happy to help!

[pbkmaine]

I just plot out the floor plan on a piece of graph paper, then I cut out bits of graph paper for various items of furniture and move them around. Low tech but it works.

[LightTripper]

Roomsketcher is quite flexible (and free!)

[chemistk]

I just plot out the floor plan on a piece of graph paper, then I cut out bits of graph paper for various items of furniture and move them around. Low tech but it works.

This is what I've done, too. Even made it to scale! It's nice because you can collaborate with a someone else (a spouse, roommate, etc.) and see it in real time.

[lthenderson]

I just plot out the floor plan on a piece of graph paper, then I cut out bits of graph paper for various items of furniture and move them around. Low tech but it works.

This is what I've done, too. Even made it to scale! It's nice because you can collaborate with a someone else (a spouse, roommate, etc.) and see it in real time.

+1

This low tech way is a lot faster than downloading and learning a new piece of software for sure. Unless you have some furniture that is extremely heavy, my preferred way is to just pick up the furniture and move it to where I think I want it and if time proves me wrong, move it again. Eventually through use, I get it where it makes the most sense.

[LightTripper]

The nice thing about Roomsketcher is it gives you a 3D view too.  Takes a bit of getting used to how to use it but it is quite good if you make the investment of time.  I'm always inclined to try to shove too much furniture in a room and it has helped me not do that a few times, without actually having to shift stuff!

[AMandM]

I can't quite picture the shape of the room, but is it big enough that you can make two separate areas in it? Maybe a few smaller chairs at the fireplace, with a low table, and then the sofabed and TV in the larger end?

Or if you want to get fancy you could actually build an inglenook around the fireplace.

[Roadrunner53]

I can't quite picture the shape of the room, but is it big enough that you can make two separate areas in it? Maybe a few smaller chairs at the fireplace, with a low table, and then the sofabed and TV in the larger end?

Or if you want to get fancy you could actually build an inglenook around the fireplace.

Yes, that is the problem, it is like two separate rooms and what  you suggest is what I am thinking.  Rectangular room, fireplace on smaller side and bigger side could accommodate a couch, big tv, a large table with a coffee maker.

[Boll weevil]

I just plot out the floor plan on a piece of graph paper, then I cut out bits of graph paper for various items of furniture and move them around. Low tech but it works.

I’ve done this in PowerPoint, usually scaling 1 inch = 1 foot. For the room, you can either resize the sheet or use an appropriately sized rectangle.