Recommendations for new furniture and set up?

Maybe do an image search online or scroll through Pinterest for furniture and layout inspiration then seek out similar items in your budget range. You can check a Habitat ReStore in your area, sometimes they have great pieces at affordable prices.

I would consider a sectional sofa and I agree with Becky, Habitat ReStore is a great place to look!

Hi! I agree a smaller sectional would work well. I have two loveseats and a couch, with a large ottoman in the center of my small living room. I often think the couch takes up too much room and would rather have a chair there. But, it does come in handy for naps. An engineer once showed me how he would make a drawing of aspace and cut objects to scale to see how everything fits together. A sketch of your room with one inch equal to one foot will give you the actual space. Make boxes out of post it notes to scale and see what works. I measure repeatedly and then try to do this. Try for less furniture to have more free space. Go for sleeker lines and you will find the less bulky furniture takes up a lot less room. If everyone has a comfortable place to sit, it will work best for you. Good luck!

Hi Janie, I love your living room, it looks lived in and warm and inviting. I can picture your family there, chatting, maybe watching some TV and building memories together. Although I do get why you may want to move things around a little. Here are a few ideas that you can play around with https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/10-ways-to-lay-out-a-living-room-sample-floorplans-249869 Have fun

At the present time there are two corners in the room and neither is being used as functional living space.

How many of the books on the bookshelves do you actually use on a regular basis? How many do the boys use?

If the number is low, since the shelves do take up floor space, I would remove them to another location in the home, to free up and maximize the remaining space, especially the corners in this living room. As walls are where electrical outlets are, having some comfortable seating in the corners allows for using electronic devices plugged in.

If you really want to keep the books that you use the most in the room, display them instead on floating wall shelves.

Since the boys have expressed their need and desire to have their own comfortable space, I would suggest that instead of one big couch, you choose two smaller love seats or individual comfy chairs instead, as Janice suggests below. (There are some examples of arrangements in the link in Michelle's comment above.)

This would allow for more flexibility in furniture arrangement, and also allow for smaller more cozier corner areas, each with its own light source that is individually controlled. This would permit one member of the family to be busy on one activity, such as typing on a laptop, and others doing something else at the same time, such as reading, playing a game, or watching TV.

Look for love seats that have a slim profile, as they take up less floor space, as opposed to the couch in the picture that due to its bulky arms, takes up more floor space without providing more seating capacity.

I think a sectional is a great idea for more space, and you can look at Nextdoor.com and Facebook Marketplace for great deals.

Unable to determine the length of the wall that the TV is on. If room allows I would place bookshelves on either side of TV, either paint them or the cabinet underneath the same color and run a board across the shelves to make it look like a unit. I would purchase two couches and place them across each other and have large ottoman/game table in the center of the room. The couch on the longer wall would have room for a small table and reading lamp. Unable to tell if the wall opposite the TV is a window or another entrance to the room. If it is a window, you can forgo the two couches and but a pit style seating arrangement. It looks like you have a great room to work with and lots of possibilities of furniture placement.

Flipturn makes some really good points, the book shelves take up needed floor space as well as the padded arms on the couch and chairs. I would move the bookcases to another part of the house to free up those corner spaces and put in comfortable chairs (take the boys with you to pick out what they like) and what would work in the room. Maybe recliners. You might also want to take measurements of the space and bring them with you when you shop for chairs. If additional lighting is needed in those corners, a pole lamp which is slim and flexible.

I have difficulty seeing 2 love seats, they tend to have 1 person sit on it and the rest of it gathers clutter.

And if you want a couch-or a sectional, put it where the tan chair on the right is, that way the bulk of the people viewing tv have plenty of space together.

You might go in search of really comfortable chairs and purchase 4-5 of them and totally forego the sofa. I've found hardly ever do more than two people sit on a sofa at once. The chair option I suggest would provide each of your boys their own "space" and can easily be move a few inches here and there for better TV viewing or whatever is happening at the time. Just an idea to think about!

Consider 2 oversized chairs and a love seat. There's no rule that says you have to put a sofa in the space. I've bought from Big Lots and it held up pretty well.

Do you need both of those bookcases? If not, you could get a nice big sectional and an armchair.

Move book cases on either side of the tv. Add sectional sofa on the wall below pictures and extending towards the dining area. Looks large enough to add an end table on either side of the sectional or a large coffee table in the middle. Add an area rug in the middle. Not sure what the bins are for but they don't look right under the tv. Make room on the book shelves for the contents at the bottom rows of the shelving units.

A sectional sofa would work the best. ALso... you room will appear larger with a neutral-color sofa. The cube space under the TV looks disorganized... paint the cube black -- to match bookcases aand get neutral bins (or matching baskets would even be better) to fill in the cubbies.

I agree with the sectional idea as well. We purchased ours new and VERY inexpensively on Amazon and are still just thrilled with it. You can see it in my post here: https://www.hometalk.com/diy/living-room/living-room-reveal-farm-houses-can-be-classy-fun-practical-44297022

Hi Janie, small sectional, likely to find one gently used online, or new, for a reasonable priceyou would still have room a single chair, possibly recliner as well!

https://visualhunt.com/small-sectional-sofa-with-recliner

Hi Janie,

Buy less bulky furniture. Maybe check out the Thrift stores or eBay etc.

For furniture, I love to go online to a few stores by me and do a search for items I am looking for and then once I know I'll go check the items out in person.

Why not be a little different and put a mural on the wall?

https://www.amazon.com/wall-murals/s?k=wall+murals

If those are family photos, I would make the arrangement look more cohesive by putting black frames and maybe a dark gray mat around each photo. Then find a pleasing arrangement by laying out on the floor. I would go with a sectional also, check the sales at Wayfair.com

I would get a sectional sofa, like this one the same color as your chair and keep one of the chairs. https://amzn.to/2Iblp94

you can try this https://www.pinterest.com/pin/838584393111631231/

Unable to determine the length of the wall that the TV is on. If room allows I would place bookshelves on either side of TV, either paint them or the cabinet underneath the same color and run a board across the shelves to make it look like a unit. I would purchase two couches and place them across each other and have large ottoman/game table in the center of the room. The couch on the longer wall would have room for a small table and reading lamp.

I think the shelves would look better placed on the sides of the tv. Here are some more ideas for small living rooms. Home and Garden DIY Ideas | Hometalk