How do I arrange furniture in a great room?

Laura Askew
by Laura Askew
How do I arrange furniture in a great room with a fireplace flanked with an exterior door and a window? Where should a baby grand piano be placed? Where should the sofa go? There will also be 2 chairs. Is there room for a TV, also, or will that need to be elsewhere? Thanks!
  7 answers
  • Hey Laura, first, select a focal point. I would choose the fireplace and the baby grand would go at the other end. I would put the couch on the long wall adjacent to the window and float the chairs so that the room remains open looking. Once you get into the space you can work with your pieces and move them around on the furniture slides, even Home Depot sells them now. I just wrote an article about it, I hope it helps.http://www.networx.com/article/the-six-fs-of-arranging-furniture
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Aug 15, 2012
    Our main living space is a great room as well at about 28 x 15 one end of the room has a wood stove / fireplace place area a bit like yours but has book cases on either side. one long wall has two large picture windows and a pair of sliding doors. One of these doors we do not use, the one near the fireplace end. we have a couch along one long wall and a love seat and leather arm chair on the other side. This provides face to face contact if we have people over the couch faces the picture windows which have a great view of our mountains. opposite the fireplace is our dining table. I would think this type of arrangement would work for you as well but place the piano where we have our table...I'm assuming you have a dining area elsewhere? Lee Anne Mentioned the basics...Focal point is first..then factor in your furniture. For us we ditched our TV in year about a year and a half ago...it greatly simplified things.
  • Ally Ally on Aug 15, 2012
    I'm not sure how long your room is and I know grand pianos are HUGE, but if there's room I would put the couch directly across from the fireplace with a chair on either side of it (floating in the middle of the room). Anchor with an area rug. Then the piano behind the sofa and to the right. You have room then to put your tv against the right wall if you want - or just stop watching tv altogether - it rots your brain anyway (or so my grandma says) :) I'd add a narrow table to the left wall too as a leaving the house station - unless this door is unused.
  • Ashley Ashley on Aug 15, 2012
    Without knowing how large your room actuallly is...here are my thoughts: Hang the tv above the mantel, plunk the couch down into the middle-ish of the room facing the fireplace. Create a reading nook type area with one of your chairs in front of the window to the right of the fireplace. You may have enough room to put the second chair at an angle to the right of the couch, leaving an open "walkway" from the door on the left. I would probably place the piano on the other side of the room that's not pictured, if possible. For added symmetry on the fireplace wall, I would have matching window treatments for the door and window (and then just keep the drapes pulled aside at the door, depending on how often it's used). All that being said, I'm no designer, haha. Good luck!
  • Sherry L Sherry L on Aug 15, 2012
    I like Ashley's idea + a small table and an area rug in front of the couch.
  • Carol Carol on Jan 18, 2015
    My great room is similar to yours, and I bought a sectional. The couch part faces the fireplace, and I have a large TV on the long wall that faces the loveseat, but the TV is also visible from the couch and the corner wedge of the sectional. Depending on the size of the room, I would put the baby grand either in the corner by the window, or behind the sectional. My spinet piano works well behind the couch part of the sectional, and the top of the piano serves as a console table for holding drinks and snacks, and the occasional bouquet of flowers.
  • Diana Deiley Diana Deiley on Nov 17, 2015
    Not knowing exact measurements, I would suggest placing the piano kitty corner across the room (door side) facing the window, place two chairs side by side on the same wall opposite a small sofa (window side). You can place a small round table between the chairs for a small plant / coasters. Place a reasonable sized coffee table in the middle of the room within reaching distance from all seating. I would not place the furniture against the walls. Wish I knew the exact size of your room and furniture. Keep in mind, walk space....traffic flow from room to room. Have fun rearranging, and do enjoy your room.