How would you arrange this living room?

[DeviousTrap]

I'm in the process of buying a condo and it's got an open layout for the living room.

I currently have a nice 55" TV with a 7.1 system, but I'm used to having a "standard layout", with a TV against the main wall and then two couches in an L shape.

Anybody have any suggestions for how you'd arrange this room for a good surround sound experience? Going by the size of the TV and how it's staged, the current owners obviously didn't care about having much of a media experience.

 

[Howard]

Need plan (top) view drawing please.

 

[DeviousTrap]

Need plan (top) view drawing please.

Looks like 19' 2" x 12' 6". But it's a combined living/dining area, so you ideally split it up somehow to have both a TV area and a table.

 

[purbeast0]

all that sunlight looks pretty sub-optimal for a tv in that room

i don't know exactly what i would do, but i'd put the couch along the side with the windows and mount the tv on the wall across from it as a general start.

 

[soulcougher73]

all that sunlight looks pretty sub-optimal for a tv in that room

i don't know exactly what i would do, but i'd put the couch along the side with the windows and mount the tv on the wall across from it as a general start.

This was my frist thought as well. Could flip it and put TV in front of windows to cut down on glare (if you dont mind blocking a lot of window view) and put couch against the wall without windows.

Or

Mount TV on the wall they currently have it in front of per the pic and put L shaped couch against window and out into room. Not optimal for surround sound this way though. But would keep a fairly open floor plan i think.

 

[JAG87]

Mount TV on the wall they currently have it in front of per the pic and put L shaped couch against window and out into room. Not optimal for surround sound this way though. But would keep a fairly open floor plan i think.

+1

And maybe get some nice thick curtains.

 

[Anubis]

id put the TV where that mirror is in the first pic and invest in some thick curtains if you do a lot of daytime viewing

 

[Automaticman]

My first thought was to put the tv on the long wall, but I think it might actually work better like this:

It makes the viewing area a little more self contained and separates it from the dining area, and I think it might be a bit easier to lay out the speakers. Using the long wall, I'm not sure where the side speakers would go in a 7.1 config. The front left speaker here will probably have to be a bit close to the TV, but it may not be a problem.

 

[DeviousTrap]

My first thought was to put the tv on the long wall, but I think it might actually work better like this:

It makes the viewing area a little more self contained and separates it from the dining area, and I think it might be a bit easier to lay out the speakers. Using the long wall, I'm not sure where the side speakers would go in a 7.1 config. The front left speaker here will probably have to be a bit close to the TV, but it may not be a problem.

This is an interesting idea, thanks!

My original thought about the TV on that wall, would mean that if it was centered on the wall, it wouldn't have been watchable from the couch (that's against the windows). With your plan, if you center the TV to the couch, it get's rid of that issue, but makes the TV look off center on the wall. Maybe if I can find something to put into that corner, it won't look so odd?

 

[soulcougher73]

My first thought was to put the tv on the long wall, but I think it might actually work better like this:

It makes the viewing area a little more self contained and separates it from the dining area, and I think it might be a bit easier to lay out the speakers. Using the long wall, I'm not sure where the side speakers would go in a 7.1 config. The front left speaker here will probably have to be a bit close to the TV, but it may not be a problem.

This was what i was trying to explain on my 2nd option, but without a handy pic Leaves the floor plan fairly open.

 

[Automaticman]

This was what i was trying to explain on my 2nd option, but without a handy pic Leaves the floor plan fairly open.

Yeah I could tell you were thinking along the same lines. I actually drew the picture because it didn't look like people understood when you were explaining what you meant.

As for where the TV is centered, my gut says centered on the room will be better than centered on the wall. I feel like moving it too far to the top wall may make things feel more cramped over there, and it will also increase the angle the the person on the top couch will be viewing from. (oh, this is what you mentioned in your post).

I kind of think that if you are standing back looking at it, you eye would pick up that it is centered between the two main room walls, and notice less that it is not centered on the wall it is mounted on. Really hard to say without seeing it in person though.

On the other hand, moving the TV toward the top wall does give you the benefit of leaving more room for that left speaker, esp if you are using a tower style speaker.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

My first thought was to put the tv on the long wall, but I think it might actually work better like this:

It makes the viewing area a little more self contained and separates it from the dining area, and I think it might be a bit easier to lay out the speakers. Using the long wall, I'm not sure where the side speakers would go in a 7.1 config. The front left speaker here will probably have to be a bit close to the TV, but it may not be a problem.

This is similar to how my living room is laid out, and that's what we settled on for TV placement. But the speakers the OP is using, specifically the fronts, could really limit placement options along that wall; you don't want people constantly running into your left speaker as they move between living room and bedroom. If it's all satellites/bookshelf speakers (or a soundbar), it's just some straightforward mounting to keep them out of the way.

 

[pawel.mat33]

In my opinion, the best way will be placement leather corner sofa in living room. There are lot of space, so this will be good solution. I just consider buying corner sofa.

 

[giantpandaman2]

I'd go with Automaticman's suggestion, because it avoids having direct reflection of light coming through the windows. The only negative is you might have uneven glare depending on the angle of the sun coming through the window. Some thick curtains or even blackout pull down blinds might be in order. The other advantage is that people in the kitchen can see the TV. Perfect for when hosting a party while a TV event is on. Just make sure to get a vertically "short" sofa if you plan on taking advantage of this.