How should we configure and utilize these rooms?
May 23, 2019 10:54 AM Subscribe
We are a family of four (2 adults, 2 young kiddos under 5) considering the following floor plan: We want suggestions/ideas about best using these rooms.
The upstairs has three bedrooms and the basement is finished. We might like an office in the house but it is not a dealbreaker. How would you utilize the rooms on the main floor (diagram above) and how would your furnish them? It looks like a couch or couches may not work well because they are a lot of windows and not many straight walls. We are open to all ideas and don't need to use any of the spaces traditionally (aside from the kitchen and bathrooms). What would you put where? How would you set this house up based on the needs of a family of four?
The upstairs has three bedrooms and the basement is finished. We might like an office in the house but it is not a dealbreaker. How would you utilize the rooms on the main floor (diagram above) and how would your furnish them? It looks like a couch or couches may not work well because they are a lot of windows and not many straight walls. We are open to all ideas and don't need to use any of the spaces traditionally (aside from the kitchen and bathrooms). What would you put where? How would you set this house up based on the needs of a family of four?
I love Bella Donna's idea. In the new living room, put the sofa facing the window so its back is to the stairs and lined up with the doorways.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:22 AM on May 23, 2019
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:22 AM on May 23, 2019
I would make the 'family room' the dining room, with a large table, so the kitchen essentially becomes an eat-in kitchen. This could include a desk or two for homework and a computer.
I'd use the 'dining room' for the main family room/tv room, and let the 'living room' be an offshoot to that, maybe a quieter area with a game table or reading nooks.
If you're wanting an office, you could easily close off the 'living room' and turn that into a very nice office.
posted by hydra77 at 11:33 AM on May 23, 2019
I'd use the 'dining room' for the main family room/tv room, and let the 'living room' be an offshoot to that, maybe a quieter area with a game table or reading nooks.
If you're wanting an office, you could easily close off the 'living room' and turn that into a very nice office.
posted by hydra77 at 11:33 AM on May 23, 2019
Put the dining table in the kitchen. Make the middle room a "grown-up-kinda" room with couches, and corrall the kids playthings etc in the front room. That way you can sit in the middle and watch both sides, and when people come visit it's convenient to the kitchen/dining area.
posted by nkknkk at 11:48 AM on May 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by nkknkk at 11:48 AM on May 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
Yeah, the living room could be closed off to be an office, the dining room becomes the living room and the family room includes a table for eating. Dining rooms are a waste of space unless you give a lot of dinner parties. They're used at most a couple of hours a day.
posted by mareli at 12:57 PM on May 23, 2019
posted by mareli at 12:57 PM on May 23, 2019
We're a similar family (2 adults, 2 young kids) and just did a big renovation of our house where we had to make decisions about layout.
Our architect noted that with small kids, it's pretty inevitable that they'll set up to play within eyeline of where you are. We decided to have a relatively open family room area (with a small couch and two chairs around a big rug, no coffee table) right next to the kitchen, so the kids could be playing right there while the adults were preparing food or puttering around doing stuff. I'd be hesitant to put your dining room table and chairs in the room immediately adjacent to the kitchen with young kids, because if they're too young to be sitting at a table during their playtime / downtime (more of an elementary age thing), you can't keep an eye on them and they can't see you when you're preparing food. They are likely to instead try to play under your feet in the kitchen, which will feel cramped and annoying (and possibly unsafe if you're cooking).
If it were me, I'd set up the room immediately to the right of the kitchen with some seating and big rug, and some storage for kid crafts or toys. That'd be where you guys can drink coffee or relax in the mornings and evenings, and the kids can play when you're in there with them or when you're in the kitchen, with everyone feeling close but not on top of each other. I'd leave the dining room table in the room marked "dining room" (unless/until kids get older and want to be doing crafts or homework while they hang out with you, then I'd flip the dining room to the room adjacent to the kitchen). Having the dining room in that middle room is slightly more annoying in terms of carrying food from the kitchen, but that's only 2-3 times per day. The living room next to the foyer should be an adult-oriented space (either an office or a quiet area) - it's ideal in that the kids can move from front door to dining room table to kitchen without walking through that room, and it's shielded a bit visually and sound-wise from the other spaces.
I would avoid at all costs having your office or adult-oriented room being one that kids cut through multiple times a day by necessity (e.g., to get to the kitchen); that will drive you insane.
posted by iminurmefi at 1:13 PM on May 23, 2019
Our architect noted that with small kids, it's pretty inevitable that they'll set up to play within eyeline of where you are. We decided to have a relatively open family room area (with a small couch and two chairs around a big rug, no coffee table) right next to the kitchen, so the kids could be playing right there while the adults were preparing food or puttering around doing stuff. I'd be hesitant to put your dining room table and chairs in the room immediately adjacent to the kitchen with young kids, because if they're too young to be sitting at a table during their playtime / downtime (more of an elementary age thing), you can't keep an eye on them and they can't see you when you're preparing food. They are likely to instead try to play under your feet in the kitchen, which will feel cramped and annoying (and possibly unsafe if you're cooking).
If it were me, I'd set up the room immediately to the right of the kitchen with some seating and big rug, and some storage for kid crafts or toys. That'd be where you guys can drink coffee or relax in the mornings and evenings, and the kids can play when you're in there with them or when you're in the kitchen, with everyone feeling close but not on top of each other. I'd leave the dining room table in the room marked "dining room" (unless/until kids get older and want to be doing crafts or homework while they hang out with you, then I'd flip the dining room to the room adjacent to the kitchen). Having the dining room in that middle room is slightly more annoying in terms of carrying food from the kitchen, but that's only 2-3 times per day. The living room next to the foyer should be an adult-oriented space (either an office or a quiet area) - it's ideal in that the kids can move from front door to dining room table to kitchen without walking through that room, and it's shielded a bit visually and sound-wise from the other spaces.
I would avoid at all costs having your office or adult-oriented room being one that kids cut through multiple times a day by necessity (e.g., to get to the kitchen); that will drive you insane.
posted by iminurmefi at 1:13 PM on May 23, 2019
A little bit this depends on whether you are mainly doing things in the kitchen when you need to supervise the kids, or whether you are mainly in the living room.
If most of the time you need to be in the kitchen and the kids with you, then set the family room up as the main playroom maybe add a sofa or table and chairs. Then create an adult living space, in the middle room - possibly with room for a dining table, and use the front room as an office. Or put the dining table in the front room and have the middle room as just a living space.
If most of the time you're chilling in the living room with the kids playing, then make the middle room the living/family room, put a dining table in the back room by the kitchen, and make the front room an office, or possibly more of an adult living space.
Personally, I'd make the back room a dining room, the middle room a living room, and the front room a library, with proper walls and doors. And a wing back chair.
posted by plonkee at 2:16 PM on May 23, 2019
If most of the time you need to be in the kitchen and the kids with you, then set the family room up as the main playroom maybe add a sofa or table and chairs. Then create an adult living space, in the middle room - possibly with room for a dining table, and use the front room as an office. Or put the dining table in the front room and have the middle room as just a living space.
If most of the time you're chilling in the living room with the kids playing, then make the middle room the living/family room, put a dining table in the back room by the kitchen, and make the front room an office, or possibly more of an adult living space.
Personally, I'd make the back room a dining room, the middle room a living room, and the front room a library, with proper walls and doors. And a wing back chair.
posted by plonkee at 2:16 PM on May 23, 2019
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I don’t think it would be that hard to furnish. Lots of decorators encourage people not to put all the furniture against walls. But you could certainly do that if you wanted to. There are online services that will help you decorate if you want professional help. I’m sure other folks here have more direct experience with that. It looks like a nice house. My main concern would be being able to know where the kids were at all times given there’s an upstairs. Good luck!
posted by Bella Donna at 11:05 AM on May 23, 2019 [1 favorite]