Hi Steven and Chris, I am a faithful viewer. I am writing in on behalf of my parents, who are struggling to furnish their living room / dining room area. Could you please help with furniture suggestions and placement? We would appreciate any suggestion you may have!
Kind regards, Jenna
Ask Steven and Chris
We must admit, this space had us stumped because of its awkward angles and openings (Note: The fireplace up against the bay window and the dining hutch.)
Before
We think that because of this odd space, you have relegated yourself to chairs around the perimeter of the living room - the classic "dance floor."
After 1
We would like to start by moving the dining hutch into the dining space. Flank the hutch with two dining chairs.
We would encourage you to re-upholster the chairs in a vibrant fabric in order to activate this space.
We think that the reason you have not included a sofa or loveseat into this space is because you don't have a wall to anchor it on.
For that reason, we have chosen to float a loveseat in the space, anchored by a narrow console table.
You can then add two accent chairs and an oval coffee table (to help with traffic flow) for the conversation zone that we think you are trying to achieve.
After 2
We don't usually suggest that people make structural changes unless they have asked us for it, but here we would recommend that you remove the fireplace (We are hoping that this is a free-standing electrical piece.)
Once the fireplace is gone, we would put a low-profile 3-seat sofa under the bay window. You could then have two beautiful accent chairs and a coffee table to round out the floorplan.
Style
Your style seems to be all over the place, so we suggest sticking to one look in order to make the open concept space feel cohesive. We like the '60s Mid-Century Modern feel to your dining suite and think that you should move forward with that.