Question: We would like to rearrange the furniture to have a more logical relationship between the television and the main viewing areas, relocating the stereo speakers. None of our chairs are of the same style.We were considering moving the couch perpendicular to the north wall so that it would face both the fireplace and the TV. Our speakers are fairly huge and stand on the floor. Music is important to us.

Gil and Evely Deane  
San Anselmo, CA

Answer: It's nice that you to want to incorporate music into your lives and your home's decor. And with stereo and TV equipment getting smaller and less expensive, it's no longer necessary to sacrifice good design to include all the gear.

Because the primary function of this room is listening to music, watching television and socializing, my arrangement of your furniture includes a new built-in, wall-to-wall bookcase unit. This is where the stereo equipment and the television will reside. As well, it becomes another focal point of the room.

The new wall unit goes from floor to ceiling with shelving on the top half and closed cabinets below. Since the area to the left of the fireplace is so small, I recommend that the unit be designed to turn the corner towards the fireplace to give you more shelving for books.

This new arrangement is ideal for socializing, listening to music or watching TV. The media components, including speakers, are tucked into a built-in wall unit for a neat, uncluttered appearance.

Built into the wall unit are custom sized niches for your stereo speakers. These will face towards where you'll be sitting to give you maximum listening quality. Your stereo receiver, its components and whatever hardware is necessary for the TV like a DVD player, TiVo, VCR, cable box, etc., will be in the cabinets below. To ensure that the remote control's beam can be "seen" by the equipment, I recommend that the doors of the cabinets have fabric panels instead of being made of solid wood. Make sure that the fabric is the right density for the IR beam to penetrate. I suggest that you test the remotes with the equipment before you commit to that fabric. On the shelving sits the television, now facing the sofa. An excellent way to watch TV and DVD's is to wire the TV's audio so the sound is played through the stereo speakers. This will give you a real movie house feeling without having to leave home! Your 7' leather sofa is now facing the new wall unit, and is perpendicular to the fireplace. A wall of drapes behind the sofa helps keep the room feeling intimate and warm at night, Alternatively, instead of drapes, you can use match stick blinds or rush shades. These will give you transparency during the day yet add a natural texture for this large wall of glass.

On one end of the sofa is your end table with a lamp, and on the other end is a large plant nestled in the corner of the two windows. Make sure you get the right type of plant to handle the amount of light it will get in this space.

Opposite the sofa, in the corner of the new wall unit, is your large swivel chair, and on the open end of this furniture arrangement are your two small side chairs, placed together to make a pair.

On the end wall is your console cabinet, except it no longer houses your stereo equipment. The cabinet is now available for extra household storage. I suggest hanging a large mirror on the wall over it to reflect this new furniture arrangement and make the room seem larger. A pair of table lamps on either end of the console's surface will illuminate this area nicely.

I think this revised arrangement covers all your furniture placement needs nicely, and gives you a new way to enjoy music.

  

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