With Expert: Lee Bryan
A contemporary designer who's worked around the world, Bryan designs with his clients' lifestyle in mind. leebryanid.com.
Q. I have a long living room with a fireplace on one end and a front door in the middle of the outside wall. The fireplace and door are each flanked by two windows. This allows me only one long wall for my couch. I would like to have two intimate spaces in the room – one near the fire and one with a focal point with the armoir and TV.
A. One possibility is to use modest sofas back to back to split the room and use the two sofas as two separate seating areas. If you have access to an electrical outlet, then a sofa table in between the sofas will allow you to include lighting, bringing life to this focal point. For this solution, I would consider two small scaled armless sofas which will maximize the seating space and keep them from overpowering the room. The accent chairs used should also be of a smaller scale so the room does not become over crowded.
The advantage of this solution is flexibility, you can separate the sofas and use them facing each other when you are having a larger group over to entertain. I would also keep the occasional pieces small making it easier to rearrange the room to serve different functions. This would give you a designated sofa facing the tv and a serparate one facing the fireplace, while keeping your options open.