Question: Our front room is extremely long and narrow, approximately 22 feet by 12 1/2 feet. The entry has wide pocket doors. There is a five-panel picture window that extends the entire length of the room on the left beginning 3 1/2feet from the doors. The far wall has a built-in cabinet with doors, atop of which is a built-in bookshelf. The cabinet/bookshelf extends the entire width of the room except for the 2 1/2 feet by the picture window. The room has a low, beamed ceiling.

This room contains the TV, stereo and musical equipment. The floor space is poorly used. A particular problem is that the picture window is very drafty, hence the need for the space heater. Also, we are short of closet space, but the armoire is wider than the wall space by the pocket doors and the window. We eventually will replace the window. But even then, we are having a tough time coming up with a layout that uses the space well, especially along the window. We would consider some new furniture. Any ideas?

Ray Welch
San Rafael

Answer: Long, thin rooms are always a design challenge because they're like tunnels. Fortunately, there's a proverbial light at the end of this one.

Since the windows are the main architectural feature of the room, despite their draftiness, your furniture placement should be oriented to make the most of the view they offer.

Additionally, the first thing you see when you enter the room is the back of a love seat; that's not a particularly pleasant view, unless there's something of interest behind it, like a sofa table with decorative elements on it. Your armoire is stuck on a wall, just sitting there. Based on the furniture you included in the floor plan you sent with your letter, it's clear that music is an integral part of your life and how you use this room. I would like to make it a feature of how the furniture and accent pieces are placed. Because the large windows and built-in bookcase are fixed elements of the room, we have to make the most of them. Let's start with the largest piece of furniture, your sleeper sofa. It should stay on the wall because the wall is long and can handle this large piece. On either end is a table with a lamp so you have good lighting in the room and for reading. Your love seat should be surrounded by a pair of club chairs. These chairs provide comfortable seating for guests and make an intimate seating area for listening to concerts, whether live or recorded. These club chairs should have low arms so the view from the sofa isn't obstructed. When you need to open the sofa into a bed, they're easy enough to pull aside to make more room. Next to one of them is a small, round end table so guests have another place to set a glass and small plate.

In the middle of this new seating area is a coffee table. To keep the room feeling light and airy, use a table that has a glass top, but to keep it defined in the space, use a table where the glass is set into a wood or iron frame. The armoire should go in the largest corner of the room near the windows on a diagonal. This way it faces the seating area so it feels like part of the furniture's arrangement rather than just being stuck there. Your keyboard and bench are now on the remaining section of the large wall to the right of the sofa as you face that wall. To increase space and take advantage of the large windows while you're making music, put a framed mirror on the wall so you can look up and see the view reflected in it. A large piece of art over the sofa will do the trick to keep the wall balanced.

To create the illusion that the ceiling is higher than it actually is, the art should be a vertical piece rather than horizontal. Next to the bookcase in that small, awkward corner, put a tall, thin plant. It will love the light from the window, and again, because it's tall, will make the ceiling seem higher. Now for those drafty windows; unless your view at night is so spectacular that it's worth dealing with drafts, I would put large, heavy drapes on this entire wall. At night you draw them closed so the warmth stays in the room rather than going out through the glass.

Drapes that are designed to provide insulation usually have an extra layer of material between the decorative fabric on the side facing the room and their backing. This insulation fabric provides the barrier to keep heat in and cold out.

To maintain the illusion of a higher ceiling, I recommend a fabric with a vertical stripe. This same fabric can be repeated in throw pillows on the sofa so you have some decorative continuity in the room. Since the drapes with the extra insulation will be heavy and you'll be opening and closing them every day, make sure the rod that they're on has a fluid mechanism so they draw back and forth easily.

 

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