What do you have in your living room?

[Anonymous]

Ok, just curious.

I have a split level and I have a formal living room area and a family room area. My kids love the space of the living room area for playing, but I'm unsure if I should ever put any furniture in there. It's an L shape that connects to the dining room.

I have a separate family room that we use for the tv and relaxing.

Do you have furniture in your living room?

What do you use it for?

[Anonymous]

We have a couch and two slipper chairs with coffee table and end table. I never use the room. I think my dog sits on the couch sometimes so that she can look out of the window.

I'd keep it as a play area if your kids like it.

[Anonymous]

I hate the way houses have two "living" spaces. I'm with you, OP, who needs a formal living room?? Our house is so small we only have one living room, so it is the one we use. But, if we had two, I would definitely make it informal. Play for kids is fine. I say practical all the way! No need to buy fancy, nice furniture that no one will ever use.

[Anonymous]

we went a few years with a sofa and piano in ours. Finally said forget it, and turned it into a playroom. We have a 2 story colonial, but have a family room. We decided that the family room would be a toy free zone, so dh and I can watch without having to look at all the toys. Of course, the children bring toys in, but ultimately their home is in the playroom. We do have a small playroom in the basement, but the children only play down there when they have friends over, or when I am down there doing laundry, though as they get older, they like the basement more.

The only down side for us is that the playroom is just to the left as you open the front door, so it can be a challenge to keep it clean. BUT, it is used every day, for a long period of time

[Anonymous]

Our formal living room is the biggest waste of space. We have furnished with traditional couch, 2 chairs, coffee table, end tables and an armoire. We furnished it 5 years and never used it before. Now that we have kids I would have made it the family room (it is the first room as you enter the house) and your actual family room is so tiny and off the kitchen (would have made that the toy/play area) The only time we use our living room is at Christmas - we put the tree there and open presents there.

[Anonymous]

meant furnished it 5 years before kids...and "our" actual family room.
Should have drank my coffee before typing.

[Anonymous]

We have the typical open plan townhouse layout. The front area is a sort of dining room with a large table, piano, and a nice large chinese storage piece.

There's a long table in the entry way, with a toy chest underneath.

The back area (just before the kitchen) has two large sofas, the television, and a mini table and chair set for the little ones.

There's as much open space as we can manage. The kids each have a small riding toy that they play on regularly. The dining room table is used for art or work projects rather than meals. The toys go everywhere, but are returned to the chest just about everyday.

My brother's home screams "We have children! Children live HERE!!!" Our place isn't sterile by any means but everything can be tucked away and out of sight.

[Anonymous]

We have comfy upholstered furniture and a coffee table in our LR, as well as bookshelves.

We use the room for reading, hanging out (only family or family and friends), looking at the Sunday papers.

In our family room we have a TV, sectional sofa, and one upholstered chair. We use that room for watching TV/movies and playing on the Wii. There are also musical instruments in that room (piano, drum set) and we play music there as well.

I'm glad we have both rooms as I wouldn't want a TV in the living room.

Use your rooms however works best for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have comfy upholstered furniture and a coffee table in our LR, as well as bookshelves.

We use the room for reading, hanging out (only family or family and friends), looking at the Sunday papers.

In our family room we have a TV, sectional sofa, and one upholstered chair. We use that room for watching TV/movies and playing on the Wii. There are also musical instruments in that room (piano, drum set) and we play music there as well.

I'm glad we have both rooms as I wouldn't want a TV in the living room.

Use your rooms however works best for you.

We have a similar set up. I live in a small colonial with a separate living room and family room. Our family room is really comfy and has the TV, etc. our living room has 2 chairs and some book shelves; it is my "quiet room" where I read or just sit quietly sometimes. The kids have taken to reading in those chairs as well. We plan to add some more furniture like a small sofa or something. Others in our neighborhood, with the same style of home have removed the wall between the 2 rooms to create one large room, but I like the way ours is set up. FWIW, my kids are a little older - 6 and 7 so they can go to the basement to play with toys or on the wii. We moved into this house when they were 3 and 4 so we never really had to use the living room as a play space.

[Anonymous]

We just moved into a house with a living room and I love it. We're using it as a kid-free room for reading. The kids have a rec room for their toys and we also have a family room for tv, game night, etc. I don't know why people have a thing against living rooms. You don't need to make them fancy--we have two comfortable reading chairs, a small sofa and some end tables and reading lamps. It's a nice oasis for DH and me...we love it!

[Anonymous]

We don't have a family room. We just have a living room and we live it in. Sofa, chairs, piano, toy storage, lamps, end and coffee tables.

[Anonymous]

My family room was converted to a playroom since it's next to the kitchen. The "living room" has sofa, 2 chairs, tv, bookcases and baby toys. The preschoolers would run over the baby in the playroom so he's not in there just yet.

I grew up in a 900 sq ft cape cod style home, there was no formal living room and we didn't call it the family room. We called it the living room because it's where we did our living. And the finished basement is either man cave or rec room.

[Anonymous]

I live in a similar split with a family room on the "lower" level with walkout to the backyard and the living room on the same level as the dining room and kitchen.

We have an apartment sized sofa with 2 side tables, coffe table and 2 chairs with no tv in the room and I love to hang out in the space while the kids are watching tv downstairs in the family room.

It gets the best afternoon light in the house and it is a happy place and I love to just sit in the room and read. I consider it the more adult gathering space and it is where we tend to sit when people come over. I love having the 2 spaces, but becuase our living room is next to the dining el it is not as isolated as living rooms can sometimes be.

[Anonymous]

This is a little off topic but, what would you think of a house that didn't have a formal living room? We have a small kitchen (like everybody in our neighborhood), an ok but not huge dining room, a large living room and a large family room (added to the house later). If I made the kitchen and dining room into one big kitchen, I could make the living room into the dining room, but I am not sure this is a good idea.

[Anonymous]

Sofa, two chairs, bookshelves, sideboard (DH's grandmother's hope chest) with lamp, end table with lamp, couple of small tables that used to have plants and now are bare (we have a 1 year old).

Family room has bookshelves, comfy chair, computer table and chair, and TV. We plan to eventually set it up as a play area, but it was easier to baby/toddler-proof the living room and the family room has become a bit of a junk room. We just took the books off the lower shelves and put the baby's toys and books there, so the room is not totally overrun.