Seat : Bum ratio for your living room?

[Tita Gidge]

I'm replacing my living room furniture. Right now we have a sectional, chair and chaise which is exactly enough seats for everyone to have one.

 

I'm thinking about losing the sectional and chair. I'd keep the chaise and add either two sofas or add one sofa plus a loveseat. Either way I'm down 2-3 seats. It's not super often we have everyone in the room at the same time, but it does happen - usually around holidays, but nobody seems to mind plopping down on the floor either.

 

Do you have enough living room seating for everyone who lives in the home to have his/her own seat? Is it ever an issue?

 

On a related note, any opinions on sectionals versus separate sofas?

[Tap]

Yes, to seats for everyone due to my own personal baggage. I was the baby by 6 years, of a big family and I was always kicked of the couch growing up when the living room filled up. I really didn't like the fact that my siblings who were big people (teens,young unmarried adults) were seemingly considered more worthy than I was, and could displace me at will or make me sit on a lap. It made me feel inferior and since I was on the floor, I was below them, I was overlooked/ignored in group conversations. Honestly, it had to do more with my age than where I was sitting, but it didn't feel that way then.

 

 

I like couches and chairs so I can rearrange the furniture. I had a sectional twice in my life and hated it both times.

[gardenmom5]

I used to have two full-sized sofas. (and my rocking chair for babies). Now I have a large sofa (and my kids will squish onto it if everyone is here) and two recliners. we also have a settee I have under my dining room window which is easily brought into the room. or dining room chairs . . . so, if we need extra seating, it's not a problem even though we have less than we used to. It's not often we need more.

[BakersDozen]

Given the fact that the littles are usually found on the laps of the middles/olders, there is plenty of seating. We can comfortable seat 9 plus we have a bench in front of the fireplace. I wanted to make sure every member of the family had a place to sit, even without using sibling's laps. :)

[Melissa in Australia]

seing as our school room is at one end of the lounge-room, we have a lot of varied seats, from office chairs to a cane lounge-sweet.

[joannqn]

We have six people. We have a love seat, a sofa, and two young-kid-sized club chairs. It is not enough seating for our family. We always feel crowded, especially given that the TV is at a 45 degree angle from the couch so people like to sit with their back against the arm of the couch and feet up on the couch and that the dog and cats often occupy space on the couches as well. We are often all together in the room, so that makes a difference too.We got the club chairs, hoping the littles would enjoy having seats of their own, but they don't use them much and seem to prefer to be on the couch or on a lap. I'd love to have the room and money to have another long couch or at least a couple of comfy chairs.

[Laura Corin]

We have four comfy seats, or five if someone sits in the middle of the sofa - we often do as a family but guests rarely choose to. We also have two floor cushions in a corner and an ottoman, so when we run out of seats the children move to the floor. If we need more seats than that, we have some folding chairs, but at that point we start to run out of floor space.

 

Laura

[GWOB]

We have enough seats for our family of five. We kinda have a sectional (two regular seats plus a chaise) and a love seat. It works, but I would prefer a regular 3-seat couch and two comfy chairs.

[Luckymama]

We have a seats-five sectional, a comfy chair (mine!), and a desk chair in the family room. I love it :)

[Lisa in SC]

I answered maybe so. We have a household of 9 currently: dh, 4 children, friend of oldest child, friend's baby, fil, and me. In our family room we have two sofas (each seats 3 comfortably), and 2 recliners that don't look like recliners. So that's seating for 8. Youngest ds prefers the floor or an exercise ball, and the baby doesn't take up a seat. Fil never chooses to join us in the family room. Add in different schedules, activities, etc. and there's always plenty of seating room. I have lots of large throw pillows too, so if the kids have friends over, there's plenty of extra floor space for comfy lounging.

[Soror]

We have a couch, loveseat, recliner and chair+ ottoman. Often one kid sits on an ottoman or on the floor by choice but there are enough for everone. We also have long cushions in the bay window in the back of the room, that is about 10 ft long. In the basement we have a couch and 2 loveseats.

[Punks in Ontario]

We have 7 seats for a family of 6. I intentionally didn't get a sectional because it only seats 4 really whereas a couch and love seat fit 5 and have more flexibility with furniture arrangements. When we have company, we bring in office chairs or kitchen chairs because we're usually short. Until Christmas of last year we had an extra chair which helped. Sometimes I'm tempted to put it back, but I like having things look less cluttered.

 

If we didn't have enough seats for all the family, I think it sends a message that not everyone is welcome to family times in that room.

 

Now in the TV room, we have enough seats, but not enough in front of the TV unless we really squish or bring in an office chair.

[DawnM]

Sofa that seats 3, 2 large comfy chairs, and 2 smaller area chairs and a large ottoman. We can currently seat 7 plus however many can fit on the large ottoman. However, when I have get togethers, we pull in more chairs and have sat up to 20 people in there.

 

I wanted a sectional but was vetoed. Dh didn't like that you can't change the furniture around (not that we do anyway!) and since we had thought we weren't staying in this house forever he was worried our next house would not accommodate a sectional.

 

Dawn

[Wheres Toto]

We have a sofa with two reclining positions, a recliner chair and two folding computer chairs (that the kids use for school and computer) in our living room. It technically is enough seating even without the folding chairs since the little guys could share one cushion on the sofa. In reality, we are very rarely all sitting in the living room at the same time. We also rarely (once or twice a year) have company so usually have more than enough seating.

 

I don't like it. Our couch is currently broken - the middle cushion drops down on one side and neither recliner works anymore. But I think it's too much furniture for our extremely small living room. I don't think it's worth having a full size sofa plus chair when we so rarely have company over, and we have additional folding chairs that can be used when we do have company. I'm trying to talk dh into getting just a love seat and one chair when we replace the current furniture.

[JudoMom]

We have 6 "official" seats (loveseat, sofa, recliner). But our main level is completely open, so the kitchen table chairs (8 of them) are as much a part of the living room as the "official" seats. We used to regularly have meetings of 14 total adults and seating wasn't an issue. For every day, I usually sit on a kitchen chair or on the floor; sitting on the cushy couch or recliner tends to make my hips hurt worse.

[elegantlion]

We've never had space for a sectional. We currently have two upholstered chairs, one with ottoman, one recliner (which is leaving soon, hopefully) and a 3 person sofa. Our living room dining is also open (although small) and we have 4 high top dining chairs to use if necessary. I personally like two sofas or sofa and two chairs because of flexibility of arrangement.

[amyable]

We have 7 people and one couch that can fit us all if we all pile on top of each other :glare: but is really meant for three, *maybe* four people who really like each other. :lol: . We did have a rocker/recliner, but I gave it away when I thought a move was imminent. OK, it's like 4 years later now and we still only have the couch. :coolgleamA: . Part of the problem is a large fireplace that juts out into the room, making furniture placement awkward at best. Maybe I'll post for advice on that one, because I've had it.

 

If we do have a party or something, the dining room chairs can easily be moved into the living room, and we do have a sofa and loveseat in the family room. For general everyday, though, I stay upstairs in the living room with dh because he has trouble with going up and down stairs too much and the couch downstairs hurts his back. So if kids want to be with us, they stay around on the floor playing/reading, or if they want a nice seat they go downstairs to the family room. :) One of these days, hopefully soon, we'll figure out how to get more seating in here w/o totally cramping the room visually.

 

ETA: I completely forgot about "the bucket."

 

My kids all fight over sitting in/on this thing, really. We store throw blankets in it and it is remarkably comfortable when you are sitting on them. Classy, right?

[mamajudy]

We have two full-size sofas and a recliner, so there are enough seats for the seven of us, although we are rarely all in the living room at the same time. If we need more seats for company, we bring in the dining room chairs or piano bench. Of course, if you figure in the golden retriever and cats...

[bluemongoose]

We have a love seat and a sofa set up in an L like a sectional. I voted other for seats to bums because right now we have little bums that can sit more than one to a seat cushion. As they grow, we will be short one cushion/person worth of seat.

[Parrothead]

I have a divided sofa. The seats are big enough that dd and I can squish together on one, and leave the other free if necessary. I also have a rocking chair and a recliner. It is a really weird room. There is not one wall without a door or window so furniture arr angment is weird.

[Susan in TN]

I should have voted maybe - we have "traditional seating" for 6 (sofa, love seat, chair), but several of the bums are quite small yet so we can easily fit 8. We also have a couple of stools used for piano and harp that aren't really "seating" but can be used in a pinch. When we have lots of people over, kitchen chairs and/or bench can be moved in for extra seating.

[Mrs Mungo]

Yes, to seats for everyone due to my own personal baggage.

 

 

Same here. We always have plenty of seating.

[Georgiana Daniels]

We have enough comfortable seating for everyone who lives here. Guests must stand.

 

 

:p

[MomtoCandJ]

Well there are three of us. We have a couch and a love seat. The couch has three seats, the two end seats are recliners. The love seat has two. If we do need more seating we usually just bring in the kitchen chairs and we have some plastic seats outside that can be brung in. Dd also has her own fold up chair we can bring out.

[LucyStoner]

We are temporarily living in a small apartment until my husband finishes his marathon length education. Anyhoo, we are absolutely unwilling to live without our electronic piano and it has to be in the living room here (no other space for it) so we reduced our seating to accommodate it. We have a love seat and an armchair. Because we have only 4 people and 2 are skinny children, this is enough seating for us (3 on the love seat, one on the chair). When we need more, we pull the armchairs from the dining set into the living room temporarily.

 

I voted maybe (since we only have enough due to having young children and because we don't mind being snug/close), other (since we only have a loveseat and chair) and yes we have what we prefer. We prefer to have our piano and we'd sit in the floor if needed to keep the piano. ;)

 

When we have a larger space, I am partial to a smaller sectional with leather club chairs.

[KungFuPanda]

I have what I want, but I came VERY close to purchasing Love Sac 'sactional' furniture JUST so I wouldn't have to make a decision. That furniture can be reconfigured however you like. I love that concept. Look it up on YouTube.

[Meriwether]

We have enough seating for everyone but only because the kids are little. When they are teenagers, we won't have enough seating.

 

ETA: We love to have people over. Our upstairs living area is open to the kitchen, dining room, and a bonus room. The living room only has a couch and a loveseat. The open space around it has 4 barstools, two tables with a total of 11 seats, two straight back chairs against a wall, a recliner and another loveseat. When not eating, the kids usually head to the walkout basement which has a couch, two easy chairs, a child-size recliner, two comfortable office chairs and an assortment of other chairs. Seating isn't an issue even though we don't have more than 5 couch/easy chair type seats in any particular configuration.

 

ETA: When the kids are older, we will have a different seating arrangement. It just isn't an issue yet.

[prairiewindmomma]

I just got a leather armchair "because preemie baby needed some place to sit when she's older." ;) We have a sofa, a loveseat, and a leather chair in a seating configuration with two additional upholstered chairs in the room that can easily be pulled in to the seating configuration. I agree....no one should have to sit on the floor where there is room for additional furniture. I hated being the kid who had to sit on the poufy pillow while someone else was lounging on the sofa.

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

We have enough seating because our couch is long enough to fit all four of our bums, but not super comfortably. We don't usually all sit at once for any extended period of time, though. If we do--for example, if we're all home and watching the same movie--I'll usually sit on the floor, because as the youngest in my extended family, it's where I grew up sitting! And because I find it more comfortable for my back (back against the couch, knees up).

 

We definitely don't have enough seating for any extra people, though. I'd prefer to have am additional loveseat or a few armchairs, but right now we need the play space more than we need the seating. So we have just the one couch for now :-)

[Koerarmoca]

We have a couch, love seat & chair... So seating for 6 and have 11 kids so yeah...our living room could accommodate another love seat or get rid of it all and do a sectional either way it's not big enough to seat everyone.

 

The plus side though is our dinning room is right behind the living room so the kids often will eat popcorn at the table and watch a movie. The dinning room table seats 14 but only the back chairs face the tv (it's off during meal times)

 

All that to say yes everyone can sit and watch TV somewhere together but it rarely happens as 16 year olds and 4 years rarely watch the same things lol.

[sewingmama]

We have two 2-seater sofas. That was all we could fit in a tiny apartment when we first got them and we only had one child and were not expecting to have more.

 

All the bums in our house are still little and for read alouds we can all still squish on a two seater but I've noticed of late it's getting too squishy and the 3 yo now prefers to sit on my lap or one of the older two sits on the armrest or across the back of the sofa so it's time to update to a 3 seater I think.

[GSOchristie]

In our living room, we have a sofa (3 ppl) and three chairs (3 ppl), so we have one extra seat. We mostly stay out of there, because the furniture was purchased pre-kids, and it shows every mark, in our playroom/sunroom we have a sofa and a loves eat, 5 spaces, one for each of us. I like the separate pieces, but I've never had a sectional.

[Danestress]

I need 8 seats because my mom/mil come often - often together. I can seat us all (just barely) and consider it important to be able to do so.

[Χά�ων]

I do not sit. Or I should say I rarely actually sit. I had considered ditching my mini sofas because if I sit on a sofa longer than a couple of minutes I hurt. I was thinking of putting in a game table of sorts. Then I read this:

I have what I want, but I came VERY close to purchasing Love Sac 'sactional' furniture JUST so I wouldn't have to make a decision. That furniture can be reconfigured however you like. I love that concept. Look it up on YouTube.

I REALLY like the purple movie lounger. I like it enough that I am thinking I might actually sit in it. It looks comfy. I am not a purple person but I LIKE that. My brain automatically went to trying to figure out if it would fit with my color scheme. The lovesacs look neat too.

[kewb]

Now I want a sactional.

[Χά�ων]

I am now thinking of getting DS a Pillowsac looks like a good option for a bed for DS.

[NoseInABook]

No, we have a three seater couch and a two seater loveseat. However, the room is open so if we're upstairs, we also have the dining room chairs too if needed. In the family room/playroom we have a three seater couch, a two seater loveseat, and a desk chair. We can also drag over four homeschooling table chairs if needed but they aren't very comfortable.

 

If I had more moolah, I'd buy a sectional and a few chairs for the family which is where we are most of the time.

[KungFuPanda]

I'm sorry, but the video cracks me up with the bad 70s theme music. Still, it's the ultimate for not making a decision.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qFUlGaXEGA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

I'm sorry, but the video cracks me up with the bad 70s theme music. Still, it's the ultimate for not making a decision.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qFUlGaXEGA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

 

:lol:

 

Wow, that's kind of impressive! I wish I'd known about it when we were looking for a couch to fit into our little space in the school/playroom. Though I just don't know if I could get past the name. I hear Love Sac and I think...inappropriate things. And then I snicker. That would be unfortunate.

[Cinder]

We do not have enough seating. There are 5 of us and 4 sofa/chair seats. But our dining area is less than 6 feet from the sofa and not so far from the tv. Our living area is tiny so the 3-seat couch and chair just fit. We just can't fit any more seating in the living room. So on the few occasions we're all in the living room someone gets to sit on the floor or on a dining room chair. We are more often all together around the dining table, though, and we do have enough seats there.

[AHASRADA]

We currently have a 3-seater sofa, a 2-seater love seat and a recliner. So, one place for each of us plus 2 left over (toddler doesn't really need a place yet). If we don't have enough seating for all of us plus at least another couple who may be visiting, I feel I don't have enough seats.

 

Ideally, we would have traditional seating from dh's home country, the equivalent of a sectional which runs the entire perimeter of the room. These are basically mattresses (a bit narrower than a twin) covered in upholstery fabric, with huge bolster pillows. The pillows can be removed to expose the full width if someone wants to lay down (great for guests sleeping over). This only works with a room that doesn't have too many doorways, etc., but it really maximizes the sitting/sleeping space.

 

Having seating for 2-3x the size of my family (10-15 people) would be my goal.

[2squared]

We have official seating space for four butts, so we are three short. It's not a problem for us, though. The kids prefer to lay on the floor with mounds of pillows and blankets. Their second favorite spot is on top of dh or me. We don't often hang out all together in one room, mostly b/c there are so many of us in a wider age span. If we are reading aloud, I take the big kid group in the living room and dh takes the little kid group in our bedroom. If we are watching a documentary, the big kids hang in the living room and the little kids watch a little kid show in a different room. If we have company over, everyone gets booted off the furniture to seat guests. I can't think of any other time we would all hang in the living room together.

 

We do need some nice lounge pillows. The kids pull pillows and blankets from our beds, and it drives me crazy for some reason.

 

We do have enough seating at our dining room table, and we do sit there together often. Our dining table is big and awesome.

[Tarreymere]

We all hang out in the living room together. I did have enough seats for everyone, but then one of my older daughters moved back home with her toddler and that was that. We can't fit more furniture in the living room (single-wide mobile home), so I got some bean bags for the three youngest kids. They seem to like them but they do prefer the chairs. DD moves out (after 18 months) next month and we'll be good again. We're all also looking forward to getting that bedroom back........

[vonfirmath]

We have seating for 2 adults in our living room. 3 if you include the computer chair.

 

Technically, since the other two are littles... we have enough seating for everyone. DD2 has a small IKEA chair and DS6 has a bean bag chair...

 

But last night when the pastor came to visit, we all went into the kitchen and sat around the table because we don't have enough seating in the living room.

 

I'd prefer to have a sectional so we could make different arrangements at different times.

[TravelingChris]

We have a Great room which is like a super large living room. Currently we have two recliners, and two other chairs for seating. If we have guests, we bring out the dining room chairs, which we have six. We may well get a couch in there sometime since we have so much empty space in that room but that would be in a few years when dh is retired and hopefully, making a lot more money.

 

We also have a family room with a couch that seats three- four (depending how many cats are on it) and a recliner.

[Erin]

I've had a sectional and I hated it. The corner piece was really just wasted space.

On the other hand, what we have now is a sofa and loveseat set, with recliners in all four ends. They sit in an L-shape, like a sectional, but I have an end table in the corner between the two.

We also have my great-grandma's upholstered rocking chair and another recliner (which we don't currently have room for).