arranging furniture and where to put lamps

[momofmine]

I really want to come up with a better layout for where the furniture is in our living room. But I am so challenged in this department! Maybe this seems silly, but I am unsure where to put lamps! We have a really big bay window in our LR, and I thought of putting a sofa the long way, facing the window, and have two chairs on either side. So when you walk into the room, you would actually be facing the window, and the back of that sofa. We have this long dresser that I thought could go along the back of the sofa. I know I have seen a set up like this many times in magazines, etc, but now I am wondering, where would you put lamps so that you can have lighting by the sofa? I know you could put an outlet in the floor, but that seems very permanent (what if we don't want the same layout later), plus I am wondering about a lamp being on a table in the middle of a room in a house with two boys who regularly play tackle football through the living room. So on second thought maybe that's not such a good idea. So then where do you put the lights?? I just want someone to come to my house and say, Put this here, that there, and then voila you will have a cozy room with flow!

[4evermom]

Yeah, I kinda like lamps to be in protected areas like corners...

If you have a rug, you could run an extension cord under it to solve the socket problem (I guess that's safe? People do it...). Or you could maybe hang something from the ceiling. I have one of those lights in my kitchen that hangs on the ceiling but plugs into the socket along the baseboard with the cord swagging from the fixture over to the wall before going down to the socket. Maybe IKEA has something less 70s kitcheny, lol, though mine is actually a India style brass cut out shade. Even those paper shade lanterns could be nice depending on your decor.

Anyway, I have a couch with it's back to a window that has a deep windowsill. One lamp is there. The other two are in corners of the room, one by the computer and one by a bookcase.

[HeatherAtHome]

I've had my sofa against the wall with a narrow table behind it (same height as couch and only 8" deep, more like a shelf really) with lamps on it. To be honest, I've never had a room big enough to have furniture away from the wall. I've never really thought about it.

[Satori]

Originally Posted by HeatherAtHome

I've had my sofa against the wall with a narrow table behind it (same height as couch and only 8" deep, more like a shelf really) with lamps on it. To be honest, I've never had a room big enough to have furniture away from the wall. I've never really thought about it.

I planned on doing this but instead of a table I was going in install a cheap shelf. Basically get the brackets from the store, piece of wood cut to size then cover the wood with a long table runner/fabric and put the lamps and 2 small plants on it.

I have a pic some where that I took of a place where I got the idea (was actually a demo showroom apt (we stayed the night in it, talk about nerve wracking! 2 hyper kids and $$$ everything in that place) for an $$ complex and I took pics on how they made it)

[Satori]

ok, dug up the pictures

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...h/P1040249.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...h/P1040250.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...h/P1040252.jpg

Now having kids I would use shelf brackets that can hold enough weight in case my kids climbed on it and I would bolt down the lamps but that's just me..