A sitting room with a door on every wall is unusual and can be quite a challenge to arrange. It may be easier if the room is large. I would not advocate for anyone buying a home or constructing one to go that route. Sometimes, however, circumstances force us to live in such homes. So what do you do? You must be a little creative.
In this situation, imagine that your sitting room is a space in the middle of a square or a rectangle. Centre your furniture in the room to create a cosy conversation space. This will define the space letting everything else fall into place. But before you do this;
• Empty the room then stand in the middle to determine where your focal point will be. It could be a fireplace (if there is one). Otherwise, choose a wall where the door is over on one side. You can then use that space to hang your art or set up your entertainment centre.
• Identify a spot on the floor where you will place your area rug; they define the seating area and should always be smaller than the seating area.
• Get the right size of furniture depending on the size of the room. Consider two sofas facing each other with a square coffee table between them. If the room is small, try a love seat facing two armchairs with an oval coffee table.
• Tweak the arrangements until you find a satisfactory one that will not restrict movement. All furniture pieces should, somehow, face your focal point. Even as you arrange, remember that people will need to access all the doors.
• An overhead light fixture at the centre of the seating area will further define the space.
• You can now place your area rug where you envisioned it on.
• Alternatively, you could buy an L-shaped sofa, and ensure it is three feet away from the wall to offer walking space behind the couch.
• Two coffee tables in front of the couch in the shape of an ‘L’ will complete the look. The tables should be shorter than the length of the couches.
• For those with the LCD TVs, you can mount it in the corner of one of the walls, preferably where two adjacent doors are furthest from each other and place a corner display cabinet below it.