Laying Out The Living Room

When we're designing a room, HandyMan and I like to get a visual on things before we start building. So before we started building the frame for the fireplace, we did this:

Yes, that's a dirty dropcloth stapled up to mimic what our fireplace is going to look like. I photoshopped in the fireplace location for full effect ;) Seeing things visually really helps us decide if we want to make any changes before we lift a hammer. In this case, the mockup confirmed to us that yes, indeed, fireplaces are big (ha!). Its not a typical location for a fireplace, but we were constrained by the location of the existing chimney (its above that piece of wood stuck to the ceiling). We decided on a flush to the wall fireplace as opposed to an angled fireplace in order to save on floor space.

Once we confirmed that we wanted the fireplace in this location, HandyMan started building the frame. I, in the meantime, started thinking about the rest of the furnishings. Using SketchUp, I came up with a few layout options.

Option A: 

And Option B:

HandyMan created the plan in SketchUp and I added in the decor. Once you get the hang of the program, its not too difficult - figuring out how to rotate things in 3D is a pain though! Its really great for giving you different perspectives, like this view from the dining room:

Which do you like better? Have you tried SketchUp? Now that I know generally my layout options, I can start buying some of the furniture pieces we still need.