Many of you saw a sneak peek of this change in our Instagram Stories right after the holidays, so here’s a fuller update on the new loveseat we added and how the sitting area is shaping up now.
We bought the loveseat on Overstock; it’s currently out of stock in the color we chose, but you might still find it in other finishes. We love it so far—bringing in the loveseat made this corner feel like a true hangout spot. It’s also very comfortable, which matters most. Yes, there will be the obligatory John & Sherry-for-scale photos, because of course there will be.
In a post last month we talked about the evolution of this sitting area and mentioned wanting larger seating, like a loveseat for the wall beneath the window. You might recall the layout ideas shown in that update.
The big “aha” moment came shortly after we got our new coffee table: the dresser that used to sit on the front wall next to the door, which we had assumed we had to keep, suddenly felt less essential. The coffee table has deep drawers and lots of storage, so it could hold many of the everyday items we’d stashed in that dresser.
Everything we used to keep by the door—dog waste bags, sunglasses, a spare key, masks, earbuds, Burger’s leash—could now live in the coffee table drawers. That freed up the wall and made the loveseat a great fit beneath the window.
It felt liberating. The loveseat now sits on that front wall under the window and it cozy-ifies the whole area. Also, can we just appreciate the brass hardware on the coffee table for a moment?
We also added a small brass floor lamp that matches the look from our earlier rendering. We’d briefly borrowed a larger wooden lamp from the bedroom, but the brass one fits the space better without feeling heavy. This is a small corner by the front door, but the extra soft seating has made it far more usable than when it only had two floating chairs.
A quick reminder: rooms take time to evolve. Don’t stress if you don’t get everything perfect the first time. Building a home that really works for your family often takes far longer than a TV makeover. We rarely get it right immediately—sometimes it takes years—but every change moves the room closer to a plan that suits your family and can change as your needs do. Take your time, test different arrangements, borrow pieces from other rooms, and enjoy the process.
Here’s a wider shot of that side of the room. Photos can be tricky in small spaces—the angle sometimes makes it look like things are in front of the door when they’re not.
Some followers asked whether the space between the chairs and the loveseat feels cramped. In person it’s about 25 inches, which looks a bit tighter on video than it feels in real life. That clearance is narrow but perfectly manageable—wider than the closet doorway we had in our last home, which we used for years.
If the gap ever felt too tight we could remove the small side table to the right of the sofa and shift the loveseat over, but we haven’t needed to. I even walk backward through it in video and it’s fine.
We store many “grab-and-go” items in the laundry closet right next to the front door. Earlier this summer we built shelves and a large counter for that space, and it’s been incredibly useful.
Now that it’s colder, we use hooks for jackets and keep more everyday items on the counter—things that used to live in the dresser by the front door.
That counter and shelving now hold sunglasses, a hairbrush, extra dog bags, masks, and other odds and ends—basically the usual everyday miscellany.
Shoes tend to end up casually piled on the front porch—flip flops included—so the entry remains informal and lived-in.
Those two white ottomans by the door are temporarily borrowed from upstairs TV seating. Someday storage ottomans in that spot would be even more functional, so I’m keeping an eye out for the right pieces.
This room could use a larger rug eventually—ideally the front legs of the chairs and loveseat would sit on it to better define the seating area—but for now we love the small metallic rug we have. It pairs nicely with the brass accents and the gray upholstery, so we’ll live with it for a while.
As promised, here’s John for scale (and a nine-pound chihuahua for extra authenticity). Burger loves to wedge himself in the gap between the cushions, so the fabric and construction have held up to pets, kids, and everyday use.
Both of us fit comfortably on the loveseat. I can tuck my legs up or sit sideways and stretch out with room to spare. The loveseat has been a cozy spot for the kids to pile on for reading and movies.
The upholstery is a tight woven warm-gray fabric that’s been durable so far. It’s disappointing it’s out of stock in the lighter shade we chose, but the loveseat has strong reviews and has proven very comfortable and practical for everyday family life.
That’s the update on our small sitting area. We’re enjoying having a space to hang out, play board games, do puzzles, and generally linger near the front door. It’s far more inviting now.
When we eventually renovate the kitchen, we have more ideas to make this zone even more functional, but for now it’s a comfortable, useful space. The kids have already christened it with board games, puzzles, and highly competitive yarn-ball slingshot battles.
If you want to see more of the kitchen side of this room, we shared many photos and a video in our earlier post about the sitting area. You can also find a running list of every project and update we’ve completed on this house over the past several months in our project archive.
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