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My boyfriend and I recently moved to a rowhome in Baltimore, MD. We are having a difficult time decorating, as we cannot figure out how to configure our couches and dining room table. Our house is very narrow, which makes this a challenge. When you walk in the front door, there is a big open area leading to another room. This room then leads into a small hallway where our stairs are located, along with the side door. Past this hallway is our kitchen - very narrow, and absolutely no room for a dining table in here. There is a bathroom at the very end of the home.
Please see attached for a photo of our first floor. I think our dining table looks slightly awkward in the main entrance area, however we also feel it would be awkward to have our couches right there, as soon as you walk in. The photo shows a view approx 6 ft in from the main entrance of the house (there is a small console table on the left, and a non-functioning fireplace and mantle to the right, past the dining table).
Row houses that are three rooms deep are pretty much all the same from front to back: living room, dining room, kitchen. Subsequent remuddles may have eliminated the dining room for an open-layout kitchen and eating area, closets, bathroom, etc.
What is your precise layout? Is what you're calling the "main entrance" the original living room, and what you're using as a living room the original dining room?
My boyfriend and I recently moved to a rowhome in Baltimore, MD. We are having a difficult time decorating, as we cannot figure out how to configure our couches and dining room table. Our house is very narrow, which makes this a challenge. When you walk in the front door, there is a big open area leading to another room. This room then leads into a small hallway where our stairs are located, along with the side door. Past this hallway is our kitchen - very narrow, and absolutely no room for a dining table in here. There is a bathroom at the very end of the home.
Please see attached for a photo of our first floor. I think our dining table looks slightly awkward in the main entrance area, however we also feel it would be awkward to have our couches right there, as soon as you walk in. The photo shows a view approx 6 ft in from the main entrance of the house (there is a small console table on the left, and a non-functioning fireplace and mantle to the right, past the dining table).
Please help!!!
I'm no interior designer but I have lived in Baltimore row houses for a generation. Fortunately for me, my homes have always been at least 15 feet wide and not all that hard to lay out without looking like a bowling alley. As I remember, friends that have had narrow row houses tried to come up with an interesting piece of furniture to sit across the grain in order to break up the linear monotony. Good luck!
Hard to tell from your angle/one picture but I'd probably ditch one of the couches and then put the couch closer to the main entrance. But I'd have to see the entire layout better to decide for sure.
What are the dimensions of the rooms (living room, dining room)? Our house has a similar layout as it is long and narrow although we have a little more width. I think that it helps in a long narrow space to round out the corners by putting things in them such as a chair, a tall plant, tall lamps, round tables, etc. It helps to take away from the alley feel. Can you post a picture facing the opposite way so that we can see the front room?
Yes a couple more pics and dimensions would help a lot. Do you own this home, what is your budget, are you able to take down any walls, do you know which wall are load bearing?
Yes a couple more pics and dimensions would help a lot. Do you own this home, what is your budget, are you able to take down any walls, do you know which wall are load bearing?
Just google "baltimore row home", most seem to have a similar floor plan.
The reason why they are so narrow is because of the length of the crossbeams. Cutting the crossbeams at 16 ft was typical because of the lumber supply available at the time. So in reality, the only load bearing walls are the four walls that create the "rectangle" around the entire home.
There are some wider row homes, which can be pretty nice, but the one in the OPs picture is not one of them. They tend to be three levels tall and with a basement, but their narrowness is the main reason why I would never live in one. Plus you only have windows in the front and back, even corner units, typically.
*there are more than one type of row home. The one I mention above is a typical "brownstone".
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