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Furniture Placement
Secrets |
by:
Batsheva
Vaknin |
By BatSheva Vaknin
The easiest and most inexpensive way to invigorate the design of your living
room is to rearrange the furniture items you already own.
Furniture placement can be a daunting task, no matter how big or
small the room. If you are someone who always figured furniture
placement would be better left to professional interior
designers, fret no more. These tips will help you embrace the
task of balancing your sofa with your coffee table or armchair,
and allow you to create peace and harmony amongst all your
furniture.
Location, location, location
A room must be balanced. Specifically, the furniture in every room should be
placed in a way that is pleasing to the eye and easy to maneuver
around. If all the heavy furniture pieces like sofas, armchairs,
entertainment centers and bookshelves are loaded on one side of
the room, a room can feel like a sinking ship.
On the other hand, if you spread your furniture around the room haphazardly,
a room can feel cluttered even when it is relatively empty.
Think about the size of your living room in relation to the
amount of furniture you have.
You can anchor the room by situating a large entertainment center against
one wall, and then arrange all seating comfortably around that
anchor. Or, anchor your sofa against a wall, add a small side
table or a coffee table in front for convenience, and voilá!
Your room is balanced.
Sofa Secrets
Using your sofa as an anchor, or as the focal point for your living room can
be an effective furniture placement tool. However, modular
sofas, or sofas with many components, can be too heavy an
anchor, tipping the balance of the room with its bulkiness. A
creative solution to this problem can be found in breaking up
the pieces of the sofa.
Place the largest sofa piece against the longest wall of the room, then the
smaller sections on the opposite side. If you have the smaller
sections of the modular sofa face the long sofa at an angle, you
will avoid that boring, boxy look that comes with having all
furniture pieces pressed with their backs straight against a
wall.
A fresh alternative to placing your sofa against the longest wall is to
bring the sofa out, away from the wall. If you prefer this look
and feel for your sofa placement, allow at least two and a half
to three feet between the sofa and the wall for comfortable
walking space. Less space is needed between chairs and a sofa,
but always keep in mind walking patterns.
Go with the Flow
Imagine how you and your guests will maneuver in your living room with all
the furniture in its proper place. For example, if there are two
doors, you may want to place sofas and chairs in a manner that
will allow passersby to walk behind or around the seating
arrangement instead of through it.
If there is only one door to the room, don’t block the flow with a large
coffee table right in the way of the sofa. Make sure you allow
easy access directly to the sofa and chairs from the door,
allowing for some space around the seating area as well.
Larger living rooms can be designed so that they function effectively as two
areas. For example, have one social, entertainment center
seating arrangement in one section, and a quieter study
arrangement in another. Tall side tables can be placed behind a
sofa with decorative vases and pictures on top, as long as there
is still walking space behind the couch.
When deciding on how to arrange your living room furniture, listen to your
instincts. Wait to decorate the walls for a few days or even a
week once you have decided on where you are going to put each
piece of furniture, to give yourself a chance to get used to the
new placement. Live in the space for a bit, and assess how you
feel. If something doesn’t feel right, you can always move it,
and use these tips to help you bring your living room back into
balance.
http://www.homeandliving.com
About the author:
A Yale graduate, BatSheva Vaknin writes plays, screenplays, and
articles on topics ranging from finding the world’s greatest
pizza to decorating a child’s room. She has just completed her
first novel.
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