Give a room new personality with creative and functional furniture arrangement. Make your home more inviting with these layout tips.
Clear the Room
It’s easier to get an accurate vision of a room when it’s empty. Start by removing everything you can. Find a feature that catches your eye, such as a wall alcove, bay window or fireplace, and start arranging your furniture around it. If you can’t find a unique element, create one with furnishings — like an area rug, wall art or window treatments.
Define the Space
When planning a room, consider how it will be used, who will be using it and how traffic will flow within the space. It should be comfortable as well as functional. If you plan to use the space for dual purposes, such as a TV/reading room or a guest room/office, add furnishings that divide the area or do double duty.
Plan Dual-Purpose Spaces
Create separate areas using these clever techniques:
- Use furniture to break up the room. For example, place a sofa table behind the couch to separate a reading area from a television-viewing space.
- Define spaces using coordinating, proportional area rugs.
- Use a decorative screen as a divider.
Create a Floor Plan
Now it’s time to draw a floor plan. Use graph paper to outline the room’s dimensions, noting the placement of windows, heat ducts, stairs, fireplaces and doorways. Next, measure the furniture and cut out scaled replicas. Move the replicas around on the paper template to see which arrangement works best. This easy experiment will save you time and physical effort.
Keep the following guidelines in mind when creating your floor plan:
- Allow 18 inches between a coffee table and the front of the couch.
- Leave at least 24 inches of open space between the coffee table and the entertainment/TV area for traffic flow. It will allow guests to move around easily.
- Position the largest furniture pieces first.
- When planning conversation areas, arrange furniture no more than 8 feet apart, and make sure all seats are facing one another. Include occasional tables for drinks and plates.
- Remember to include adequate lighting, especially for reading areas.
- Allow enough room for cabinets, doors and drawers to open easily.
- Including a table and chairs? Allow for free movement by keeping at least 2 feet of space between the back of each chair and the wall.
- The distance between the TV and the seating area should be at least three times the size of the screen.
While rules for furniture arrangement aren’t carved in stone, these guidelines will help you create an inviting space that combines aesthetics, comfort and function.
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