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Does any of this sound familiar..?
- You wonder if there is a better solution than your existing furniture layout.
- You have a large space and are overwhelmed by the layout options.
- You moved in and just put your furniture where the previous owners had theirs.
- You have an awkward-shaped room and don’t know where to start.
- Your room feels like a corridor.
- You are struggling to work around features like radiators or a chimney breast.
There is no doubt that furniture layout planning is tricky. It’s a bit like solving a complex puzzle with so many factors to consider like, functionality, flow, balance, aesthetic and personal style. It’s a common challenge many homeowners face and it can be daunting to do this alone.
That is why I created my Room Planner service. A remote, affordable design service where we can explore all the options together and develop the best furniture layout and lighting plan to suit you, your lifestyle and your home.
But if you are doing it alone, here are all the factors you need to consider…
1. Your practical requirements of the room
First things first, you need to be clear on what the room should deliver in terms of functionality. This all comes down to who will be using the space and what you will be using it for. So in a living room consider things like how many people you need to seat, if you need a central coffee table or side tables, and how much storage you need. For an office think about how much surface area you need, if you need good natural light or a great backdrop for video calls. For every type of room, there are a lot of practical considerations.
👋🏻 If we’re doing this together we will spend time exploring these requirements as part of your in-depth consultation.
2. Your lifestyle requirements
Next, think about how you and your family live. Do you all bundle together on the sofa or do you want the option to sit separately? Do you want your furniture layout to promote activity and conversation, or do you want to recline and watch the telly? Do you want somewhere to put your feet up? Do you eat and drink in the space? Do you need task lighting for an activity like reading or playing cards? It’s impossible to plan the right layout without factoring in all these elements so dig deep.
👋🏻 If we are working together I will spend time drawing out all of this key information at our consultation.
3. The flow of traffic into and around the space
For a room to function well and feel good it’s got to flow baby! So when you start to consider where to place your furniture always be mindful of how people will enter the space and then move around the space. You will need to make sure there are no physical or visual barriers that make the space feel unwelcoming and no awkward pinch-points between two items.
👋🏻 If we are working together you don’t need to worry as I will take care of all this.
4. Visual balance of the furniture
The best furniture layouts always feel well-balanced. This is where the furniture and accessories at one end of a space room have a similar visual weight to the items at the other end of the space. Visual weight is how heavy and dominant something appears in the space (rather than how much it physically weighs).
This is something to bear in mind when planning your furniture layout. If you have a large seating area at one end of the room, think about what you can do at the other end of the room to visually balance this so the room doesn’t feel lopsided. If you need to create more visual weight look for items that are darker in colour, have more height and have a more solid framework.
👋🏻 If we are working together on your layout I will take care of all this.
5. The focal point
Every room needs a focal point, whether it’s a natural feature like a fireplace or a window with a beautiful view, or a created focal point like a beautifully dressed bed or a bespoke media wall.
If your room has a natural focal point it will be pretty apparent and you can decide if it’s a feature you are happy to emphasise and build the room around, but don’t feel you have to be a slave to it just because it is there! I’ve come across many rooms where the natural focal point just didn’t work with the practical requirements of the space so we chose to create our own star of the show. This can be done with artwork, accent walls or a statement piece of furniture.
👋🏻 We can discuss all the options if we are working on your layout together.
6. The proportion and scale of your items
Finally, once you have worked out the placement of all your furniture and accessories you can then work out the optimum dimensions for each item. This all comes down to the size of the space and ties in with the flow of traffic and the practical requirements we looked at earlier. For example, the ideal-sized sofa will maximise the seating capacity you are trying to achieve, will suit the proportions of the wall it is sitting against, and will allow people to move comfortably around it. Each item will have its sweet spot in terms of ticking all these boxes.
👋🏻 Once you have selected your preferred layout, I will work all this out for you.
7. What are you prepared to compromise on?
The reality for any room is that there is no perfect layout. There is never going to be a layout that will tick every single box in terms of all the requirements we have discussed above. So it can be useful to think about what is more important to you. The visual balance or the practical requirements? How it looks or how easy it is to move around the space?
BUT! Even if you think you know what is more important to you and what you are not prepared to compromise on, this can often change. After designing hundreds of rooms I have learned that people change their minds! Often. And that’s totally fine. So you may not actually know what is important to you until this is tested by you seeing all the options and choosing between them. That’s the other joy of working through the layout options together, you normally know the right layout when you see it.
Are you ready to unlock the layout potential of your room?
Or set up a FREE DISCOVERY CALL to learn more about the service.
I’d love to work with you to create your perfect layout 💜
How else can I help you?
Until next time 😊
Sarah x
