Interior Trends - May 2017

Posted by Kris Bowen on Friday, May 5, 2017 at 11:48 AM By Kris Bowen / May 5, 2017 Comment

In April we covered more basics of things we can do to maximize the layout of a room. Concerning interior design, everything is relative to your specific taste pallet, so even when I give you tips and tricks, sometimes it doesn't necessarily add up to your preferred style, - which is OK.

With that in mind, let's spend this month's topic studying something that Americans are rather fond of...

Furniture!

Furniture is one of the biggest things that a functioning room can't do without! If you want a movie room, you need seats. If you want a dining room, you need a table and chairs! Etc., etc.

(Again, everything is relative to your vision of a room. You can still have a movie room where the chairs are replaced with treadmills. It'll have a different purpose, but it's a movie room none the less!)

Let's get started with three main points:

First: Unfortunately, most people prefer to sit around, and I'm no exception. Thus, it makes sense to talk chairs and couches! The first point is that there needs to be a point of interest in the room. If there's a TV or a fireplace with a nice cozy mantle to sit on, place the furniture facing that. It's rather hard to watch TV if the couch is positioned in the wrong direction.

Second, there is a fine balance that you must meet between couches and chairs in a living room. It's all relevant to the space that you're working in and your desired outcome.
For example: Let's take a square living room without windows. Anything can go anywhere! Ok, now let's add windows and a door anywhere to the walls of the room. This changes everything. If you decide to put a TV in the room, you wouldn't want it across from the window due to glare that it radiates on the screen. If you want to place your furniture around the TV (or fireplace) then that means your furniture will face the point of interest. See what I mean?

Third, the furniture must flow with the environment. Best practice is to place the biggest couch opposite from the point of interest and pushed against the wall if you can. Any additional couches or chairs can go on the right or the left of the primary couch. It's best if you have an ottoman/chest/coffee table placed in front of the couch. You'll probably need somewhere to place food or drink! Also, keeping your walking space as open as possible will create a more open illusion. (This is why I recommend placing the couch against the wall if possible)

Another option I might recommend is shown below. If you have two couches and two chairs, and the point of interest ISN'T on a TV or fireplace, then I would use this method of placement.