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Top tips to arrange furniture
Katie Adema, March
2016
The way items are placed around a space can make or break the overall look and functionality of any home. But don’t stress – the key is keeping it simple.
When it comes to practical and aesthetically pleasing furniture arrangement, a room can be seen as either a challenge or an opportunity – so make the most of your space by applying these easy tips.
Balance is key
In terms of creating a visually pleasing space, attention needs to be paid to how furniture is spread out, and where heavier pieces are placed in relation to lighter ones. Obviously the areas around doorways need to be kept free from furniture, but try not to then cram all the furniture up one end of the room in an attempt to use everything you have – you don’t have to have a place for every item of furniture you own. Less is more when it comes to effective furniture arranging, as you can then have a proper focal piece that is complemented by the secondary items around it. This concept helps a great deal when it comes to actually arranging the furniture, as you can place the larger, more vital items in the room first, and arrange the other pieces around those to create a more functional space.
Highlight gathering spaces
With shared spaces in the home, such as the living room, kitchen, dining room or lounge room, focussing on the arrangement of gathering points is your best bet to create harmony. The issue with these kinds of rooms is that they can easily become overcrowded with furniture, especially if you are trying to use them for multiple purposes, such as including a home office in the corner of the living room. So be practical and cull down your furniture to key pieces before arranging them – face sofas and chairs towards each other to encourage conversation, provide anchors in the form of coffee tables or fireplaces, and frame the space with cabinet storage around the edges of the room. Chairs and sofas also need to be in close proximity to each other (but not too close) and are best placed freestanding rather than up against a wall so that all the foot traffic doesn’t have to flow through the middle of a gathering space.