How to Arrange Furniture in a Rectangular Home
- 1). Look at the entire room and decide what the focal point is -- the area where you want eyes to flow to when a person enters the room. Often, the focal point of a living room area is a fireplace, entertainment center that holds a TV or a window with a view. In bedrooms, the focal point is typically the bed or an ornate headboard.
- 2). Position the focal point along a short wall of the long, narrow room. If the fireplace is built-in on a long wall and it is your focal point, place the furniture so that it creates an attractive U-shape around the fireplace. This creates the look of a separate seating area.
- 3). Place the largest piece of furniture along the short wall of the space opposite the focal point. Remember that you do not have to position furniture within a few inches of the wall, especially if the focal point is many feet away from the opposite wall. If this is the case, leave 3 or 4 feet behind the sofa to create another walkway. For bedrooms, place the bed along the short wall opposite attractive artwork or a tall piece of furniture.
- 4). Set other furnishings around the focal point in a U-shape. You can choose to have them directly facing the focal point or angled toward it.
- 5). Create separate sitting areas if the room is very long or is a rectangle shape. For instance, an upholstered chair with a small, round table beside it creates a reading area or a place to enjoy your morning coffee in a bedroom. In a long, narrow living room area, you can set up a small table and chairs for family members to play games or work on puzzles together. Another idea is to place occasional chairs opposite each other with a coffee table in between. This creates a space for children or teen's to entertain their friends, yet gives a feeling of intimacy and privacy to the area.
- 6). Anchor each separate sitting area with a rug to make it seem more like a separate space.
- 7). Place table or floor lamps in each furniture grouping in a triangular or three-point shape. This allows the light to filter throughout the entire space.
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