Tricks of the Trade: Furniture Arranging and Interior Design Tips

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Arrange your furniture to get the room you've always dreamed of. Photo By Barbara Bourne

Professional arranger Deborah Coburn shares these furniture arranging secrets:

Furniture

• Create a focal point. Identify the room’s architectural focal point. Is it a fireplace? A window with a great view? Or is there a dramatic piece of furniture or art around which to orient the conversation area?

• Place your largest upholstered piece opposite the room’s focal point. The exception to this rule is if the focal point is opposite the entrance. You don’t want to walk into the back of the largest piece of furniture; you want to be drawn into the furniture grouping, both visually and physically. If this is your situation, place the largest piece perpendicular to the focal point.

• Connect other pieces to the largest piece. Place the second largest piece so that it forms an L shape with the first piece. Connect your coffee table to the main sofa, no farther than eighteen inches away. Counterbalance this grouping with a chair or other major piece of furniture, creating an overall U shape. Position side tables next to seating, for lighting and a place to put things down.

• Don’t line up all your furniture along the walls. If possible, bring the furniture in to the room. Angling creates interest, softens corners.

• In large rooms, make “rooms within a room.” Divide the space into several areas for different activities and group furniture accordingly. Use area rugs to strengthen the arrangements.

Art and Accessories

• Use art and accessories to highlight a focal point, correct an imbalance, strengthen a corner, or change the scale of a piece of furniture. The art on your walls should be connected and in relationship to furniture placement and the wall’s shape. Hang pieces with a unified theme, color, or frame style together for greater impact.

• Don’t hang art too high. As a general rule, if there’s no furniture below, hang art so that the center is sixty inches from the floor. When placing art over furniture, keep it connected, no farther than ten inches away.

• Keep the art’s shape in relationship to the furniture’s shape. Don’t hang a vertical piece alone over a horizontal sofa.