[dropcap1]Y[/dropcap1]our room’s seating plan is such an important part of interior design. Your idea might be to place sofas and chairs against the wall, but there are so many other ways in which to make them work. Bring them to the fore and use them to accentuate your room’s best features. Here are some tips.
Take Function Into Account
What is the room going to be used for? This is an important element to consider when laying out the furniture. If you’re mostly going to be using the room to entertain guests, you want the sofa and chairs to face each other, perhaps around a coffee table, so that you encourage communication. On the other hand, a room that’s focused on relaxation after a busy day could be designed around a nook, such as a bay window or fireplace, to ensure cosiness.
Use Them To Divide
If you have an open-plan design, your sofa and chairs can be used to divide the room. For instance, placing a sofa with its back to the kitchen can help to divide the kitchen from the living room. Remember that placing rugs underneath the sofa and chairs can also help to demarcate an area.
Choose A Focal Point
What do you want people to see when they walk into the room? Is it your fireplace, TV or beautiful artwork? Place your sofa and chairs so that they face this focal point in the room. This is a clever trick to design the room because it gives you something to use as a starting point.
Consider Traffic
You don’t want to bump into the sofa when you leave the room or have to walk sideways to get past the chairs. When designing your room’s layout, always make sure you have enough space – you should have two to four feet between your sofa and chairs, and any other furniture in the room, for the most comfort.
Stick To The Scale
The size of your sofa and chairs makes a big impact. If one or all of them seem too small or too large, then this throws off the room’s proportion. Make sure that you follow this rule: if your room is large, the sofa and chairs should also be large; if the room is small, then downscale your sofa and chairs so they fit in. Size will influence the rest of the room’s elements, especially how much space it contains, so you want to give it some thought.
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