Space Planning and Furniture Arrangement

As beautiful and open as this room is, there's a little storage issue in the upper left corner for audio/visual components. A small white shelving unit would solve the problem simply and inexpensively.

Before you go pushing furniture all over the room, a little thinking ahead will save you time, effort, and scratched floors. Creating a floor plan and experimenting with furniture arrangements using furnture templates  is the professional way to plan a space. First, however, you need to ask yourself some questions. Write down the answers.

• What are the activities that will take place the room?
• What furniture is needed? (desks, game tables, coffee and end tables, consoles, buffets, chairs...)?
• What furniture do you already own and what pieces do you need to purchase?
• How much seating do you need? Think of the needs of your family as well as the greatest number of people you entertain at a single party.
• What are your storage needs?
• What are your lighting requirements?
• Consider the flow of traffic in and around the room and the passage ways from this room to another.
• Does the room have any existing focal points?

Answers to all of these questions will give you a profile the room's functions. I suggest getting input from members of your family. With this list in hand, our next blog will discuss creating a floor plan and elevations. Then we'll move onto furniture placement, styles, and materials to achieve the best function and visual effect for your room.