Decorating advice for arranging your furniture

If you are wanting a quick change in 2010, one of the best ways to do that  is to rearrange your furniture.  Changing up a room can make it feel new and fresh.  Especially since you are taking down your tree and probably had to rearrange to do that right?

Here are a few tips for rearranging furniture that I use daily with my clients:

 Identify walkways through the room and keep the paths clear.

Candice Olson - Designer

  Break up a large room into two or more activity areas.

Designer - Shelly Roehl David

Groupings in this game room create places for people to sit and converse as well as interact together. 

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that all major pieces must have their backs against a wall.

Candace Olson - Designer

Evaluate your room, if your furniture is lined up against the wall, it looks uninviting.  Friends are less likely to sit in that room because it has no character.  If you have a couch against a wall, try moving it away from the wall, place a sofa table behind it and add some height to the room by adding a wonderful plant, or a set of lamps to the sofa table.  This will immediately make the room look lived in.  See below picture for some ideas.

Designer - Daniel Bodenmiller

 Don't block windows and doors to the point of making it difficult to open and close them.

Ann Wisniewski - Designer

Designer - Erin Valencich

Be sure that a table is beside or near each seat in the conversation area.

Designer - Gia Venturi

You always want a place to be able to put something down while chatting.

Designer - Elinor Jones

I love creating rooms like this in areas that clients haven't used in the past.  Once you put 4 chairs together, it immediately becomes a room that anyone wants to go in because it invites conversation.

Designer - Kenneth Brown

Ensure that chairs are no more than three to four feet apart within a conversation area

Designer  - Jackie Glisson

 Don't feel you have to find a place for every piece of furniture you own…avoid a cluttered look.

This goes back to one of my posts a couple days ago about getting organized.  Have a place for everything and get rid of items that you don't like or don't need.   Go here to read post.

Found this photo on uglyhousesphotos.com

The starting point for arranging your living room furniture is around the focal point. Configure a conversation area so that the eye will naturally flow to it.

Designer - Kim Smart

I love what Kim did in this room.  Since the ceilings are so tall, they created a focal point over the fireplace to enhance the space.  A nice conversation area around the fireplace makes friends and family use this space.  Everythings feels to scale now because of the grouping of paintings above the fireplace creating balance to the room.

Designer - Judith Balis

This designer made the window the focal point and found some vintage chairs that make a statement to add to this vignette.  Love the color of the chairs and the bold animal print fabric.  Combine it with this fabulous rug and a glass table and you have true style. 

Make your rooms a place that invites people in.  You will be suprised how moving things around within a room and shopping around your house for objects to change it up a little makes a space "renewed" within a few hours.

I hope I've inspired you to change things up a little.

 Send me before and after pictures if you you do make changes.

Ruthie