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Successful Interiors start with Space Planning

By 02/05/2010January 27th, 201722 Comments

The header of my newsletter this month is hot pink (for Valentine’s Day). Because I wanted to coordinate the first photo with the colour of the header I ended up featuring this short post I wrote about Small Space Layout; Sofa and two chairs vs. a loveseat.

This got me thinking about space planning which is the first step to any successful interior!


Yesterday I was consulting in a beautiful home with a stunning newly renovated, contemporary kitchen and an addition with 2 bedrooms (one was a guest room).

Ralph Lauren

My client’s living room is potentially large enough to accommodate two seating areas. She already has a wonderful, cozy sectional (and 2 chairs) from Living Space and just assumed (as most people would) that the furniture should be arranged around the fireplace.

However, the obvious way to position the sectional around the fireplace did not work for them, so they ended up splitting it up and flanking it on either side of the fireplace, this left one longer than the other and it looked awkward.

Image source

However, the more important focal point of this room are the large floor-to-ceiling windows (at the back of the living room) overlooking trees and a private garden and this arrangement did not take the garden into consideration whatsoever.

My client has a great sense of humour and she told me I was not the first person to walk into her house and say, ’Can we talk about how the living room is arranged?’

Not her house but this is the feeling of the garden (flickr)

Once we moved it to where it should be (back together as a sectional) and closer to the windows (and the view) it immediately became a more inviting space and the furniture we need to buy is now much more defined.

Five hours later, we had also made decisions on millwork in the playroom/media room, chosen a colour for the front door as well as discussed the furniture plan for the entry and guest room. (Sorry I only have an ‘after’ picture of the living room and it’s far from being finished, so that photo will have to come later).

This is the calm feeling she wants in her guest room

So back to space planning, What if you have a flat screen TV that needs to be installed directly into the wall? Gone will be the days when you could re-arrange your living room on a whim. Once you install the TV into the wall, you could go for years without being able to move it!

The biggest piece of advice I could give you is to move your furniture away from the walls. Nate Berkus said it best once on Oprah, “When you have all your furniture lined up against the wall it looks like it’s under arrest”.

Let it breathe, and create a conversation area. You should avoid an arrangement that forces you to walk through the room to get to another room or the patio doors (if possible).

Jeffrey Bilhuber

And if you are still not having an ‘aha moment’? Best to hire a professional to organize it for you. Then you can go shopping armed with the confidence that you are buying the right pieces!

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22 Comments

  • The Boese Family says:

    Great post, as always!

  • Vanessa says:

    Sounds like your clients got their money's worth during this consult! I find that not only do clients tend to line furniture up against the wall but they fill every inch of wall space with something – furniture, a plant, etc. For some reason, they think they have to. I'm of the "less is more" camp though.

  • Marlo says:

    Thank you – good timing.

    Is the Golden Ratio important when space planning? I just stumbled across this and I'm wondering if designers use it all the time in interior decorating.

  • roastbreadfruit says:

    Great post. Can you explain what you mean by an arrangement that forces you to walk "through" a room?

  • Linda in AZ * says:

    * Dear Maria~~~ Such a terriffic blog today! I did't even REALIZE that I was soooooo enraptured w/ all you were saying, UNTIL I found I was reading back verrrrrry many months~~~ I was like that "battery"… I kept going and going and going, w/ no end in sight!

    TERRIFIC! THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH! Your talents, skills and even the way you describe things are always RIGHT ON!

    Blessings,
    Linda in AZ *
    [email protected]

    (P.S. Am sending your link to my Sis & two nieces~~~ think/hope they get as much out of it as I do!) ~ XO

  • Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions says:

    Great post, Maria! Very well said. Sometimes people want to move the furniture off the walls, but then are stuck as to what would be a focal point. So back against the walls it goes.

  • The Zhush says:

    I love that you remember that Nate Berkus comment, its so true, and so funny! The photos really bring your point home so beautifully.

  • Marija says:

    Well written and nice cohesive images! I love your posts. Your project sounds terriifc – can't wait to see pics! Marija

  • DesignTies says:

    Funny that you should post about this now – I've been obsessing over a family/dining room furniture layout for my Interior Finishes class for weeks!! And the conclusion I've come to is that sometimes you have to get creative with how you arrange the furniture in a space, and also how you use a space. Just because this is the living room and that's the dining room, doesn't mean that you can't switch them around if it makes for better use and flow of the rooms.

    Looking forward to seeing your client's living room 🙂

    Kelly

  • Tara Dillard says:

    Landscape design is no different than you describe. Space planning.

    Entries, foyers, hallways, parlors, great rooms & etc. are outside too. And they flow to interior rooms as Vanishing Threshold.

    Oh my, how many interior rooms have I redesigned because backs of tv's, picture frames & etc. were facing the landscape?

    Double Axis. Interior rooms must flow to the landscape. Landscape rooms must flow to the interior.

    TOTAL space planning.

    Thank you for posting this.

    Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

  • Erika @ BluLabel Bungalow says:

    I remember that Nate Berkus comment, funny and true…great post Maria!

  • Maria Killam says:

    Dear Roast,
    My point was to AVOID an arrangement of furniture that forces you to walk through it to get to another space. Moving your sofa away from the wall (if you have the space to do so) closer to a fireplace or just to create a conversation area then gives you that area to walk BEHIND to get somewhere else.
    Maria

  • Francine Gardner says:

    As always great informative post. Furniture planning is essential. When working with clients, i do not even start working on the creative side of a project until the furniture plan is done…and you are sooo right about avoiding at all costs if possible to have furniture aligned against the walls.

  • Anonymous says:

    Maria, you make a good point and illustrate it beautifully with your always-pleasing photos. But here's a thought: Jeffrey Bilhuber wrote in his first design book that placing the largest furniture in the middle of a room may reduce a big room to a little room. Clustering the furniture in the center may crowd the arrangement and turn the perimeter of the room into a dog trot. I've tried it both ways, and I have to say my large living room looks airier and works better for entertaining with the major pieces (two huge sofas) placed closer to the walls. Chairs, coffee tables, etc. grace the middle of the room, where they define versatile seating and traffic flow without overwhelming the space visually. Love your blog! DU

  • Tammy@InStitches says:

    It's always fun to hear what you are up to. Would love to see pics when you are done.

  • Color and Style says:

    Great post Maria, thanks for sharing
    Firoozeh

  • The romantic query letter and the happy-ever-after says:

    I shall never tire of your brilliants. I just love the way your mind works and would love to have a coffee with you but alas we are worlds apart.
    Have a lovely weekend my dear,
    Simone

  • Maria Killam says:

    Hi Anonymous,
    Love Jeffrey Bilhuber and I agree with his point of view as well and I think we can all agree that you can't take 'one rule' and apply it to any space, it's all context. And I have seen way too much furniture automatically placed against the wall with the chairs or loveseat way over on the other side of the room which immediately cuts off the ability to have a conversation or any coziness whatsoever, which was my point, and yours is a valuable one to add to the conversation!
    Thank you for your contribution!
    Maria

  • AB HOME Interiors says:

    Those are beautiful rooms! I agree. A well planned room, with GOOD lighting makes all the difference

  • Ruthie's Renewed Treasures says:

    Good lighting is key and great space planning can make or break the design. Hate it when I'm tripping over furniture or when chairs are so far apart that you can't have a conversation without stretching your neck. Planning is key! Great post once again Maria!

    Ruthie

  • Developing Designs says:

    Space planning is a very critical step in the design process. Your images are wonderful in showing how critical it is and how it all works when things are grouped properly.

    Usually the "ah ha" moments only come when they see it for themselves somewhere…..or if they are lucky enough to hire a fabulous designer such as yourself. xo

  • Deborah J. Morgan says:

    Hi Maria, I have mainly done residential decorating but have recently been asked to redesign a gift shop and a bistro restaurant which I am very excited about. Up until now I have been able to get by with 2D space planning or getting in there and moving furniture (my preferred method) but need a 3D space planner to show the owners of both places floor plan options. I have worked a bit with homestyler.com and this would work, I believe, but seems a bit limited. I didn’t know if you could suggest another one.. preferably low or no cost so that my designs will look the most professional to these clients? Any help you can give me is greatly appreciated! Thank you! Debbie Morgan (new reader – love your blog!)

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