"Hi K,
Enclosed
please find a bunch of layout/arrangement ideas. I made one for each room as you presently
have it arranged.
For your
living room, there are several ideas to consider, however, for the family room,
there is only one. The huge sectional,
which you said you didn’t want to break apart, really locks in the arrangement
of that room, so there really aren’t many possibilities.
Anyway, I’ve
given you several ways to go with the living room.
LIVING ROOM
Ideas 2 & 4 are basically similar, however the piano has been adjusted. An asymmetrical arrangement of the piano wall
is possible if the height of the piano doesn’t infringe on the lower part of
the sconce (unless you remove the sconce). Otherwise, we are showing a symmetrical arrangement. All you need to do on this wall is to fill
out the bottom more with plants. The
piano is too small (width) to be in good proportion to the wall by itself. By adding plants, you fill out the area and
the piano settles in nicely and feels comfortable. Since you said that no one plays the piano,
and it’s just there for decoration, you don’t need to be too concerned about
leaving much traffic lane in front of it.
The desk
has been moved to the other window and the rug shifted down to accommodate the
seating arrangement. We have angled the
sofa and chair to make the seating easy to enter and intimate and
inviting. We have also added plants
(should be about 4 feet high or so) on either side of the table with
mirror. This will help balance the room
and fill out the proportion better.
Our
suggestion is to take down the mirror from off the piano. It is too massive looking and feels
oppressive. Or at the very least, hang
it rather than resting it on the piano. We also suggest you remove the art hung
over the window. It is to far from eyes
level it draws your attention out of the room and up to the ceiling. I know some people do this, but it is really
not necessary nor ideal. I understand
that your ceilings are high, as are mine, but you don’t need to decorate up
that high. Keep the attention focused “into”
the room. For this reason, I would also
suggest removing the foliage from atop the door and windows.
In this
arrangement, consider using the mirror vertically on the wall between the
window and the desk. It appears to be in
pretty good proportion for that wall.
If you
bring in some trees and floor plants, you can use them as filler, to extend and
make proportions fit better, and you can use them to lessen the huge height
disparity from tall furniture to smaller pieces. They act as a stepping stone, height wise.
Idea #3
moves the piano to the other wall, which I know you said you didn’t want to do,
but we submit it anyway. The rug has
been shifted to the other end, the desk placed at an angle with foliage added
as filler, and the seating arrangement is squared up and off the angle. Again, plants are added to make the furniture
“fit” the wall.
Idea #5
removes the sofa and chair and brings in the two matching chaise lounges you
said you had. I don’t know if they go,
color wise, but I did a couple of ideas using them.
As you
can see, one idea makes the antique table and mirror the focal point, and the
other one makes the piano the focal point of the room. In this latter idea, we’ve added a sofa table
at the head of the chaise lounge chairs to make it more interesting, and so
that when entering the front door you’re not faced with seeing the backs of the
chairs.
Ideas #7
& #8 removes the desk entirely, which isn’t a bad idea due to the fact that
it appears to be a light colored wood, and all the rest of the pieces appear to
be much darker. In this idea, we brought back the sofa, added the sofa table
behind it, but brought in your two matching square tables with lamps. This idea makes the piano the focal point of
the room. We added ottomans on each side
with plants to fill the area so everything looks snug. Or you can put in a couple of matching club
chairs instead of the ottomans. The
antique table and mirror are moved to the opposite wall. Plants are added as filler. Notice in #8 that I’ve added large blue lines
to the right wall to simulate large artwork, the mirror or a couple of large
groupings of art or pictures. This will
help balance the room.
Hopefully,
one or more of these ideas will be perfect for you. You can tweak them as necessary. Something that looks great on paper doesn’t
always translate as great in reality, so my suggestion is to try several of the
ideas or all of them and then settle on what you like the best.
FAMILY ROOM
You wrote
that you had a great 8x12 rug you’d really like to use but can’t. So naturally I set about to see if I could
get that in there for you, and I think I found a way.
#1 view
is how you have it presently arranged.
#2 shows the 8x12 rug placed at the same angle as your fireplace. Now, bear with me, because my software doesn’t
have a sectional (ugh!!!) and so I had to simulate a sectional for you, and it’s
bound to be a little off in size. But
please notice how I have arranged it on the rug. You want it to face the fireplace, with the
middle section parallel to the rug and the fireplace.
Now
normally you want all of the furniture to sit on a rug totally, or totally OFF
of it, and I’ve cheated a little on the left side. And where the rug sticks out in the back of
the sectional, I have filled that with floor plants, for decoration as well as
camouflage. If the large rug will not
work, I recommend you have a custom rug made that is octagonal for the square
coffee table to sit on or look for a ready-made square format. I can’t do a rug
in an octagonal format, or I would give you an example.
The
chaise has been removed. Just too
big. A smaller chair is suggested. And I
recommend grouping all of the animal containers close to one another. I left the reptile container where it is, but
placed the aquarium next to it. The game
table is angled to provide more space for usage, and the bird cage is moved to
the opposite wall, flanked by two plants to fill out the area. The floor lamp is moved to the opposite
corner and seems to fit in that small panel nicely. This leaves you 3 nice walls to fill with
art.
Now the
TV. It is much to small for the space
and looks not only out of proportion to the area, but dwarfed too. Please DO NOT REMOVE THE ARCHITECTURAL
SHELF. That is a lovely architectural
feature and I wouldn’t want you to upset it.
Just fill out the bottom space with a built in unit, or if nothing else
add some plants in there on both sides.
Be sure to fill the vertical height as well as the width of the space.
I also
recommend that you simplify your accessorizing.
What you have is absolutely gorgeous, and very interesting, but you can
overdo a good thing. You have a lot of
little things. Minimize them and add in
accessories that repeat the colors of the room and that are larger. You don’t have to put something everywhere,
remember, and if you made much better use of plants, you can tuck your neat
smaller accessories here and there, between and amongst the plants, and they
will feel right at home. The problem
with lots and lots of small things is that the eye gets confused and doesn’t
know where to look first and it winds up looking too busy and cluttered. By controlling this, you can direct the eye
where you want it to go first, then second and so on. This is called rhythm and flow.
I
recommend you remove the wreath above the patio doors and the flowers from
above the arched opening. It’s not
necessary and out of proportion and too high.
The artwork to the right is very nice.
But my only comment here is that the black frames, which I love in the
room, are very strong for such soft images. I would like to see you put some images in the
frames that some definite black in them.
If you keep them on that wall, lower both of them. Measure the height of the two together, then
lower them so that the mid point is about 5’ 6” from the floor. This will put the mid way point at the
average eye level. Then the grouping of
2 will not appear too high nor too low.
Actually the one single image on the bottom is sufficient to carry the
wall by itself.
Odd
numbers work best. Make small groupings
within the whole. Like put 3 things
together, then put a single piece by itself, then maybe another grouping of 3
or 5. Don’t line things up in a row and
spread to fill the space, like little soldiers standing at attention. Group!
Group! Group! Make the first tallest, the second thing
about 2/3rd the height of the first, and the 3rd thing
2/3rds the height of the second thing.
Graduate your heights in small increments (sort of like 3 feet, 2 feet,
1 foot).
I’ve
thrown at lot at you. Please don’t feel
discouraged. You have wonderful taste,
and many of the elements in each room are very nicely done and I am not taking
time to discuss them as you hired me to help you solve the problem areas. Experiment with these new arrangements,
adjust your accessories, then send me photos again. If there are any adjustments I would
recommend at that time, I’ll be glad to help you fine tune it at no additional
charge.
Well,
this is about all I can recommend at this point. I look forward to seeing the new photos, and
I wish you the very best.
If you
have any questions, please email me at: business@decorate-redecorate.com.
Best
wishes.
Barbara Jennings, Author/Consultant/Artist"
Helping Karol With Her Living Room/Entry
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Kim's living room was in need of a furniture rearrangement. This is the way it was arranged when
she sent me her layout, measurements, photos and letter. She had purchased my Decorating Advice by
Mail Service. Kim said she would be willing to swap furniture from other rooms, and mentioned that she
had two matching chaise lounge chairs, two square end tables with lamps, and assorted other types of
furniture stored in her garage that could be considered. She was perplexed because she felt the room
was an odd measurement, she couldn't get her furniture to "fit", it felt overdone and she just needed a
pair of fresh eyes to look at the situation and give her some options.
KH's home is very nice. It has large vaulted ceilings. She owns an accessory online store and
so she has a wonderful collection of nice accessories. Her eclectic look includes contemporary seating
mixed with antique furniture, such as a beautiful upright piano, an antique table with mirror, an
antique desk, and a massive framed mirror. The 5x8 area rug was a nice element to help define the space within the
room. She has a 4 foot square section of tile in front of the door as an "entry" area, which must be
taken into account when placing the furniture. Her problems stem mainly from choosing locations for
her furniture that are not well proportioned to the space, so this needed adjustment. My plan was to
first keep all the furniture presently in the room and see if I could solve her problems immediately.
Next I tried some ideas that would include furniture from elsewhere in the home or garage.
The beautiful antique piano is too small proportionally for the wall and one is drawn to the space
below the sconces. The mirror is way too large to reflect anything and feel oppressive to the piano.
Even if it was a good idea to hang it above the piano, it should be hung and not set on the piano itself.
Moving around the room, you can now see KH's front door, the tiled "entry" and a beautiful
antique table and mirror set. So now let's get to work and see what ideas were sent to KH for
her consideration. 
On the left, I moved the desk to the window at the top of the layout. The rug was shifted
down to fill the rest of the area, and the sofa and chair were placed on the angle so that the whole
arrangement would be open and inviting when you step in from outside. Since the piano is only
decorative, we don't have to be too concerned about how much walkway there is in that area.
Plants were added on each side of the piano, and each side of the table and mirror to extend the
width and make the furnishing "fit" the wall in better proportion. In the layout on the right,
the piano has moved to the adjacent wall, and the table and mirror have been placed behind the sofa,
with assorted plants in the corner as filler. The desk has been placed at an angle in the corner,
with the chair on the opposite corner for balance. Again the seating arrangement welcomes you as
you come in from outside.
On the left, two matching chaise lounges have been brought in, one from the family room and one from
the garage. They have been placed side by side, facing the exquisite piano. A console has been
placed behind them for added interest, particularly when viewed from the front door. The desk has
been left against the window, flanked by plants. In the layout on the right, the desk has been
completely removed from the room. The table with mirror has been moved to the opposite wall, near
the window. A tree fills the corner and a console is placed behind the sofa for added interest.
The sofa is back, along with two square end tables with lamps that
KH has in the garage. We've added two club chairs in the corners, just to the left and right
of the piano. With plants behind them to fill the space, this is a wonderful arrangement. The wall
on the right is bare of furniture, but the giant mirror from over the piano has been hung across from
the rug, and more art added to the other side of the wall. All of this will help keep balance in the
room.
This is KH's family room. She has a large black
sectional sofa, a 5x8 area rug, a square coffee table, a chaise lounge with round table, a floor lamp,
a snake tank, a fish aquarium, a bird cage on stand, a small game table for her children, among many
other things. Above the patio doors, seen in the photo on the left, she hung a wreath, and the
far right wall holds two art prints with black frames.
In this view, you can see KH's 3 tiered shelving unit that is built in and an extension of her
fireplace. On the bottom she placed her TV and other equipment, then placed assorted accessories
on the shelf, followed by an Asian box on the highest shelf. In the middle picture you can see
the snake tank under the window. On the far right, is the chaise lounge, mood lamp and bird cage, all backed up against a lovely
arched opening in the wall that leads to the dining room.
KH's current arrangement is pictured in the layout on
the left. Some adjustments are needed to help organize the room.
With this unusual architectural for the fireplace, there is no doubt
as to the room's focal point. Therefore, her large black sectional can only face one way, and there
isn't much room for anything else. Her options for this room are pretty limited. But as you can
see on the right, we were able to make a few alterations, which hopefully will enable her to use
an exquisite 8x12 rug she thought she couldn't fit into the room. By removing the chaise lounge and
bringing in a smaller chair, and grouping the aquarium, snake container, bird cage and game table
together, we were able to condense things and organize the room better. A few plants, strategically
placed on the rug to cover where it juts out from the sectional, and to use as filler in other
places, help tie the room together and make it far more pleasant and just as useful.