Placing furniture in your home: Best practices

The choices you make in placing furniture in your home are key to the overall success of your design. Sometimes, arranging furniture can be an intimidating task, especially when working with a large, empty space. However, by following a few simple strategies, you can create aesthetically pleasing and comfortable designs in any room.

Find your focal point

A focal point is crucial to interior design. Sometimes they happen naturally, like if your living room has a large bay window or a fireplace. Other times you create them with items such as a television or media center. Regardless of what your focal point is, arrange your furniture in front of and around it.

Stay off the walls

While it might seem best to place furniture against the walls to create space, it actually makes the room seem larger to keep furniture a few inches from the walls. Not only does this create the illusion of more space, it will allow airflow between furnishings and the wall to avoid moisture damage. If you're working with a larger room, placing furniture closer to the center is best.

Create conversation

Similarly to focal points, conversation points are another element you can use to create furniture arrangements. The idea is to create spaces where people can gather and converse comfortably and naturally. Keep furniture pieces close enough for voices to carry, but far enough apart to maintain personal space.

Consider traffic flow

The natural flow of traffic in your home is another major factor in finding the perfect furniture placement. If you are decorating a room connecting two other rooms, for example, try allowing a natural path through the center or close to the center. Doing so will allow people to move back and forth comfortably and avoid hazards.

For extra perspective on indoor traffic flow, try adding interior design software to your process. Among offering other helpful tools, many virtual decorating apps can help you find the safest and most natural path through any furniture arrangement.