Rearrange Furniture Before Spending Money on Redecoration
You may feel prompted from time to time. You cannot imagine why you would ever choose a sofa in this shade of gray. You start to think that an antique lamp looks less “antique” and more “old”. And yes, this coffee table was a gift from your aunt when you moved into your first apartment after college. You want to throw it all away and start over!
Before you do that, try rearranging it.
Rearranging furniture can go a surprisingly long way towards making a room feel fresh without spending a dime. (And this is a good opportunity to vacuum up places you haven’t seen since you checked in.)
However, before you start scattering the end tables, there are a few things to keep in mind that will make the end result more enjoyable for you.
To go with the flow
Think about how traffic travels through your home. You don’t want to have to walk around the couch every time you enter the dining room, do you? Arrange furniture so that there is a clear path from one side of the room to the other. Furniture shouldn’t be so close together that you have to squeeze through to get to where you’re going (but end tables should be within reach so you can easily access your drink and TV remote).
Also think about how you use the room. When you originally moved in with a young child, you might not have expected how frustrating it would be to have a microwave in the dining room rather than in the kitchen (not that I knew from personal experience or anything else). After living in a place for a while, you know how to use it most effectively, and it can help you rearrange and group things together.
Look for balance
To prevent one side of the room from feeling too “heavy”, be sure to consider the size of each part you move. You don’t want all of your largest furniture to be grouped on one side; it will be alarming. Large and small pieces – as well as pieces of different shapes – should be mixed throughout the room.
Find the focus point
What do you like best about this room? Maybe it’s a piece of art, a cape over a fireplace, or a built-in bookshelf. Find a way to highlight the area by providing an unobstructed view and simple design around it.
Move things off the walls
We have a tendency to line all of our furniture around the perimeter of the room, pressing it against the walls in the name of space. Do not do this. Move the material away from the walls a few inches to create a little breathing room – you may even find it makes the room feel bigger, not smaller.
Allow Conversation
Another thing we love to do, especially in living rooms, is directing all available TV seats for the ultimate viewing pleasure. However, this kind of setup can get a little awkward when you have guests you would like to talk to, even if you have a game in the background. Create a small talking area where the seats are close enough to each other and angled enough for people to chat.
If it doesn’t work, try something else
The best thing about rearranging furniture is that it’s free. If you’ve got it all done and you’re thinking, “Wow, this is an absolute disaster,” try a different configuration! Maybe you will eventually come to the conclusion that it was best exactly the way you originally started (and it really is time to go shopping on the couch), but at least you can say you tried.