from the publishers of: Verywell, Real Simple, EatingWell, Shape, Parents, Health and Allrecipes
The way you arrange your furniture can set a room’s tone, determine focal points, and affect flow and traffic. Furniture arrangement can also help a space feel cohesive and welcoming—or, when done wrong—disjointed, sparse, or crowded. That’s why interior designers warn against just randomly purchasing furniture pieces thinking you’ll fit them in somewhere, somehow. Instead, thoughtful planning and considerations of things like scale and function can really pay off when designing your home interiors.
To give your home interiors an expert-level flow, avoid the common furniture arranging mistakes explained below.
The living room is the place where friends and family gather to socialize and relax, but it’s also often where there’s the most room for error. “One of the easiest mistakes to make is putting too much furniture or ‘things’ in a space where it’s too busy and cramped,” warns Natalie Rebuck, principal designer at Re: Design Architects in Brooklyn, New York.
And since this is the room where people gather to watch TV, she says you should also pay attention to the sight lines to the TV. “Make sure all chairs can see it without making a strain on people’s necks,” she says.
You may want to put living room sofas and chairs up against the wall, but that depends on the type of wall you’re dealing with.
When it comes to placing sofas and chairs, you may be inclined to put them up against a wall—especially in smaller spaces—but that can be the wrong move, depending on your layout. “It’s important to pull sofas and chairs away from windows and make sure there are walkways or space to move around [them],” Rebuck says.
Another mistake is placing furniture within the bounds of a fireplace. Kelly Taylor, owner and principal designer at Kelly Taylor Interior Design in Providence, Rhode Island, tells us that she often sees furniture overlapping the width of a fireplace—and it drives her nuts. “To avoid this, imagine there are lines that come from the edges of a fireplace surround and hearth out into the living room,” Taylor says. “If you’re putting furniture—chairs, sofa, etc.—perpendicular to the fireplace, do not allow it to be placed over these lines.” Instead, the front edges of the furniture should either be on or behind this line.
Another arrangement pet peeve of Taylor’s is when furniture is too large for the space. Taylor blames furniture brands and trends that promote the look of oversized furniture, like the kind you often see in celebrity homes. But, without mansion-sized rooms, the effect doesn’t quite carry over. For example, Taylor notes that a room has to be very large to adequately handle a 48” deep sofa. In many rooms, a sofa of this size will simply overwhelm the space.
To save space in a tight bedroom, people often push the bed into a corner. But, this can make the room feel off-kilter. If you can, Rebuck recommends leaving space to get out of the bed on both sides—and if you don’t have enough space to do this, just moving it a few inches off the wall can make a difference in the room’s design.
Another common mistake when furnishing a bedroom is not taking windows into consideration. “If possible, it’s nice to position the head of the bed where you can look out the window,” Rebuck adds.
And, if you’re fortunate enough to have a large bedroom, resist the urge to put too much furniture in it. “Be mindful to not overstuff it, and leave ample space to move around each function of the room,” Rebuck advises.
Also, be sure to size the items proportionally. “One mistake we see is a king-size bed with 18” square nightstands,” Taylor says. “Furniture should scale well together—don’t use a big bed with dinky little nightstands.”
Bedroom mistakes are often harder to correct because you’re trying to balance the view with functionality. “For instance, if you want to watch TV from the bed, you’ll have to figure out what you want to see when you enter the bedroom,” says Stephanie Halfen, founder and principal architect at SDH Studio Architecture + Design in Miami. You’ll probably want to have a nice view of the bed, compared to seeing it from behind. So, make sure to consider both how you want to use the room when you’re inside it, and how you want the room to look when you enter it.
Seating can be problematic in kitchens, especially when the chairs interrupt traffic flow. “Make sure there’s room to move easily around each chair at the breakfast table, even when the seats are occupied,” Rebuck says. “A lot of people have bar or counter stools, so be sure that when they’re being used, they don’t hit any other seating or circulation in the kitchen space.” And if you add a buffet cabinet or any moveable storage, Rebuck says to make sure that it doesn’t impede on the circulation around the table.
Functionality is more important in this room than in some other areas. However, Halfen says you’ll want to think about the person cooking and how they’ll use and enjoy the space. “You definitely need to consider the functionality of a working triangle—placing the fridge, freezer, oven, and sink correctly.” She recommends also balancing this consideration with making sure the seating is comfortable. “This will allow people to sit down, enjoy a quick meal, and/or spend time with the person who’s doing the cooking,” she explains.
Some furniture arranging mistakes aren’t specific to particular rooms. There tend to be repeating errors that can occur throughout your home. “One common mistake is over-filling the rooms; you don’t want any room to feel too crowded,” Rebuck says. She recommends revisiting a room at least once or twice a year to think about other possible layouts. “Move things into new places and determine if the furniture or the layout still works in the room,” she says.
According to Halfen, the biggest mistake in every room is the failure to take the view into account. “Ask yourself how you want the space to flow, how people are going to be able to interact with each other, and whether the space is cozy and comfortable.” She says all of these factors should be considered.
That’s why Taylor recommends proactively designing the room and creating a dimensioned floor plan where you’re gauging the size and scale of each piece. This should be done before you start purchasing furniture. “Do not buy one thing at a time,” she says. “Get a furniture plan together, and then select your pieces and buy.” Here’s the benefit of taking this perspective. “If you decide that the sofa you’ve fallen in love with is a bit longer than the one on your floor plan—you can decide to buy it only if you find a smaller side table that fits.”
Taylor also recommends considering hiring an experienced interior designer if you want to get your room design just right. “[Furniture arranging] is so simple to me, but I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and I would argue it’s cheaper to hire someone like me to guide you than make a bunch of mistakes that result in buying furniture twice over,” she says.
