Finding the Perfect Furniture Arrangement

Whenever I redesign a room in my home, I always start with graph paper and cut outs of my furniture and make a floor plan.  It's much easier to move around the paper furniture than the real.  For the most part a floor plan is great in determining is something will or will not fit.  But the only way I can get a real sense for the room is to actually move the furniture.

Here's my living room.  I had a sofa and a love seat in the living room.  When we got the baby grand piano, I thought the only place it fit well in the room was in the bay window, so the love seat had to leave the room (which bothered me).  I thought I had found the perfect furniture arrangement and we lived with this furniture arrangement for the past few years.

Before

Before-piano in the bay area of the window

Before

Each time I'd pass this room or play piano in the room something bothered me about it.  But again I didn't think I had any options with the piano fitting anywhere else.  Then, about six months ago I decided it was time to change the window treatments in the living room.  I had just changed the window treatments in the adjoining dining room and now these window treatments really had to go.  So, the day before the window treatments were to be installed I needed to move some of the furniture to make room for the installer to hang the treatments.  I rolled up the rug, moved the ottoman and then my husband and I moved the piano into the center of the room.  It hit me then, but I didn't dare say it out loud.  The piano could be moved across the room to the other side.  I would be able to get my love seat back into the room.  It would make the room look larger.  I ran into my office and got out my floor plan out of the file cabinet (which I had created originally when we set up the room).  On paper it looked good.  The next day the window treatments got installed.  After the installer left, I decided I would move the piano myself.  That way in case I was completely wrong about the new furniture arrangement, no one needed to know.  FYI - baby grand pianos are heavy...even if you are rolling it only across the room.

Here is the new arrangement.  Look at how much more open the living room is.  The tree left the room and is on my parents enclosed deck now.  

Now when I walk by, I love what I see.  The piano is more of a focal point, whereas before, the piano looked like a huge barrier.  

The end table that used to be next to the sofa is now next to the chair.  It looks better too now that you can actually see it.  

The best part is that this all happened because I had to move the piano out of the way so that the installer could hang the window treatments.  By moving it, I was suddenly able to see the room in a whole new way.  

So if you're not happy with the way a room looks but you don't know what to do, this is what I would suggest.

1.  Start with a floor plan.  Move furniture pieces around to see what options you have.

2.  Empty out the room.  You will be amazed at how differently you look at the room without the current furniture arrangement staring you in the face.

3.  Use furniture moving pads.  They are a back saver and make furniture moving easy to do (I do it all the time and I often do it alone).

4.  Shop your home.  Move pieces from one room into another.  Little changes can make a big impact.

Hope I've inspired you to do some no-cost decorating this weekend.  Let me know what you think of the new arrangement.  Have a great weekend.

-Judy

By the way, Debbie Doos is having a Pet Link Party on Monday.  I'll be there...hope you will come too.