How to configure Living Room Furniture

How to Configure Living Room Furniture
By Stephan Teak

The living room is one of the most important in your home when it comes to style. Here is a quick guide on how to configure living room furniture.

After you finish furnishing your living room, you might look around and realize that it looks dull, boring, or lacks any kind of pizzazz. Instead of rushing out to buy different furniture or more accessories, take a break and think about how to arrange living room furniture in light of the space you have.

It is a simple mistake that many people make when arranging their living room. They often don’t know how to do it correctly. The first thing you should do is find the dimensions of the living room and then draw it out on graph paper. The rule of thumb is that a ¼ inch is equivalent to one foot of the room. Make sure you draw it to scale to get the most accurate measurements.

Step two is to mark anything that would effect your arrangements such as wall outlets, telephone and cable wires, light switches, windows, and doors. Now it is time to whip out your child’s construction paper and make scale paper cutouts of all your furniture. Again, remembering that ¼ inch is equal to one foot on graph paper. Arrange the furniture to the dimensions until a furniture arrangement that you love emerges.

Step three is to figure out the focal point of a room. If you have a fireplace, that will most likely be it. On the other hand, it could be a large sofa with a beautiful painting over it, bookcases, built in shelves with wonderful accessories, or anything that you want to emphasize. Arrange all the furniture to subtly orient towards the focal point. Step four is to make sure all furniture and accessories are the same variance in height. If you have a high chair next to a low table then add a large vase and flowers to the table so they are almost the same height. Do this with all groupings to make the eye flow naturally.

Step five is to set up cozy conversation areas among the groupings by angling two chairs towards each other, or something that would give a natural flow to conversation. Step six is to pull furniture away from the wall to create the conversation centers. Following along those lines, step seven is to position the sofa so it is at a non-perpendicular angle to any walls to create drama. The final step is to allow a minimum of 24 inches for traffic lanes through the room. Lanes will probably meander because of the conversation areas so it is okay to have a few different spots to walk.

Voila, you now have a beautifully set up naturally flowing living room without having to spend a dime on an interior decorator. With this quick guide on how to arrange living room furniture, you should be able to get the feel you want with the minimum of fuss.

Stephan Teak is with FurnitureStoresforYou.com - providing furniture articles.

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Easy Fix for cushions that don't stay in place

BY Richard Ribbing

Do you have a sofa or chair that the cushions are always sliding out towards the front? It seems like you are always adjusting the cushions , and shoving them back into place. I've found a simple solution to this problem.

What you want to use is a non-skid rubberized shelf liner. This material is made by a number of manufactures and can be found at most hardware stores or department stores, pharmacies or supermarkets. It also comes in different thicknesses. I would suggest you get the heaviest thicknesses. This seems to work the best and hold up the longest.

What you want to do, is remove the cushions. Measure the area of the deck, this is the area that the cushions sit on. Measure between the arms, and from the front to the back. Cut a piece of liner this size. Lay the piece of liner directly on top of the deck. Now just replace the cushions. If there is any part of the liner showing on the front, remove the cushions and cut off about 2" of the liner

In most cases this will do the job, and you won't have to be re-adjusting the cushions all the time. This also works well for area rugs, window seats and bench cushions.