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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Tips on Preserving Antique Furniture

Tips on Preserving Antique Furniture
By Rob Buenaventura

If you happen to be looking for a wonderful investment in the beauty of your home, you should seriously consider antique furniture. This sort of investment, however, doesn’t come inexpensively. As a result, you should take great precautions to properly care for your antique furniture. In addition to the beauty and tradition that is part and parcel of owning antique furniture the wonderful memories that this furniture can evoke as well as the educational value of it make it an even greater investment.

To properly care for your antique furniture you will need to do more than the occasional dusting with a can of Pledge. You must also protect your furniture from the damage that can be caused by environmental effects as well as the climate and amount of activity that it will be subjected to. Kids and antiques are not necessarily great mates.

You may be surprised to discover that ultra violet rays are one of the most damaging things to which you can expose your wood or fabric antique furniture. For this reason it is a good idea to make sure you store your antique furniture far away from windows that allow direct sunlight into the room. Not only will these rays cause bleaching and cracking of the wood they will also cause fabrics to fade over time. Buying heavy-duty drapes can help reduce exposure of this beautiful furniture to harmful ultraviolet rays as well as treating it with furniture oil or wood polish that is specifically designed to protect wood from ultra violet damage.

By keeping the rooms in which you store your antique furniture at a fairly consistent temperature and avoiding excessive or extreme highs or lows you can also extend the life and beauty of your furniture. Extreme temperatures can cause the furniture to rapidly expand and contract resulting in cracked wood. You should also work to avoid exposing your antique furniture to humidity. Humidity creates an environment that is favorable for bacteria to grow in fabric and mold to grow on wood, neither of which are attractive situations for your antique furniture.

By learning the proper care for your antique furniture you can extend its life another century or so and enjoy years of use and beauty from your furniture. There are plenty of online sources from which you can learn a great deal about caring for your furniture be sure to check them out and find out how you can get the maximum enjoyment from your antique furniture.

Rob Buenaventura has worked in the home improvement industry for several years. Learn more about furniture ideas, rustic furniture and other home remodeling ideas at HomeImprovementTouch.com

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