Home Decorating For Dummies
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To demonstrate that you can arrange a room in more than one way, here are three different layouts for a the same living room. The first two arrangements take into consideration many functions. Each layout provides seating areas for big gatherings, small and large conversation groups, television viewing, reading and writing, scenery watching, piano playing, and group sing-alongs.

In this layout, the seating arrangement is traditional, with the large fireplace as the center of attention. The baby grand piano and chaise lounge make the bay window a second strong focal point, while the television, placed in front of picture windows, is incidental.

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In another plan, back-to-back love seats create two living areas. The imposing fireplace draws the most attention, while the bay window and the grand piano play a supporting role. Your guests and you can see the television from the love seat and lounge chairs placed at an angle.

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In the third layout, a Contemporary, L-shaped couch on a diagonal faces away from the windows. The fireplace is the strong focal point of the room, but this layout makes the television more important. A necessary traffic path to the couch creates a separation between it and the lounge chairs. The grand piano sits in front of the bay window.

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When arranging your furniture, consider architectural features. Check out the following suggestions for devising your own layout:

  • Keep a piano in the background, so it doesn’t obstruct the traffic flow. If you have both a piano and a fireplace, place the piano opposite the fireplace wall, to balance the room. Serious musicians insist that a piano be on an interior wall, away from direct heating and cooling vents, because heat and cold changes affect pianos and their sound.

  • Let the fireplace, a prominent element in any room, be the natural focal point that it is. Create major seating areas around the fireplace.

  • Nestle some furniture near the windows that have a beautiful view. This technique balances the seating in the room’s primary area.

  • Place plenty of seating around the television set if you want it to be another focal point. More seating adds function and visual weight (and importance).

About This Article

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Katharine Kaye McMillan, former senior editor of a New York City-based national magazine, is a writer whose work appears regularly in magazines and newspapers. She is a contributing writer to internationally circulated Florida Design Magazine. She is the co-author of several books on decorating and design, including Sun Country Style, which is the basis for licensed signature collections of furniture and accessories by three leading American manufacturers and importers. A graduate of the University of Texas in Austin, she holds a masters degree in psychology and is a doctoral student in psychology at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida.

Patricia Hart McMillan is a nationally known interior designer, whose interior design work for private clients, designer showcases, and corporations has appeared in publications worldwide, including the New York Times and USA Today. Known as a trend spotter and for clearly articulated views on design, she is quoted frequently and extensively in both trade and consumer publications. She a ppears on TV and talk radio. A prolific writer, she is coauthor and author of seven books on interior design and decoration, with Sun Country Style signature collections of furniture based on two books. She has taught decorating courses at several colleges and conducted numerous seminars across the U.S. She is decorating editor for Christian Woman Magazine and reports on design trends for The Sun-Sentinel, a Tribune newspaper based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. She has been editor-in-chief of two publications and was head of a New York City-based public relations firm representing some of the most prestigious names in home furnishing and building products. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, with a minor in art history (with an emphasis in architecture), from the State University of New York (New Paltz). She was awarded a certificate from The New York School of Interior Design.

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