"What Were They Thinking Thursday!!??" - Don't Line Them Up

Furniture layout can be a little tricky, especially if you have an odd shaped or sized room. We learned a couple weeks ago to buy furniture that is the right scale for our room. And this week, we are talking about the correct way to position your furniture. I am just going to look at living rooms today.

One of the most common mistakes people make is to put all there furniture along a wall. Let's take a look at bad furniture layouts.

You don't want to have to yell at each other across the room. Your furniture layout should stimulate conversation, not hinder it.

The couch is too close to the fireplace

Maybe they just moved in

Your furniture should float in the room. Just because you have a smaller space, doesn't mean you should put all the furniture against the wall. This will not make the room feel bigger.

Start with anchoring the room with a rug. Make sure you get one that's big enough! Usually for a typical living room layout you are going to need at least a 5'x8' if not larger.

After you get the rug positioned, place your couch. It should sit on top of your rug by about 6" or so. Once the couch is in place, add the coffee table. The coffee table should be about 2' from the edge of your couch. This leaves enough space to walk around it but not too much to where you can 't reach and set a drink down on it.

If you have chairs, position those next. Whether it's across from the couch or on the sides, they need to be sitting on the rug just like the couch.

Let's take a look at some great furniture layouts.

Notice how the couch isn't all the way up against the wall. Even if you don't have very much space, you should still float the couch from the wall at least 8" or so.

~Jessica

Walkin' On Sunshine

So you just moved in to a house and you hate the floors. You don't have enough money to put in the floors of your dreams right now ... so ... why not paint them. This works with wood floors, linoleum, and laminate. You just need to make sure your prime it according to what material you have. You need to get the paint to stick to it some how and you definitely need to put a poly-urethane coat on top for wear and tear.

If you are really brave you can even put in a pattern or design.

I love this super high gloss in the kitchen.

If you decide to attempt something like painted floors, just remember that they do require maintenance. The paint will eventually come off so if you want a really solid modern look, you are going to have to keep a poly-urethane top coat on it and you might have to re-paint ever so often. Personally, I love the rustic look of the worn painted floors so if you are like me, maintenance will be a little easier!

~Jessica

"What Were They Thinking Thursday!!??" - Keep Your Gum To Yourself

For some reason, people find it difficult to respect furniture and public property. Why is that every time you go into a public restroom there is writing all over the stalls. Or, you're at the library or a restaurant and there is gum under the table.

Being in the Interior Design business, we are constantly specifying and ordering furniture for clients. This furniture is not cheap. Commercial furniture is made to last but it doesn't come with a mechanical arm that slaps you when you try to stick gum on the under side. (Great idea though)

Common curtsey has been lost and people just don't care about other people anymore. How would you like it if I came over to your house and wrote all over your walls and stuck gum under your dining room table. This picture sums up the sentiment perfectly:

Defacing other's property is not the only problem. Abuse is one as well. Chairs are made for sitting in, not for jumping or trying to do that cool walk over the back as the chair falls down thing. Paint is meant to be on the wall. Don't pick at it! Don't wipe your greasy hands on the walls. Don't kick things that aren't yours. These are all things you should've learned in kindergarten.

I think a certain elf named Buddy would like this wall.

There are some instances where graffiti is acceptable. Some restaurants encourage their customers to write on their tables.

A mom covered her furniture in white and invited her kids to decorate them!

Cool graffiti table

So, next time you think about signing your name on that table that you always eat lunch at because yes, everyone does care if you were here, just remember that someone had to pay for that table and if it's public property, it was probably you.

~Jessica

Black and White

Sometimes, things really are just Black and White. The contrast between black and white can make a boring room bold. Even though I love colorful rooms, these black and white rooms are pretty fabulous.

If everything is black and white, one bold color will really pop out of the space, like this blue.

Black walls can be risky. If you want to do something like this, you must have a room with tall ceilings and windows. You will also need to have a lot of white in the furniture and accessories.

I love the white walls with the black trim. Very sophisticated!

Who doesn't love a black and white kitchen?

Are you bold enough to have this kind of contrast in your place? If not, you can always add black and white accessories to your color palette. Like a black and white rug, or black and white prints and frames.

~Jessica