(cc) image by Christopher Barson/flickr
In Furniture Placement 101 I gave some basics about placing furniture that will help you greatly in arranging a room. The rules are simple enough to follow in a normal rectangular room with only one traffic pattern, but what do you do in rooms that are oblong, filled with windows, or L or other oddly shaped rooms?
Long Rectangular rooms: Create multiple furniture arrangements in a long room. Have each portion of the room serve a different purpose. You should however avoid splitting the room evenly in two. For example, you can have music or a reading area at one end of the room, and have the rest of the room serve as a sitting area, or TV entertainment. Show the separation of the room by having an area that is devoid of furniture, using a dividing screen, or with the placement of area rugs.
Window Filled Rooms: Rooms with lots of windows are for the enjoyment of the view, so don’t over fill it with furniture. In such a case, I advise creating a conversation area with two small sofas or several chair facing each other. It it is not possible to pull the furniture away from the windows in such a room, then be sure to use light wicker or low profile furniture to help you get the most of the view.
Oddly shaped rooms: You need to look at the room objectively and try to decide what arrangement of the room might be. Personally, I like to draw the room on paper, so I can look down at it and break the room into section, and imaging a few scenarios without moving heaving furniture. Your options are to break the room up into two or three functions and/or use large furniture items to balance out the room.
Read:
Three Furniture Placement Styles
Rearrange Your Furniture to Save Money