Trying to get your dream couch, the coffee table, and some other furniture into your living room can be like those puzzles that toddlers use to learn shapes.
It looks easy enough to do, but suddenly you realize that you didn’t really think it through well enough.
The problem is that it looks much easier than it really is because you’re dealing with squares. So it seems to follow that things should fit. But, you actually have to measure and do some planning before you go out and buy that furniture that you think would be perfect. If you have a small space then this is even more important.
With the tips in this article, you will be able to make it work and end up with exactly the right furniture for the right room.
1. Use your all of the space wisely
You probably have too much stuff you already have in your room or plan to put there. Your living room, for instance, could easily have less stuff there. You just need to organize and put things together. And, use the space that you have available, as well.
Your couch is a perfect example of wasted space. You should look for a couch that has some storage space in it so you can pack some things out of sight. Or, it can be a sectional so you can move it around. Even better is a sleeper sectional sofa that can handle a couple of different uses.
Look beyond the room you are trying to furnish to find opportunities to save space there so you can move stuff out of that room and into another storage area. A utility closet can be made into a storage space if you treat it right. If you have a big, tank-style water heater, replace it with a tankless water heater that takes a fraction of the space and frees up more storage.
2. Make sure it can get inside
Before you can determine how the furniture is going to look in the room or where you will put it, you have to make sure it can get into the house. This is especially important to consider when you live in an apartment or if things have to go up a flight of stairs.
You’ll need to take careful measurements of the entrances and passageways. Take note only the height and width of the doorways but the diagonal as well. This measurement will be important as you’ll be tipping things to fit them through. Even the stairway needs to have the measurement of the diagonals.
Hallways are a bit more difficult to deal with because at some point, the furniture may need to be positioned to get around a corner when entering the room. Try to take those corners into consideration and see where the turn will happen by measuring how much room there is from the room to where the furniture will enter the hallway.
3. Measure the room itself
Start with measuring the length of the room from where the door is that the furniture will come in through to the further wall. Even if you don’t plan to place the piece there, it needs to be able to get all the way into the room.
The next step is the length and width of the room along with the height of the walls to the ceiling. This is important if you plan to have a large armoire or bookshelf.
You should also measure from the floor to the bottom of the window. If you are going to be putting a couch in then you have to consider if the back of it will extend up past the base of the window. Aesthetically it might not look good if that’s the case, but it can also get wet when it rains.
In addition to the windows, you should consider where radiators and other permanent structures are around the room. You shouldn’t block any radiators and you will need to keep a certain distance from any fireplace to avoid a fire hazard.
4. Make a sketch
Once you have your dimensions of the room and you know the dimensions of the furniture you plan to use, then it’s time to make a sketch to see how things will actually fit together.
You can even use a computer program to do this to make sure that it is accurate. It helps to do this so you can actually move things around to see how they will fit best and to make sure that you don’t block the flow of any movements.
Become a Harlem Insider!
By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
