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How adding a piece of furniture can make a room feel bigger!

How crazy does that sound? How can adding a piece of furniture to a room make it feel bigger you ask?

When doing a living redesign, I try to use only what the client has in their home. Sometimes, however, it is necessary to purchase a piece of furniture or decor item to complete a room.

This client wanted her room to feel fresh but warm and inviting. A place where she could have the fireplace on, put her feet up and get into a good book. A place to sit and chat about the day, do yoga, play board games with the kids and also a place, if needed, to sit quietly by herself.

This room has different features; it has a great fireplace but is off-centered, a beautiful bay window and one long wall. The furniture layout felt cramped and crowded when you walked in the room, nothing really flowed. My client was frustrated because she could not get the room to feel just right. She constantly changed the furniture around but it never seemed to be a good fit. There wasn't a coffee table because she wanted room to do her yoga, so if you wanted to sit and have a tea there was no place for a cup.

To find a perfect solution for her, we went out and bought an inexpensive coffee table and moved the love seat and couch around. Then the most amazing thing happened! The room became exactly like she dreamed. There is space for yoga at the front of the room, a great conversation area, and a place to put her drink or play a board game.

The room now feels more open and inviting, the air and energy in the room moves better. This was all created with one coffee table!

Just a note when you have a fireplace that is off-centered on the wall and are using it as a focal point in your room: arrange the furniture around the fireplace - do not centre to the wall. This way you can use other furniture in the room to help create a nice balance so it does not feel lopsided.

You can see in the picture that I have used a dresser on the left of the fireplace to create the balance that was needed.

If you have any questions regarding this article please contact me.

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