My Design Secrets

Creating an attractive furniture plan that works well for your lifestyle and home is not all smoke and mirrors.  And the eye-catching designs you see in magazines are not pulled together in the blink of an eye.  Most designers will tell you that they take careful consideration and planning.  The challenge is to balance functionality with comfort and design.  If the furniture is too small or too light the furnishings seem to float aimlessly around the room; too heavy or too large for the room and the space closes in on you.  The best way to start is with a solid furniture plan so I have scanned the Internet and found a few easy tools to help you do just that.  They range from tech-savy to paper and pencil.  Choose the method that is most comfortable for you.

Simple Software – Personally, my favorite tool is Icovia Space Planner.  Icovia features web-based software that allows you to custom build your rooms to scale.  You can furnish them complete with a Ferrari in the garage and a dog bed in the family room.  As an interior designer, I have used some pretty complicated design software.  I can assure you that this one is simple.  You can print out the plans or email them to a friend for additional input.  There are only a few functions, so it’s hard to go wrong.  If you sign up on their website, the service is $29 per month. 

***Inside Secret:  A few of the larger retailers (Lane, Thomasville, Storehouse) also use Icovia and you can hop onto their sites to use it for free.  You will be placing their furniture in the rooms but you can easily re-size it to suit your existing furniture or pieces you have in mind. 

Cardboard Cut-outs – For those of you who like to keep it super basic, Design Yourself Interiors is for you.  This company has created life size reusable “footprints” that will replicate the actual size of your sofa, chair or table before you purchase it.  They have kits for every room in the house, including the nursery.  Most rooms run about $30, or you can purchase all 4 for $110.  It’s pretty affordable so I don’t think it’s worth the time it would would take to make them yourself.

The Old Fashioned Way – Many moons ago before computer -aided design (CAD), architects and designers all worked on a drafting board with pencil and paper.  Some of the purists still do!  It’s a simple way to layout your room.  Purchase some graph paper (or print some out here), a ruler and pencil and you’re all set.  Make each square on the graph paper equal to 1 foot or 6 inches depending on the size of your space. 

As you layout your room, a few tips to consider:

• Take inventory of what you have and write down the length and depth of each piece.
• Measure all doorway openings from the front door all the way through to that room.  Finding out a piece of furniture won’t fit through the doorway on delivery day is very frustrating, to say the least.
• Consider the focal point for the room (fireplace, TV, view, etc) and plan accordingly.
• Start with the largest pieces of furniture (sofa, coffee table, armoire).
• Allow for 14-18″ between a coffee table and the sofa.  Too close or too far is awkward.
• Leave room for end tables.  A 7′ long sofa needs substantial end tables.  An 18″ table will look like a slip-up.  Try 24″+.
• The back of a sofa is not the first thing you want to see when you walk in the room.  If you have put something there, the backs of chairs are preferable and will give you better flow.
• Make sure every seat has a table within reasonable reach. 
• Consider the natural traffic pattern to get from one room to the next and do not block it with a large piece of furniture.

Good luck putting together your new furniture plan.  With a bit of planning and patience, it will be a snap!