Part IV

Putting The Right Furniture in the Right Place

So far in this 5 part series I have talked about:

 Starting With the Bare Walls

 What to Do With Those Viewless Windows

 Lighting the Way

Now I'll go on to discuss putting the right furniture in the right place.

Putting the right furniture in the right place most frequently has to do with discovering where the focal point is and using the focal point as a jumping off place for arranging furniture. This bedroom falls into the common scenario of the bed becoming the focal point. Therefore the task became discovering where best to place the focal point. The choices we had were limited in number. One wall was eliminated because it was taken up with the doors to the closet.

Another wall was purged from the list because it was the same wall where the entry door was located. We simply don’t want people to have the feeling of tripping over the bed as they enter the room. So now we are down to two walls and the corner where those two walls meet as possibilities for bed placement.

                                              Here is the reason this wall was removed from the list.

Placing the bed on this wall puts it atop the heating and cooling register.

Alas, we were left with two choices – the wall across from the entry door or the afore mentioned corner. Since I typically like putting furniture at an angle there was a fleeting moment when I considered this corner. In truth I really wanted the bed in that corner. Well, in this 10’5” X 11’6” room placing the bed in that corner simply ate up the look of the much coveted floor space. By process of elimination the bed ended up being the focal point on the wall directly across from the doorway. By the way, placing a bed so that it is the first thing seen when entering the room is frequently the best choice. 

The next consideration had to do with what type of furniture would be necessary for a guest to have a pleasant experience in this small room. Of course, he or she would need a table beside the bed for placement of a lamp (you know, the reading in bed syndrome.) Another grouping of a chair and table would be helpful for those guests who prefer to read while sitting and sipping. Besides that, having a comfortable chair to use while putting on shoes and socks is always welcoming. 

We discovered that what was available for our use in this room was a bed, a folding tray table and a floor lamp. Hey, that is a good start.

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But before we go on to how the furniture actually ended up in the room and what pieces we added I thought we would take a little side trip to talk about SCALE and PROPORTION.

These two matching tables are all out of proportion for the scale of this bed. They are too tall, plus they are not big enough to hold a lamp, much less a few sundry items like eye glasses or a glass of water. These tables will not do.

Notice that with this table there is room for a lamp. BUT, also observe that the scale of the lamp is too large and out of place for the scale of the bed beside which it rests. 

I personally like the shape and feel of this lamp but it overpowers the bed and is unsuitable for use in this room.

 Here is another lamp which won’t work because the scale is wrong.

This time the spindly look of the lamp places it in the “too small” category. Even though the color of the lampshade would have been nice to go along with the accessories in the room -- this lamp is unacceptable, it is the wrong scale.

                       The lamp chosen for the room is the perfect scale for the bed.

This lamp is also made of metal which fits in with the theme for the room which we will discuss in the fifth part of the present series.

Still discussing scale and proportion we will touch on the use of accessories. Because the "dressing of the bed" usually includes throw pillows I was keen to boost the look of the focal point (the bed) with a lovely assortment of pillows. Here is one of the various assortments of throw pillows which could have been used on the bed.

In order to prepare the room to be visually pleasing and in keeping with an up-to-date sleek style this assortment of pillows is out of proportion.

Instead we severely limited the number and size of the throw pillows in order to stay in keeping with the choice to make the room modern and stylishly sleek.

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Now we will get back to discussing which furniture to place where.  

To the already available floor lamp we added a small scale chair and intriguing metal table.

With these three items neatly tucked in a corner it is easy to see how guests can be accommodated. On top of all that - the eye is pleased by the arrangement.

With the addition of one more table placed at the other side of the bed we are beginning to see balance and symmetry within the guest room staging. In the next article in this series you will get to see the additional table with its accessories. 

In the next and last post of this series we will consider the “The Art of Art placement.”

To see the conclusion of this series, check out:

Part V  The Art of Art Placement

and the Bonus Anatomy of Staging a Guest Room 

This information has been prepared by Yvonne Root, of rooms b.y. root. The home staging team at rooms b.y. root prepares homes for sell or resell in the central Northern Arizona towns of Anthem, Black Canyon City, Mayer, Dewey-Humboldt, Prescott Valley, Prescott, Chino Valley, Cottonwood, Cornville, Camp Verde and all points between.