Design 101 | Furniture Placement

March 2017, By Nicole Langelier.
Photography by Dylan Lark, Aspect 11.

As property stylists and interior designers there are many things we see when we go out on quotes that are real design ‘’No- No’s’’. One, as you may remember from previous blog posts is hanging art way too high (if you have to crane your neck to see it it’s to high!), another from a previous post is cramming all your furniture onto your rug as if it were too afraid to touch the floor boards (spread that furniture out people – your furniture needs space to breathe too). A third offender that we see quite often in our business is furniture pushed into every possible corner. For some reason many folks out there feel that their furniture belongs in the corner as if it got in trouble in class and was banished there by an irate teacher. Look, I like a good game of Jenga and Tetras as much as the next person, but just because something fits, it doesn’t mean it belongs there.

These days there are more reasons than ever to liberate your furniture from the corner. Savvy designers pay attention to not just the front of their designs but all parts and angles including the arms, legs and of course the back. In fact, the best assets of some of these pieces are indeed their backsides. As far as I’m concerned, if baby’s got back nobody should put baby in the corner.

If you have an open plan space, using furniture to delineate designated areas and to guide traffic flow works beautifully – especially if the back of the piece is as beautiful as the front. Even if you don’t have an open plan space that is no excuse to push your furniture up against the wall every time. If you are worried about over-crowding you should pick smaller, slimmer furniture that allows you to sit it off the wall. Think outside the box – not all chairs and sofas need to be big heavy boxes. Consider unique forms, curved backs and floating frames.

Click On furniture is one of my go to spots for beautifully designed furniture pieces. Be it a dining or chair, sofa, desk or shelf, they really have it covered from all angles.

If you have deep pockets and an affinity towards the contemporary, you may want to branch out a bit to Poliform for top of the line Italian design that’s worth the 3 month wait.