TRI CITY FURNITURE
Design - Mattresses - Flooring
EST 1957
Size of Furniture is Important
Design Time on WMEN TV5
April 2020
Size of furniture is important!
Today we talk about room size and how to find furniture pieces that fill your room the best!
Maybe you have a smaller home and therefore, the rooms are not as spacious as larger homes.
I will help us know where to start and what to consider.
The space in our rooms is the one factor that all of us need to consider when purchasing furniture! That is why it is important to have the correct scale of furniture plus the right type of pieces so that we can use our rooms to the highest efficiency!
The one thing that really determines the size of furniture is the width of the arms! Here are a few examples of arm styles, but there are plenty more if you want a special look. You can see though, how some arms are wider and move the sofa further out in the room than others. The rounded arms could take an extra 28" of room space depending on your sofa style.
The seat width on most furniture is pretty consistent...... the length of a sofa seat is about 70” give or take, because seat cushions are 23” wide..... but what makes the length of a sofa 85-90”, is the ARMS, Arms can be 2” wide all the way up to 12-14” if they are made with a big poofy pillow! This is true for chairs as well.
The length of the piece is not the only thing to consider when thinking about the size of a piece. You want to consider who is sitting on it or sleeping on it. Is the seat depth deep enough for that person's body? Yes! You can select a shallow sofa so your feet can touch...or you can have a deeper one so the kids can lounge. I have the different seat depths of 18", 20", 21", 22" 23, and 24" on my show room floor right now. You wouldn't think a few inches would make a difference, but they can! Here is the room layout 12 x 19 with a shallow and short sofa (72" x 34") in the first image. The next image has a deeper longer sofa (85 x 42) in it. Both are 3 seats. Both fit in the room. The first layout fits more into the open space, where the other creeps into the walkway some, but again, it all depends what you want. We can polish the details to make it come together.
You may ask..."What about choosing a sectional as compared to a sofa? How do I know if one is better for my room as compared to the other?" Well, it really depends on your room and what you want to do with it. Lets look at a few examples. The first example keeps the TV on the stand in the corner. Here the family has one extra seat with the sectional, and a chaise position. They gave up the recliner, but no one in the house really used it anyways.
The next plan uses the length of the room. The family still has access to the back sliding door, but they never use that door and the view is not anything special out it (neighbor's fence) so, we turned the room. Moving the TV to the fireplace creates one focal point. Now we have 8 seats vs 5. There is still nice walking space and the room feels very put together. Room plans are very personal, so we really listen to what you are saying and what you want.
I've been asked...Does a smaller room work better if I would just use chairs? Well, we can make it work. Maybe that is what you want. Maybe you don't need 8 seats. Look at this example below. You may need to bring in a few different pieces, such as an accent chest, desk, or Piano to fill in the space of the room.
We have also been asked....On the opposite side, what do you do with a really large room to make it feel cozy? Again, I would talk to you and find out all the details. Who is using the space? How are you using it? Do you have a teenager boy (or husband) who brings his friends over and they play video games together or do you have toddlers who have larger toys that roll? Do you have hard surface flooring? Do you need seating for 10 people? We would want to sit down and talk. We want it to be your style, your comfort, your home. Call us and we will make a personal appointment and get exactly what you want.