The size of furniture should be matched to the size of the room. If your room is larger, the size of the furniture should also be large . When a room is smaller, smaller pieces of furniture should be used! Not only will they fit better, but they will have a better proportion to the room too!
Scale refers to the visual size and how furnishings look next to each other. Rooms should have mixed items in scale....big things, little things, tall things, and short things. Variable scale within a room creates interest and drama.
Variation in scale throughout a room is important but, drastic differences can cause chaos. An oversized light fixture on a petite table or a small picture above a large sofa can create unbalance. Always try to use similar scale, like a large piece of art on a large fireplace.
Also, it is important to make sure furniture pieces are scaled for their function. A sofa provides seating for several people, so the coffee table or ottoman should be long enough to balance to the length of the sofa.
Today, we have many sizes of furniture pieces. Sofas in a standard size could be 85" but may be as long as 90". Today, we have sofa lengths from 72", 76", 78", 80" and 82".
Usually the variable in size is mostly due to the size of the arms of the sofa. Always consider the size of the arms on a furniture piece. The sitting space of a sofa generally stays the same, but the size of the arm can vary from 3" up to 11-12". Narrow arms with work well, but again take up much less space overall. Just make sure you do not put too many pieces into a room, especially with limited space.
Couches come in many sizes and configurations to suit your space. One of the common measurements that is not always thought about is the depth of the sofa, the effect it will have on how you will sit in it! Sofas can be 35" deep, from front to back, but it is also easy to find them 40"-42" deep! If your room is small, especially long and narrow, the depth of the sofa is one of the most important numbers to look at!
The proportions of a room are determined not only by the square footage but also by ceiling height, window sizes as well as arches or doorways in to the room. The relationship a room has with other areas is important to consider for traffic flow and visual balance. A room's purpose helps to determine the furniture scale.
With the trends to move into apartments and condos, many times the furniture we have will not fit well when the rooms are scaled down! Instead of end tables being 24" wide, a 12-14" table works just as well to hold a lamp and place a TV remote, and will save you a foot of space as well!
A newer size made in sofas today is a condo sofa. It will range from 72"-80". Generally, it looks like a full size sofa, with 3 seat cushions, but will have smaller arms. A condo sofa will still accommodate 3 people and allows you to lay across the sofa if you enjoy taking a nap there. A loveseat which is about 58-60", is just too small to lay across and your legs and feet will be hanging over the arm!
So if you are moving to a smaller place, doing a floorplan to actually see what will fit is the best idea.....and then purchase pieces that fit with the plan!
If you need help in putting a plan together, let us know and we will be glad to help you find the perfect pieces to fit you as well as the space that you have!
Kathy