Your home is one of your most significant assets. As such, it’s only prudent to put a lot of thought into its construction and design. Aside from ensuring that the style and architecture are on point, all elements must facilitate functionality and ease of movement.

Having a floor plan and furniture layout can be a great help in achieving a stylish but functional home for you or your clients. Nonetheless, there’s more to optimizing your space than choosing the best furniture, such as these coffee tables at RJ Living. You have to think about the area that you have and the pathways that you’re creating (or obstructing) when arranging your furnishings.

If you’re in the process of creating a floor plan and furniture layout, here are some tips that can help you:

1. Find Out How Much Space You Have

A tape measure is the number one tool to have in this process. You have to know the exact length and width of your room so that you can map out your floor plan with precision. Once you have an idea of how much space you have, you can then create an accurate representation of the room on your graph paper. Take note that one box is equivalent to one foot.

Knowing the area you can play around with can ensure that your room is suited to you or your clients’ needs. It also helps avoid mistakes in installations of built-in furnishings. If you’re based in the Land Down Under, you can find chest of drawers in Australia to boost storage space and keep the area clutter-free.

2. Examine The Placement Of Foundational Elements

Aside from knowing how much space you have, you should also consider the location of each room’s foundational elements, such as doors, windows, outlets, and vents. Study the room extensively. This way, you know where to place furniture and other décors to make each part of your home functional.

With doors, for instance, you want to take note of the direction where it swings. This seemingly simple motion plays a significant role in ensuring your pathways are clear and movements feel natural once everything is in place. Another factor to consider is whether a furniture item is making a room feel unwelcoming or limiting its flow. As such, it might be better to remove it.

For windows, you want to study how much light it allows in and whether you’ll be using it in your regular activities, like reading or sewing. In the living room, make sure that windows don’t cause a glare on the TV as well.

3. Be Mindful Of Your Home’s Architectural Style

Your home must have a cohesive feel from the exterior to the interior. Knowing this, you must also consider the architecture of the property when creating your floor plan and furniture layout.

Older homes, like Colonial and Tudor styles, are most likely to have small and separate rooms for each section. On the other hand, more modern homes usually have open floor plans and shared spaces.

Of course, you shouldn’t limit your creativity by sticking to just one theme. For example, placing antiques and bulky furniture in a Victorian home filled with stained glass and dark wood will do more harm than good. In this case, you might want to go for modern furniture to balance out the visual elements.

4. Determine The Most Natural Pathways

As you go about a home, there are just pathways from one room to another that feel natural. Take note of these routes and account for them in your floor plan and furniture layout. Make sure to move around the space and see if the furniture placements work or should be rearranged. 

If you feel the need to go around a sofa because it’s blocking a natural pathway, you should move it somewhere else. This is a crucial factor to remember, especially when you or your clients have kids or pets who might run into these furnishings.

Provide enough space for your paths as well. Ideally, walkways must be between 36 and 42 inches for utmost comfort.

5. Identify Your Activity Zones

As mentioned above, modern homes often adopt a more open space layout. As such, you might want to designate each section, especially in a large room, according to the activities you want to do there. 

For instance, in a living room that connects to the dining room, you can place a rug under the couch as a marker that it’s the area where people can sit to watch TV or talk. For the latter, you can hang food-related posters or art to direct guests to the eating area.

Some more ways to create activity zones in a home:

• Buy A Folding Screen – Aside from area rugs, folding screens are another quick and low-commitment method to break up your space. These vertical barriers can instantly divide an area into two. They can also add vibrancy into your rooms by infusing patterns and colors.
• Paint The Ceiling A Different Color – If you don’t want to go the usual route of assigning a space with wall accents, you can divide the room visually by changing up the ceiling color. Adding some molding is a more subtle way to do this, too.
• Install A Bookcase – Just like folding screens, a bookcase can also serve as a vertical barrier in your room. Plus, it’s a multi-functional furniture piece as it provides storage space as well.

6. Make Sure Elements Are Cohesive

Although you should designate specific activity zones, these sections should still be cohesive. As stated earlier, the exterior and interior must feel connected without being redundant or boring.

Using the same textures and colors is a quick trick that can provide harmony across different rooms in your home. You can also repeat one element throughout the house, such as mirrors or an accent color, to boost the cohesive feel.

Conclusion

Creating a floor plan and furniture layout is crucial for a stylish and fully functional space. You must know how much area you have to play with so that you can arrange the furnishings accordingly. There are various factors to consider, but the most important thing to remember is that the home must suit the needs and preferences of the homeowner.