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When the general plan is clear proceed towards plan for each room individually. Subdivide the main function of the room- e.g. the living room-into all its separate activities-resting, reading, televiewing, writing, sewing, entertaining-and consider carefully how and when these activities will take place in relation to each other.
Draw up an outline in note form of how the pattern of activities varies throughout the week. The room will be used rather differently at weekends and during the working week, also from season to season -“buttoned up” against the winter cold, with suitable heating and seating arrangement, or opened up in midsummer with the French windows wide, and seating facing towards garden or balcony.
In short, start by deciding clearly for what purpose the room is to be used and how it is to be used.
Next consider which parts of the room are most suited to various uses, and divide it broadly into areas of activity. The basic drawing will be very useful at this stage.
It is now a question of selecting suitable furniture, or arranging existing pieces in each area – writing desk near the light, worktop near sink and so on. The object here is to arrange the furniture in appropriate areas in such a way that the overall layout gives free access from the entrance door to any part of the room, and unobstructed movement within and between each area. It should be unnecessary, for example, to have to squeeze between the kitchen table and the corner for he refrigerator in order to get to the boiler, or to knock one’s shins against a coffee table every time one rises from the settee.
As a general rule, a good practical layout of furniture, resulting from the above approach, will also give the most satisfactory visual effect. At the same time, consideration must be given to the relationship of the size and shape of pieces to the wall areas against which they are seen. The larger pieces-wardrobes, bookcases, sideboards- should be placed against large areas of wall, not crammed into recesses or cramped areas. The smaller pieces - bureaus, side tables- will be perfectly in scale with these smaller areas, but might look “lost” against the main areas of wall.
However, in a long narrow room, having windows on the larger wall, the larger pieces can be effectively placed against the end walls, making the room appear shorter, while the side walls are left clear to create space. The shapes of the furniture must be carefully considered in relation to other objects seen with it against the walls- the placing of shelves, pictures, ornaments and other decorative features. The result to be aimed at in the arrangement against each wall area is a harmonious and interesting composition of shapes, a similar effect of which the painter achieves when he arranges shapes and forms within the rectangle of his canvas.
Below are some notes on the application of these principles to particular types of rooms.
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