Home Decorating
Answers to Your Home Decorating Questions
Design experts to the rescue! From lack of sunlight to difficult-to-arrange rooms, we track down solutions to your toughest decorating dilemmas.
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Q: We have a side-hall Colonial with a 13-by-22-foot living room. The 6-foot opening from the hallway is at one end, the picture window to the right and the 6-foot dining room opening is at the far left. We have no focal point at all. We have tried the couch everywhere. What do I put in the two corners to the left and right of the hall opening? If you make a conversational cluster, what happens in the rest of the room? I am totally lost. —Posted by momofrkc
A: First job: divide and conquer. By this I mean break the generously proportioned room into two smaller spaces. Because this is the living room, the ideal solution would be to create two seating arrangements, each anchored by a large rug. As the room has no natural focal point, the best solution is to start in the center and work out. Two smaller sofas (no more than 82 inches in length) placed back to back with a table between them are often good anchors. The sofas should be upholstered in the same fabric. Fill in with a pair of chairs facing each sofa and some sort of table or ottoman in between. The chairs don't need to match, but they do need to share something in common, be it a similar upholstery fabric or identical finish treatment.
Don't overlook lighting. You will need table or floor lamps, so make sure there's an outlet within reach. If not, you may need an electrician to install floor outlets once you've finalized your seating plan.
As for the wall area on either side of your openings to both the dining room and hall, look for pieces (tall bookcases, perhaps) that can fill the space while providing function. For example, a matching pair of chests on either side of the opening to the dining room could provide a nice place to display a pair of floral arrangements or candles.
—John Loecke, interior designer and author of "John Loecke’s Grosgrain Style"
A: First job: divide and conquer. By this I mean break the generously proportioned room into two smaller spaces. Because this is the living room, the ideal solution would be to create two seating arrangements, each anchored by a large rug. As the room has no natural focal point, the best solution is to start in the center and work out. Two smaller sofas (no more than 82 inches in length) placed back to back with a table between them are often good anchors. The sofas should be upholstered in the same fabric. Fill in with a pair of chairs facing each sofa and some sort of table or ottoman in between. The chairs don't need to match, but they do need to share something in common, be it a similar upholstery fabric or identical finish treatment.
Don't overlook lighting. You will need table or floor lamps, so make sure there's an outlet within reach. If not, you may need an electrician to install floor outlets once you've finalized your seating plan.
As for the wall area on either side of your openings to both the dining room and hall, look for pieces (tall bookcases, perhaps) that can fill the space while providing function. For example, a matching pair of chests on either side of the opening to the dining room could provide a nice place to display a pair of floral arrangements or candles.
—John Loecke, interior designer and author of "John Loecke’s Grosgrain Style"
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