How to Arrange Furniture for Unusual Floor Plans
The layout of a floor plan is a very personal thing and can make or break a room. Plotting and planning a successful layout involves taking accurate measurements, knowing the furnishings that will go in the space and having a general idea of how the room will function once the arrangement is complete. It is most crucial to plan in advance when you're working with an unusual floor plan. Putting your ideas on paper first will be much easier than rearranging the furniture itself and will give you a better idea of your options with the space layout. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Decide what and where the focal points of the space will be. Knowing the focal point in advance will allow you to know what the furnishings need to revolve around and will make the space seem less intimidating to arrange. Unusual floor plans can often require more than one focal point, depending on the shape of the space. For instance, a U-shaped room may work best with a focal point at each end, allowing the space to maintain design and interest no matter from which direction it is viewed.
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Measure both the perimeter of the room that you plan to decorate and the length and width of the furniture that will go in it. Write the measurements down for each wall and the furniture.
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Draw a scaled floor plan using a ruler. Since your floor plan is unusual, it may take you a few tries before the drawn floor plan comes out looking similar to the shape of the actual space. If the room you are furnishing is large, use the scale of 1/2 inch=1 foot. If the floor plan you are working on is smaller, use the scale of 1 inch=1 foot. Basically, the larger you can draw the floor plan, the easier it'll be to get an accurate floor plan. Drawing to scale means you will draw a layout that looks like an exact replica in aerial view of the space you are planning, but instead of drawing in feet, you draw in a much smaller scale, such as inches.
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Draw the furniture shapes on paper using the measurements you took of the length and width of each piece and cut them out. No need to bother with details, you just need the basic shape. A sofa will probably look like a rectangle, and a chair will be a square. These don't need to be exact so long as you have a close, general idea of how large they will be in the space and in relation with one another in the layout.
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Arrange the shapes on your drawn floor plan until you find a layout that will allow enough space between furnishings and doorways to function. Place the largest pieces of furniture first in a location that will emphasize the focal points you have selected for the space. The smaller pieces will be easier to place around the floor plan after the focal point and large piece have been placed and are easier to move around if you're not satisfied with the way they look the first time.
Try to think outside the box when planning the space and attempt putting furniture where you wouldn't traditionally see it. A sofa works great as a room divider in larger unusual floor plans, for instance.
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Put your floor plan to work in real life. The custom unique home designers from A Point of View explain that just as you are unique, your floor plan should reflect your uniqueness. Once you've begun moving and placing furniture in the actual space, don't be afraid to move things around some more. The important thing to remember is you will be the one spending the most time in your space, so make the unusual floor plan work for you by functioning the way you want it and flowing in a way that makes sense for your life.
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Tips & Warnings
If you're technologically inclined, there are several website that have free space-planning programs. You will still need the measurements of the space and the furniture sizes, but you can rearrange in the virtual world instead of cutting paper.
