Do you have a room in your home that you have purchased the furniture one piece at a time and had (or are having) difficulty trying to find just the right size / color “something” because it needs to be exact? I used to do that too, and it would make me crazy having to find that one. very. specific. item. I would search and search and search and maybe find exactly what I needed, or I would settle for something that I didn’t love but filled the space I needed filled. However, once I learned how to pull together the entire room at once, my problems were solved. (Cue angels singing!)

When you have the entire room space planned, furniture selected, color palette confirmed and patterns chosen, and you make a single change…it can sometimes translate into a domino effect. This happened recently with one of our clients. Of course, we allow revisions to our designs, and in this instance our client asked to change the side tables – they reminded her too much of something another family member had. You can see them below.

Initial Living Room Selections

All of our selections are cross referenced and inserted into our software that creates a space plan. Below is the “pretty” version that we share with our clients. In the software, you can click anywhere and drag the mouse to where you want the measurement between, and we have the dimensions of the furniture we are selecting. There are standard space requirements that make a space comfortable that we work into all of our designs. You can see below that the suggested side tables were sitting just off of the area rug in this family’s living room floor plan. They were 12″ x 12″.

Initial Living Room Floor Plan

We had intentionally selected the color of wood of the original side tables to coordinate with some other furnishings in the room and in the dining area behind it (not shown). When the revision was requested, we had to hunt for replacements in a similar tone that also coordinated with the style of the overall design.

Replacement Side Table

We were excited to find something within our budget that would work. However, the replacement side tables were 24″ x 24″ and would end up with their front legs on the area rug and the back legs on the wood floor. This is okay with large furniture, such as the sofa and chairs, but it is awkward with the smaller accent pieces. Plus, it’s almost impossible to balance the back legs with the front, even with furniture pads – potentially leaving items to slide off of the top. Not a good idea if you like a glass of wine as you are sitting on the couch watching television. So, what to do?

We were definitely glad we could make the proper adjustment before any of the furniture was purchased because we now needed a larger area rug to accommodate the larger side tables. The domino effect, right? But this is definitely a great reason to design and decorate your entire room at one time. In this case, if our client had opted to decorate her room little by little, and possibly had the rug before the side tables,  she would have to hunt for side tables that were the right color AND the right size. In this case, we simply got the side tables she loves and the rug that she loves – in the right size. Leaving the room feeling finished, well put together and very very comfortable.

Do you have a house that needs to be designed so it is cohesive from one room to the next, each room finished and reflecting your style? And even better, the design and layout makes you more efficient in your day to day? We can help. Call today to find out. 972-248-4733