A drawing room furniture layout

A Drawing Room Furniture Layout

In this lesson, I'll be taking you through how I set about planning the layout of a room and how this informs my decisions on the type of furniture to use.

My Top Tips for Planning a Room

• When planning any room, always start with a floor plan. It's incredibly important to make sure you are working to scale and you are inputting actual measurements so that your drawings translate into reality.

• Think about the use(s) of a room and what you will need for it to function properly.

• Working out seating arrangements that are comfortable is key. As well as having enough space to sit, you should also account for side tables and lighting near to each seat.

• Consider the access points to a room, as these will dictate where you will be able to place furniture – you should be able to easily enter a room without having to navigate awkwardly placed chairs or tables.

• When beginning to choose colours, think about adjoining rooms and how the palette might work in harmony with these other spaces. Decide how you want to feel in the room and what colours might inspire this mood.

• Plan your lighting from the outset; each area of the room should be sufficiently lit in a way that is appropriate for the way that it is used. I would always recommend factoring wall light points into your scheme. They are incredibly useful to have, either as picture lights or general mood lighting; if later you find you don't need them, they can always be covered up by an artwork.

• At the early stages of planning any room, it's well worth marking where you will require plug sockets so that they are positioned practically and discreetly.

Your Assignment

Get hold of a floor plan of a room you are planning to redesign and have a go at sketching a few different options, taking all of the points discussed in this lesson into account.