Laying out the summer sitting room

Laying out the Summer Sitting Room

For this lesson, we are moving into the summer sitting room. Interestingly, unlike the winter sitting room this layout only needed tweaking and refining rather than designing again from scratch.

Refining and Improving an Existing Layout

• Assess what is used, what isn't and why. In this case, the existing drinks trolley was too small as well as being situated in a relatively inaccessible corner. Instead we moved the set up to a larger sideboard which offered more space to make a drink. A layout is all about being practical! It's no use if something looks lovely but isn't usable.

• Observe which seating people gravitate towards, and see how it can be made more comfortable. If a chair is often used for reading, you may want to add in a really good floor lamp.

• There is no getting away from a television in a sitting room; rather than try to hide or conceal it I prefer to situate it within a bookshelf and surround it with books or decorative ornaments.

• Adding a writing table into a room immediately encourages people into the room during the day, as it's a space to catch up on work or emails.

• The habits and lifestyles of the people who use a room tend to evolve and change over time, and so the design of the room should evolve too.

• Making sure a room is built properly in the first instance means that when you come to revisit it years later, the bones are still correct and it only needs small refinements and adjustments.

Your Assignment

Using the example of a room where you think the layout works, try this exercise of refining and improving to enhance how people use the space.