Use what you have

Have you ever walked around your house and looked at your things? Has the thought run through your mind that if you just had the right things, you would then be happy with your space? In my experience, it is not the things that people have but the placement of the things that can make or break a room. Most of my clients have plenty of things but the things are not placed in the room to create visual dynamics. Often, just moving a room around with a fresh perspective will help my clients love their things again. When you start a decorating project, it is always best to start where you are by using what you currently own and then you can add to it. Luckily there is still time to work on furniture placement to get the main body of the home just right before the holidays. Get ready to roll up your sleeves and get to work because you will be excited about proper furniture placement when you see how it can change your space. Let’s peek into the living room of an Ivy model that was refreshed using only what the homeowner had somewhere in the heart of The Villages.

  •  Before moving the furniture around
One rule that we have when moving furniture is that there is no place for the word no. You must be open to trying everything and if you are open, you will have a great result. Also, just because you thought something would work in your mind does not mean that it will work in reality but you should always try it before you reject it. So often, we will discuss and discuss how we think a room will lay out but every time there is something that we change as we do the work. It is the actual moving of the furniture that fosters creativity so if you are going to move your room around and make a difference be open and try everything!

  •  Address the focal point
In the before picture the TV was basically in the same position but the credenza below the TV changed. The size of the large TV would look better on a wider and chunkier looking piece of furniture. The dining room had the perfect piece. We pulled the large dining buffet into the living room, and it was a piece that could work as the TV stand because it was multi- functional. Many buffets can be used as TV stands and they come with vent and cord holes. The new tv stand was perfection!

  •  Former TV credenza
This was interesting because in all our discussions we were slated to get rid of the old TV credenza, but we needed it! Originally, we had discussed placing a Lucite table on the wall opposite the dining room, but when we tried the Lucite table it just fell flat! The Lucite table was too light and under scale for the space and we placed it back behind the sofa in its original home, which was perfect. The former TV credenza ended up on the wall opposite the dining room. The reason the lower credenza worked on the wall opposite the dining room is we were going to hang a very tall piece of art above it. The tall art was on the wall in the dining room opposite the large sliders in the living room. The tall piece of art above the credenza looked amazing in its new home.

  •  Bar / display case opposite the wall in the dining room
The bar/display case was tall and when closed, had beautiful display areas on each side. We liked the size of it and moved it to the foyer as an entry way piece. There was a piece of art that had been hanging in the guest hallway that we moved to the foyer above the bar/display case. The abstract design looked beautiful with two gold lamps we found in a back bedroom.

  •  Large mirror
We hung a large mirror on the back wall of the dining room opposite the sliders. This large mirror used to live in the foyer opposite the bar /display cabinet. Hanging on the wall opposite the sliders in the living room, it really gets noticed! The mirror is now reflecting light back into the space and the shape of the mirror makes a statement that complements all the furniture in the room.

  •  Former large entry way table
In the before picture the entry way had a large table that had no storage or drawers or doors. The table is a large flat top with two side legs and the entire table is abalone shells. We decided that since the table had a ton of negative space (open space) below it that this table would work in the dining room as the buffet. The table looked amazing in the space, and we placed nothing below the table keeping all of the negative space clear and clutter free. The large art that was above the table in the foyer was moved to live above the table in the dining room. The two pieces of art across from each other are very complementary and the large size of the art adds visual drama to the space.

  •  Couch
The room originally had two couches and two coffee tables. The couch that was closest to the dining room felt like a big block to the entrance of the room.
We moved one couch out to the lanai, which we will show at a later date, and we found two chairs in a back bedroom that worked perfectly as a part of the seating arrangement. The chairs opened the room and made it feel light and welcoming. The walk pattern was more natural to the layout of the house. We found a Lucite table in one of the back bedrooms to place between the chairs. The Lucite table visually connected to the Lucite table behind the couch.

  •  Coffee table
We did remove one coffee table that we could not find a home for, but the room was so open without the big block in the center of the room.

  •  Lamps
We placed lamps on the Lucite table, lamps on the credenza across from the dining room, lamps in the foyer, and finally one lamp between the recliners.
I love that we did not buy one thing! The homeowners will be adding some molding treatments, which I love and always recommend but if they did nothing for a while, the house looks so finished and put together using only what they own and they are fresh for the holidays.
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Before and After Pics Below