furniture placement - The Inspired Room

While we talked earlier this week about creating ambience through adding affordable architectural detail, did you know you can also create an inviting environment simply by the way you arrange your furniture? That means you don’t have to spend a dime.

Emily of Remodeling this Life contacted me awhile back and said she felt like her living room was ready for a new look. She is a busy mom with two little kids and has done a fabulous job at remodeling her home. We decided to take the quick makeover approach (this was just for a fun, mind you, not an official consultation) for her living room to jump start her project. By re-arranging some of her furniture, she could create an inviting room in a matter of minutes.

Here is the living room before.

The first thing we decided to do is to have her move the furniture away from the walls and bring it closer to the middle of the room. Emily pulled up a chair to create a more natural conversation area, gathering all the furniture around her coffee table. This new arrangement allowed for better traffic flow through the room, a much cozier conversation area as well as made it more practical for family movie nights as you can now watch the TV without injuring your neck!

Emily also brought in a couple of lamps to make the mood more inviting. She has more to work on but this gave her a great start.

Cost for this makeover? FREE.

Here are the after shots (after moving some of the furniture, that is.)

In addition to rearranging her furniture, she painted her coffee table and end table a nice chocolately brown as a weekend project!I It pulled together her room and freshened up the old tables. I love how cozy her furniture arrangement is — it just makes you want to sit down and have a chat!

So, go right now and look at your living room or family room to see if you have a comfortable conversation area!

Is your furniture so spread out that you have to shout to carry on a conversation?
Is there a comfortable chair near your sofa for a guest to sit?
Do people have to walk through your conversation area to get to another room?
Do you have a coffee table and/or end tables near your seating to set down a drink?
Do you have enough lamps in the room to be able to read as well as avoid using harsh overhead lighting?

If your room needs a quick makeover, a better furniture arrangement can transform a room and how you live in it!

What have you been doing lately to create a more beautiful home?

Nesting Place is hosting 10 minute makeover Mr. Linky at her place tomorrow, feel free to check out all the great ideas from readers!

And, don’t forget, every Friday here at The Inspired Room you can link up your weekly post on how you are creating a beautiful life! Whether you rearrange the accessories on your coffee table, hang up those prints that have been sitting on your floor since you moved in, or bought yourself a bouquet of flowers to put yourself in the mood for spring, or celebrated Valentine’s Day with your hubby, it is all a part of motivating ourselves to dwell on what we CAN do in life, by creating beauty with what we have!

I hope you’ll join in on Fridays to make something beautiful a part of every week.