How to Fix the Most Common Furniture Layout Mistakes

Even if you like all of the individual pieces of furniture in a room, it's not uncommon to have the nagging feeling that something about the layout just seems off. For those people who pride themselves on their stylish and well-thought-out interior design, this can be a frustrating problem. Of course, as with most things, there are a few simple mistakes that account for the majority of issues with furniture layout in a room. Apartment Therapy recently wrote about these small-but-annoying mistakes and how you can easily fix them to achieve the perfect design in your home.

1. Covering up windows

We'll start with a simple tip that can apply to any room in the house: always avoid having furniture overlap a window. This not only makes the furniture look out of place (after all, you can't move the window), but also reduces the amount of precious natural light that can enter the room. Do everything you can, including buying smaller furniture (more on this later), to help avoid this issue.

2. Rugs that are too small

There's nothing wrong with wanting to add some color and texture to the floor by throwing down a nice rug, but be sure to use one that's the proper size for the space. A small rug floating in the middle of a large space will seem lost and out of place. A good rule of thumb to follow is that the rug should extend far enough for all of the furniture in the immediate area to at least have two of their feet on the rug itself. If you already have small rugs that you love too much to abandon, then consider layering them together to form a larger surface.

3. Placing all furniture against walls

The default arrangement for furniture is often to place it against a wall in order to maximize open floor space. This layout might work well in a garage, but in the living room it often has the unintended consequence of making the space feel empty. In fact, you can create cozier and more intimate areas within a larger room by placing some of the furniture out in open space. The best pieces to use for this purpose are generally sofas, loveseats, and large chairs.

4. An oversized bed

Look, everyone wants to have plenty of room to stretch out in while they sleep, but unfortunately most bedrooms only have so much space to work with. As a result, people tend to stuff oversized beds into undersized bedrooms. When getting a new bed, try to resist the urge to up the size; if you already have a large bed, then consider placing it in a corner to save space. Another option is to replace your nightstands and lamps with shelves and sconces.

To read more about this topic, check out the original article from Apartment Therapy.