Have you ever had a space that didn’t feel exactly “right” to you? A room that you walked into but kind of wanted to walk right out of? It very well could be the arrangement of your furniture – Something that I learned recently when dealing with my studio. For the most part, I only went in there to work out or grab a supply from the closet. It wasn’t much of a “come and relax!” room.
So a couple of days ago, I decided to take a few minutes to rearrange it. Rearranging furniture is my go-to solution for any room that doesn’t feel perfect – When I finished and took a step back from my “new” space, I instantly knew what the issue had been all along:
Balance.
Allow me to (try to) explain. This is what the studio looked like before its quick makeover – The drafting table was between the windows and was the first thing you saw when you walked into the room. Next to it on the same plane of view was the big paper shelving unit.
(Try to ignore the fallen curtains…Two pesky felines pulled them down during a wrestling match that got out of control between them. John fixed it halfway through the photos below, so we’ll just pretend they are perfect and that this image never happened…)
Flip around and look to the left and you’ll see the desk under the shelving unit John hung for me and also the ugly-but-necessary elliptical machine.
Now that I think about it, I might have forgotten to show you the desk in place since I moved in! The whole “Move is DONE” post never actually came to fruition…Mostly because I was so over moving that I couldn’t stomach the idea of chatting about it. And also because it was so progressive that there weren’t many “updates” to show. But the desk being in place was definitely an update of sorts, so I apologize if I left anyone hanging. Here it is though!
But before you get TOO excited about its placement, I must tell you that it has since shifted to the opposite wall (thus the point of this post).
It’s hard to tell from the photos but it suddenly dawned on me why I felt this inexplicable need to shift things around in the room – The balance was COMPLETELY off.
If you look back a few photos, you may be able to see how the two bulkiest pieces were along the same wall. By switching the desk and drafting table, we were able to displace all of that visual weight into a more diagonal line. Now you walk into the room and focus on the thin desk with its patterned chair (details of which are below) instead of the meaty table and shelving unit together – It all feels much more airy. Plus, the extra color and pattern in the desk chair give it a little more style that the plain bar stool simply didn’t have.
See how the heaviness is all diagonal to one another from the angle below? I know it’s hard to tell from the photos, but I promise it feels much better now in person.
The “pretty” corner of the room…
This is where all of the DreamGreenDIY blogging magic happens!
Still so in love with the fabric on this chair 🙂
I had to remove one of the shelves from the wall unit because of the drafting table’s top – Its angle is actually adjustable so that, if I had left all three shelves up on the wall, the table top would have banged into it. Here it is down flat:
And here it is pulled up for easier drawing capabilities:
Oh and did you notice our HUGE empty wall? It’s just sccrrreeaammmmiing for some love. I am waiting for our trip to Ikea (which we keep putting off in fear of highway traffic near the store) to pick up a couple arm-loads of white frames. Stay tuned!
One last look at the sweet, light side of the room before we go…
Again, I know it’s hard to see in the photos, but balance is truly one of the best ways to make a room feel finished. I am constantly rearranging furniture until I get the right feeling from it. Apartment Therapy taught me all about flow in a room – Balance is one of the many great consequences of a well “flowed” room.
I dare you to play around with the placement of furniture in a room you feel isn’t quite perfect. If you walk into a room and don’t feel like sitting down and relaxing, something probably isn’t right. Try sitting somewhere in your house that you’ve never sat before – Don’t bring a book or cell phone or anything, just sit quietly and take it all in. In about a minute or two, this entirely new prospective on the space could reveal a few possible changes that could make things jjjuuuusssstt right.
Have a great weekend 🙂
(Photo credit for “Good Flow”/”Bad Flow”: here – Pretty good information there too if you feel like clicking over!)
