Changing the layout of a room

Just a quick post today because I am up to my eyeballs in paint! Last week I showed you the last home tour of my flat before I make major changes in the living room and kitchen. When it was photographed it was in that weird in-between stage of feeling a bit bare and naked, ready for painting and new furniture (and yes, shock horror, it is not going to remain white!!!). Stripping back has made me realise how easy it is to forget that just because your furniture is laid out a certain way does not mean it has stay in that position forever. Even the smallest change to the layout of furniture can change the whole feel of a room and costs you nothing! In fact, I had a moment last weekend when I had just made a couple of changes to my living room layout after selling a couple of pieces and I thought “why on earth am I spending hundreds of pounds to re-do this room when a couple of layout changes makes it feel like a new space?!”. So, I suppose today’s post is a small reminder that it is possible to change things up for nothing.

We have sold the sideboard that you can see in the picture below to create more space, which already makes the room feel different, and then suddenly it came to me that the position of our dining table wasn’t working. For almost six years that dining table has sat in that position and it has never felt quite right when we sit down to eat but it wasn’t until I stood back and looked at it with new eyes, once the sideboard had gone, that I figured out the problem. I usually sit at one end (in the chair nearest us in the pic below) and Jules sits in the chair facing the mirror as it is a rectangular table so sitting at either ends feels too far apart. Therefore, we are not directly looking at each other and it feels a bit odd so we never really linger at the table, immediately opting to sit on the sofa after dinner. I very quickly pulled the table round so that we could sit opposite each other and that evening we sat and talked and lingered. It was wondrous! I woke up the next day and walked into the living room and the new table layout made it feel like a brand new space.

So, why not take another look at one of your rooms and see whether a very small change could reinvigorate the whole room without spending a penny. Think about whether furniture is blocking out light, functions as well as it should do, ask someone else’s opinion – a set of fresh eyes always helps – and experiment.

Katy x