Everything in place Arrangement makes the room

January 20, 2002
Section: LFS
Page: L-06
   Elana Ashanti Jefferson Denver Post Staff Writer
Caption: PHOTOS: The DEnver Post/Brian Brainerd Left, by angling the sofas in a "V' away from the fireplace, the living room is opened up. Below left, before the one-day makeover, the couches faced the fireplace, located to the right of the photo.

Creating warmth and harmony through furniture placement can sometimes feel like putting a puzzle together without all the pieces.

Jennifer Horn knows the feeling. A year ago, Horn and her fiance settled into a single-level, ranch-style house near the old Lowry Air Force Base. With hardwood floors, a stone fireplace and two walls of floor-to-ceiling windows, the living room quickly became the most lived-in area of Horn's new house. The room's inviting features, however, created a conundrum when it came to hanging pictures and arranging furniture. That's where interior designer Cecily Tinder came in.

Tinder is part of a new wave in the decorating business. She's one of a handful of Denver-area designers who specialize in one-day, single-room makeovers. Also called "interior redesign" or "interior arranging," this kind of decorating sidesteps the traditional design process, which can entail months of negotiating paint, fabric and furniture purchases along with hammering out contracts and deadlines with contractors. Instead, for $200 to $2,000, depending on the size of the space, one-day designers enliven a room using only the furniture and accessories already in the home. Their techniques are helpful to anyone challenged by furniture arrangement.

The quandary at Horn's house was created by the two walls of windows. She didn't want to block the view by putting furniture in front of them. The arrangement she arrived at consisted of two couches placed perpendicularly in front of the fireplace. An Oriental rug, a coffee table and an end table pulled this seating area together. The coffee table inhabited its usual place in the center of the rug and couches.

"We've always struggled with what to do with this room," Horn said. "We just didn't want the focal point to be the television."

Horn placed her upright piano in one corner of the living room. An entertainment center that's roughly 6 feet long and 5 feet high stood in another corner. She stashed the television in a third corner, just to the left of the fireplace.

The designer's first task entailed interviewing Horn about all the ways she uses the L-shaped living room. How often does she light a fire in the fireplace? How often does she play the piano? What plans for the house might impact the living room?

"I'm going to take everything off the walls and remove all the accessories," Tinder explained. "I'll move around the major pieces of furniture and situate things in a new way. I'd also like to go into other rooms of the house and maybe switch things out."

Tinder returned for the living-room makeover a few days later. She pulled the piano out of the corner and backed it up to one side of the fireplace hearth - a more central place in the living room.

"The piano is closer to the dining room now," she said. "My purpose for putting it there is you can sit and play, and still see the people seated in the living room."

Tinder moved the entertainment center to the corner where the piano was. That spot offered a better perspective from the two sofas, which Tinder angled away from the fireplace in a "V" shape. The new arrangement enabled people seated on the couches to watch television, a fire or the world outside the two walls of windows. The coffee table and end table moved to the open end of the "V," utilizing what was "dead space" in the old living room.

"I definitely wanted to put the couches at an angle," Tinder said. "It allows for that opposition, but opened the room up more."

Tinder also changed the direction of the rug, which she placed opposite of the length of the room. She put plants, candles and pictures along the fireplace hearth.

This new arrangement freed up one corner of Horn's living room. Tinder pulled a lounge chair out of one of the bedrooms and placed it there with a collection of plants. She's fond of creating vignettes like this for reading or visiting.

"The plants and the chair really fill in that corner nicely," Tinder said. "It's inviting, and being so close to the windows, it also draws your eyes outside."

Tips for furniture placement:

When planning a new arrangement, remove everything from the walls to prevent artwork or accessories from becoming the focal point of the room.

Consider angling furniture instead setting it parallel or perpendicular to a wall.
Create vignettes for reading or visiting.

Use a variety of heights when arranging accessories like such as plants and pictures.
Mix furniture from different rooms of the house.

Hide stereo or television wires under rugs or behind plants and furniture.
Making arrangements

Denver-area designers specializing in interior arrangement include:

Cecily Tinder, 720-979-7615;
www.cecilytinderdesign.com

Monica Durante, 303-670-0243;
www.monicadurante.com

Left Bank Designs, Nancy Barker and Debbie Reeves, 303-238-6697; www.weredesign.com

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