Whether you’re just moving in or deciding to redecorate, where to place your furniture can seem like a daunting task. Not only are you worried if the pieces you love will look great in the space, but also how to create a functional layout that will make your family and friends comfortable.

By doing a quick scan of decorating best-practices and taking into account how you want to communicate in each space in your home, you can find the furniture configuration that will make you, and your guests, feel right at home.

Design Tips

While each room in each home will require slightly different furniture layouts, there are a few guidelines to follow to ensure your room flows and is easy to navigate – no one likes needing to crawl over the knees of a stranger to get up to use the restroom.

• Leave open space around furniture in walkways to allow for easy movement
• Situate chairs no more than 9 feet apart in conversation areas – too much more space will require people to raise their voices
• Rooms are all about balance – be sure your furniture flows together vs floating by themselves (that means no chairs alone in the corner!)
• Don’t feel like all your furniture must be along a wall- pulling it into a living space will create a homier feel

Décor Decisions

Now that you have some key planning ideas to keep in mind, figuring out how you’ll interact with guests in each room of your home will be key to determining what furniture you’ll want and how to arrange it all. Read on for some examples, as well as conversation starters you can use to get the discussion started!

1). Entertaining multiple guests in the kitchen

Plan on hosting dinner parties often? Make your kitchen an entertainment destination by orienting barstools to focus on the main cooking area. That way you can finish cooking up your signature recipes, all while starting a conversation with your guests and encouraging them to engage with each other.

Conversation starter for this room: If you could travel to one country you’ve never visited to try the local fare, where would it be? (Tweet this conversation starter!)

2). Dining with a group

While serving your entire dinner at your kitchen bar is completely acceptable when amongst close friends, when entertaining a group that isn’t all that familiar with each other, a circular arrangement is more comfortable for guests. By having everyone sit at circular table with no assigned seating, guests will all feel on par with each other. (Tweet this seating tip!)