The Pack Rat, The Minimalist, and The Living Room.

Feeling a bit tired of bumping into the couch on your way to the kitchen or that large chair which seems to block out all the light? Perhaps you need to start rearranging your living room furniture. If you find yourself in such a situation, there a few basic design ideas that you should consider before you decide to throw out the sofa.

In general, people tend to make two kinds of mistakes when it comes to furnishing their house. The first is the neglect of the space, and the second, which follows from the first, is either using too much of a space, like putting a large sofa set in a small corner, or the opposite of this, using too little space, such as a placing a small table in a large open area.

These habits tend to mirror the kinds of personalities out there, and in general, for each error you can usually find someone responsible. Those who like to fill, fill, fill, are usually the ‘pack rats’ of society, never satisfied with enough, always feeling the need for a bit more. It adds more life to the house, they say. On the other hand there are the ‘minimalists’, the eternal enemy of the pack rat. Whatever the pack rat puts in, the minimalist takes out. In many houses when the two are found together, this can turn into a battle of the survival of the fittest. On the one hand the pack rat sneaks in that extra recliner into the corner, and when the minimalist comes home and sits down with a book, he or she suddenly encounters a strange uneasy feeling of ‘clutter’ and claustrophobia. Looking around, the minimalist singles out the new recliner, then turns vengefully to the pack rat.

Obviously then, the first thing to do when it comes to rearranging your house, especially if this kind of internal turmoil is going on, is to bring those responsible together (you and your spouse!), and to figure out a middle ground of what to keep and what not to. No one will be perfectly satisfied, but then again, that’s what it means to live together.

After that, you need to determine the space. For example, you may have an old leather recliner which just sits opposite the couch, with its back to a nice large window, thereby blocking the light. You need to really ask yourself, “Do I need this?”, and if you do, then ask, “Does it really belong here?” By blocking the window, the chair suddenly destroys the space and the lighting in the room, which is a definite no-no when it comes to design. Start then by looking for such out-of-place pieces that, if moved only slightly or even removed, can make for a happy change.

In rearrangement then, you first look to the space in your house, then try to reconfigure it, either by removing something, moving it, even separating things which can be detached, such as a large sectional sofa. The basic point to keep in mind is that in choosing how to use the space, you are thinking about maintaining harmony and beauty in the house, while yet keeping things functional and lively.