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When Furniture Doesn't Fit Changing homes can make it a challenge to place your belongings “I can’t figure out what to do in my living room. I need your help!” whined my frustrated client who recently had purchased and moved into her parents’ home. She had grown up in the rambling ranch house and was happy to return to her childhood home. Unfortunately, the furniture she had accumulated didn’t fit well into her “new” home and she was struggling with placing it. Her living room was large and long, and an archway separated it from the dining room, increasing its apparent length and making furniture placement difficult. She had tried to arrange all her furniture in one large conversation area, but it blocked the fireplace and passage to the dining room area. Our challenge was to transform a large furniture grouping into cozy zones and to arrange her accessories to create cohesion and express her personality. 
Before • All the furniture was positioned around a large glass coffee table, creating what I like to call the “Bible-study look” – great for a meeting but not for intimate conversation. The coffee table was placed just far enough out into the middle of the room so that you would have to get up out of your chair to perch your coffee cup on it. We needed to break up the furniture into two smaller groupings rather than one large one. • The large, empty entertainment center awaited “dressing.” After 
• The living room was bisected by a traffic pattern that extended from the front hall, on the right, to patio doors, on the left. It made sense to create groupings on either side of the traffic flow. We moved the armless chairs in front of the entertainment center and added a small end table. We positioned two ottomans to the right of the chairs along the wall, which could be brought into the room as needed. The other seating area is out of view. In that zone we put two rattan chairs, flanking the fireplace, with the couch across from them. The glass coffee table now sits in front of the couch. We now had two stand-alone conversation areas that made sense. • The homeowner had unwrapped her accessories and put them on the dining room table so we could “shop” for what would work the entertainment center. We found art pieces and cherished gifts that reflected the room’s colors and style. We left openings for her stereo equipment. My client felt more at home after we defined two seating areas and put her treasures on display.
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Kit Davey, an interior designer based in Redwood City, Calif., helps clients redecorate their homes through the creative use of their existing furnishings. E-mail Kit your questions: 
