I recently read an article detailing one way one woman got into the feeling of the new spring season. She did a thorough, deep cleaning of her living room and completely moved the furniture into a new arrangement.
I used to do that. I say "used to" because that's been an impossibility in the twenty-some years we've lived in our present house.
You see, although our living room measures 16' x 16' square (not a tiny room), it has a staircase, five doors and a wood stove in it. Plus, two main walkways that must be kept open. I know; a furniture arrangers nightmare. There's one and only one way to arrange our living room furniture that works.
I still think of when, in my previous life, each time I felt the need to move the big pieces of furniture to vacuum or clean underneath them, I would put the room back together with a different arrangement. It always seemed as though the room had had a makeover and was somehow new and revitalized.
Do any of you periodically change the looks of the interior of your homes by rearranging furniture?
28 comments:
This is an interesting post. I'm curious what people have to say. We live in an old farm house with long windows and a ridiculous amount of doors / doorways. In the kitchen alone there are (interior and exterior) five doors and four windows. We are limited as to where furniture can go in many of our rooms. However, when I was young, I would drag my bedroom furniture around on a pretty regular basis. -Jenn
Jenn - Sounds as though you have some of the same problems I do . . . all those doors/doorways! Gotta say I've always had a soft spot for those old farm houses, though. So much character compared to the new cookie cutter houses. You've reminded me that when I was growing up, I had a bedroom with three walls where I could put my bed and I did rearrange that room quite a bit. On the downside, it had no closet(!) so all my hanging clothes had to go on a chrome hanging rack on wheels. Gosh, I hadn't thought of that in a long time!
I used to do that, but now. Like you, there is only one way to organize our main room, or really any of the rooms, that works. I'm OK with that. I move everything about once a month when I do a deep clean. It was so liberating to get rid of all the excess furniture and stuff when we moved to these smaller quarters. Keeping on top of cleaning is really a breeze here, despite the wood stove dust. (except during gardening season!)
Rosalea - So very interesting! You know, there are many popular books about down-sizing and living a more minimalistic lifestyle. I think you're living proof that is a good thing!
My living room has seven windows and three doors. Sometimes I think my house just 'growed like Topsy'; it sure doesn't seem like a logical building. (We won't even talk about location and number of power outlets.)
I used to rearrange, now I'm too comfortable to bother.
Nope, I've never been a furniture re-arranger. IMO there is usually only one way that the furniture fits best, so it stays there. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I like my 'ruts'! 😉
Growing up I cleaned our house every weekend. The living room lead into the dining area and had one long wall, one short with door and only windows were along the front wall and in the dining area. Usually once/month I'd rearrange (full couch, three piece set,a recliner and rocker, tv, and a number of end tables)- until I was informed "Dad" didn't appreciate my changes. Now, much smaller room has three windows, four doors thus much less furniture and layout hasn't changed in 25 years. Dee
We re-arrange furniture every 2-3 years. The dust behind at that time seems to be creeping out from the backsides, no matter how close you get the vacuum to it. If we move it, it only makes sense to re-arrange to hopefully be able to get the dust bunnies in the back easier. Never IS easier though.
tpals - There's a lot to be said for comfort and staying with what is! Once again, I have to say "old" houses like yours are much more interesting!
Michelle - "Ruts" can be very comfortable! Nuthin' wrong with that. In my life, it's when the ruts get so deep I feel like I'm being buried that I know it's time for change! ;o)
Dee - Hee-hee, in the past my hubby never seemed to "not appreciate" my new arrangements, but there certainly was a time or two when he'd come home and just stand there with a bewildered look on his face. I find it so interesting to read that many of you don't change your layouts from year to year. We're all different, aren't we?
DFW - We had to pull the couch out from the wall recently and I was truly amazed to see the dust and dirt on the wood floor behind and under it. I mean it was bad! So, see? That never would have happened if I had the chance to do some periodic rearranging! :o)
I have the same problem with my living room - stairway, door, wood stove and wide kitchen entrance. I have a worse problem with our bedroom. They put the closet door directly in the center of one wall, and we have a pellet stove. We have talked about ripping out the closet door and moving it when we put in new flooring.
I can't rearrange my furniture in this house either. My mother can and used to do so every year or so. Usually when we were deciding where to put the Christmas tree.
I do change the interior of my house though. I change around my moveable decor seasonally but my rearranging generally involves decluttering and storing things away or making a donate/sale pile.
I've had drapes for the dining room purchased and stored for two years now because it requires hemming and moving occasional tables and I just haven't been properly motivated.
Our old farmhouse is cozy, and adorable, and...only has one way to set things up. The fireplace, and the furnace/air conditioner vent, and the stairwell, 2 windows, and three doorways make for easy arranging, and never moving except for spring cleaning and fall cleaning. Suits us pretty good! I grew up in a family of 12 children, and the moving of furniture and deep cleaning was a monthly chore, so guess I got that moving stuff out of my system early...haha!
The few times we've moved, I'd shift things around until an arrangement that worked the best was found. Then the only time things get moved is to clean under and behind, putting things back where they were after. I even got our small sofa recovered instead of getting a new one just so I would not have to figure out a new setup. Being extremely near sighted, keeping things the same prevents middle of the night don't want to turn on lights or put on my glasses excursions far safer.
Nope! When you live with a blind person, that is not a good practice. And thankfully I don’t feel the need to do that. As long as it is clean and picked up, I feel the space is like new again..
We have a built-in pit area in our living room, with built-in couches/benches around the fireplace, and a built-in, large bookshelf. Then there's a large opening to the kitchen, 4 interior doors and 2 exterior 6' sliding glass doors. So definitely limited when it comes to rearranging. However, the room is 14x24 so there are some possibilities, but usually these are getting different furniture, LOL. We recently got rid of a loveseat and replaced it with two chairs. I also changed out a small table for a stack of vintage suitcases, and we changed a coat tree for a bench with storage for hats. So there are ways to do it, but being a vintage/antique dealer offers us opportunity to do these changes without much trouble. As for moving heavy furniture, it's my daily life in the business we're in--just not my own stuff.
Not too much. With the entrance coming into our living room, for instance, we have a good layout. We do pull everything out and vacuum/dust under the furniture (asthma /allergies) during the year. I do move our art around though, I like to freshen things up with that!
Can you post photos of your living room?
Kristina - Don't you have to wonder what the habitants of the house before you were thinking when they either built or remodeled? Although it would take time and effort, it probably would be the time to move that closet door when you do the flooring in your bedroom. Once it was done, you'd never regret doing it.
SmartAlex - Oh, I know just what you mean about those drapes of yours waiting to be hemmed and hung. We've talked about rearranging our bedroom for so long but always found an excuse for not doing it. Well, a couple of weeks ago, my daughter took me by the arm and hauled me in there saying we were gonna do it. It wasn't as hard to get an acceptable arrangement as I thought it might be and now I really, really like it. Why do we drag our feet on tasks like that? Now go get those drapes and get on with it. You'll love the new look they give to your dining room!
wyomingheart - I say if you and your hubby are happy with the arrangement, why would you change it? Familiarity makes for coziness!
JustGail - I definitely see the wisdom of keeping furniture in a dedicated spot for safety reasons, if nothing else! Because our living room "living area" is so small we still have to be careful of stubbing toes!
Retired Knitter - You have very specific reasons for not rearranging furniture! I know what you mean about a room looking refreshed and almost new when it's clean and uncluttered. That's an important goal!
Granny Sue - I can see the pluses and minuses to your situation! But it sounds like you know how to look on the positive side and make the very best of it. I can just imagine that after hauling furniture and such pieces around in your business, you have no desire to go home and do the same!
Nancy - I know you decorate seasonally as I do and I think that always gives a different feel and look to the whole house. I can take and post pictures of our living room . . . if it won't bore everyone. (Although I always like to see the inside of houses. How 'bout you do the same?)
I use to all the time. My husband never knew what the house would look like when he came home from work! Use to be a cleaning freak , but no more. As we all know as we get older just can't do it anymore. At least I can still keep my home clean! That was a good blog!!
linnellnickerson - Yay, someone who used to move furniture around all the time! I've never been a cleaning freak, but rather do "surface cleaning" most every day. But if anyone did the white glove test in my house . . . well, they'd have to wash their gloves! ;o)
Sorry I’m late to the party but I was moving my couch LOL
Just joking no I will never move furniture around a lot . I moved goats around and pay somebody else can to do the furniture. I unlike you Mama Pea very small living room it has windows on all walls it has a doorway to the back porch that opens into it . The same area also opens into the larger kitchen and dining area.
I also have a wood stove and that sits on a tiled area that you cannot put furniture on and because it will be uneven.
But I am however in the mist of adding new to me furniture and letting most of the old furniture that was left here for me go to other needy homes. I am keeping one chair that reclines it will go upstairs in the fiber room. I am getting a new sofa or I may be getting two loveseats that can seat two comfortably and three in a pinch because I can break it up that way but I have to think about that a lot. I am having a chair my mother-in-law‘s that I dearly love reupholstered and it will be part of the living room. I also am keeping my in-laws coffee table from the mid 60s my grand daughter tells me I’ll be spot on in with the in crowd because apparently mid 60s is making a come back. I’m so sorry to hear that. This table is lovely. So by the time I get the chair the sofa and or loveseats the coffee table all in there I’m pretty much done. So when we have large family gatherings with both my daughter and her crew and my son and his we will bring in extra chairs from the shop or from out in the yard and throw TV trays in front of people and it’ll work.
I just so y’all know I don’t move furniture to vacuum ssssh!😉
Goatldi - I think operating on the assumption that if we can't see it, it ain't there! Or why disturb a good dust bunny farm if no one will know if it's gone or not. :o)
The one and only end table in our living room (no room for more) is from my mom and dad's 1960s maple living room set. Does that mean my decorating is "in" or just uncoordinated?
Mama Pea.
When we moved into the log home on Ash Creek which was a newer and more of a ranch style home and had a lot more drywall in it than my cabin will ever have I looked around one day and went wow!
It struck me then that every piece of early matrimony furniture we had acquired seemed to be destined for that log house.
Due to size constraints some of it stayed on Ash Creek and some my kiddos have . But all I brought that I kept works well with my real log cabin.
The only piece that I had to leave that broke my heart was my Murphy bed if y’all remember that one from after my daddy died and I had some inheritance from him that was one of the things I bought. But due to the potential damage it could do to the drywall in the room it was in taking it down that would mean having to redo that whole wall before the sale. And due to the fact that because the bedroom I picked out for mine is downstairs and the ceilings are slow because we have a two-story log home it would never have accommodated the Murphy bed.
ugh, I feel your pain. We can only have the couch in front of the window. And the tv cabinet can only go in front of the stairs. I don't like.....
Goatldi - A Murphy bed?!! I've never known anyone who actually had a Murphy bed! How cool, but sad there was no practical way for you to keep and move it. :o(
Karen - I'm truly surprised at how many of you dear readers don't have the opportunity (because of space) to have more than one room arrangement. Makes me appreciative of the years when I could rearrange furniture to my heart's content and get that out of my system!
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