This post is to provide a start point for putting together your room, and give recommendations on what to consider what you need to put it together.
Firstly, everyone's room is different, and with so many different aspects to consider these recommendations are general thoughts for people who want ideas of how to start.
Alright, let's get started:
When you start your room, clear out your space so that you don't have external influence to "make it work." If you start with a blank slate, you can then start to imagine how you want your room to be set up. Below, are considerations for what you should think about:
Consideration #1
*Seating:
Always imagine how many people you are going to want to host, if any. But even if you don't initially desire to host people, in the future people will be at your house and will likely see or be in your room. We recommend, at a minimum have seating for four (4) people. This way when/if you have only one or two guests over, they don't feel awkward sitting so close together. An "L" shape seating arrangement is a great place to start, but we recommend either a "U" shape or adjacent seating arrangement, which is great for conversation. Now once you decide on the type of seating arrangement you desire, make sure to read through the additional considerations we have before you do your placement, or make an expensive order on furniture.
Consideration #2
*Entertainment:
*** NOTE: when we talk about "Entertainment" throughout the rest of the article it is referencing anything that you guests do or move to outside of your seating arrangement (i.e.: TV, pool table, pin ball, and yes even the bar). Anything you can have a story for that develops a conversation is "entertainment." ***
This is a touchy topic, as many individuals want as much as they can fit into their room as possible. However, from what we have tested for a clean set-up that allows for people to mingle and move around, 1-3 forms of entertainment is all you need. Your biggest constraint is going to be the size of your room. So, we recommend that you start with a center piece. This center piece is your main form of entertainment and is generally the place you and your guest will go first when they enter your room.
For example, if you invite friends over to watch football your center piece is your TV/Screen. So, your seating arrangement should center around the TV/Screen. And any other form of entertainment should be supporting the center piece, but not over taking it.
Now before we have people start saying you can have more than one "center piece", these recommendations are based on the most common room size being around 20x20. For individuals that do have larger rooms to allocate two center pieces are recommended. But we will address this in another blog post.
Consideration #3:
*Lighting:
This is an aspect that is greatly overlooked when creating your room. But addressing your lighting can really bring out a custom feel for your room. Now, we will address various lights to consider, but we will go from very simple additions to additions that will require a professional installation.
Ceiling Lighting: The easiest thing you can change is the light fixture that already exists. The first thing we recommend is getting a fixture that matches your furniture or getting one that fits your desired theme. However, we do not recommend a hanging ceiling light in the center of your room, as guests will likely be walking underneath it. So, we recommend a flush mounted light. Additionally, to customize your mood, we recommend some type of dimming feature for your room which can create various moods for your room. The dimming feature doesn't have to be installed with the light switch; a dimming feature can be as easy as getting the Wi-Fi enabled bulbs that you can control through your phone.
Lamps: Placing a lamp or two in your room may sound easy but placing them in the wrong place can make your room look like you just threw it together. With that in mind, we have three recommendations for lamp placements: End Tables, place small lamps on your end tables can provide a more full feeling to your room; Corner of the Couch, tall lamps at the corner of your couch are a great touch, but only if your couches are against the wall; Behind your Center Piece, not a typical lamp but some kind of light source behind/under your center piece can create a dramatic effect to your room.
Wall Mounted Lights: These lights can create a huge custom feel to your room, but also require the most work. Additionally, we want to highlight that these fixtures will make it difficult to re-arrange your room in the future (if you so desire to do in the future). There are different places you can place wall mounted lights, and much of that depends on what style you install. However, simple wall mounted lights on three sides of the room, excluding the wall with your center piece can create a dramatic effect. NOTE: with these additions we recommend that you have them professionally installed by a certified individual.
Conclusion:
We know there are a ton of other cheap affordable options that you could do to bring additional depth to your room. However, we wanted to provide this article to give those starting, or rebuilding their room some simple considerations that can drastically change the way your room is set-up.
