COLUMN: Gail Mayhugh

DEAR GAIL: We will be moving to a new, smaller house soon, so we need to decide what to take with us and what not to take. I would like to inventory my furniture by piece and by size in order to place it. Is there some sort of furniture-placing guide available? Thanks for your help. -- J. Martins

DEAR J: You are doing the smart thing. Before deciding which furniture to take and where it will be placed before moving in will save you much time and aggravation. It is much easier to move around a furniture template than the furniture itself.

I do not know of any furniture-placing guide per se, but you could start with a one-quarter-inch scale drawing of your home. Your builder may be able to provide one for you or allow you to buy a copy of the blueprint. If not, you can simply draw one yourself.

You'll need a pencil, four-squares-per-inch drafting paper, a ruler and tape measure. On the drafting paper, each box will measure one-quarter inch on your ruler and be equal to one foot.

Start by measuring and then drawing each room, marking off the correct number of squares on your grid. Remember, each box of the grid equals one foot, so six inches will be half a square and three inches will be a fourth of a square.

Since you are doing this for general placement purposes, do not try to mark anything more precisely than three or six inches. If you were going to use this for any type of built-in or a furniture piece that was going to fit in a space exactly wall to wall, then precise measurements would be necessary.

The next step is to mark all your architectural elements such as windows, doorways, door swings, fireplaces, outlets, pot shelves and switches.

With your floor plan drawn, make templates of your furniture by drawing them to one-quarter-inch scale on drafting paper. You can also purchase plastic furniture templates at most office supply stores so you can trace the furniture pieces onto your plan, or get furniture stickers over the Internet -- sort of like Colorforms.

Place the cutouts on the floor plan in the following order: largest pieces, tables, chairs, lamps and accessories.

Remember to leave adequate room for traffic flow. These areas need to be kept clear of furniture to allow easy access to each room and around furniture. Major lanes need three to six feet of clearance and minor lanes need one to three feet of clearance. Minor lanes would be the areas in or out of a furniture grouping, such as a sofa and coffee table.

Some tips on placement are:

Conversation areas should be no longer than eight feet across.

Have the largest piece of furniture face or address your focal point.

Try not to face sofas toward each other as it can make for uncomfortable conversation. It is better to place upholstered pieces in an "L" shape and then balance the weight by placing a chair at a 90-degree angle across from the corner of the "L."

When you place lighting, it should be on a diagonal pattern, with a triangle working best. This ensures that your room is properly lit and that there are no dark seating areas. Make sure all of your seating has proper lighting and adequate table space.

Watch and follow the architectural angles created by your walls, fireplaces, counter tops and flooring. Work with them by placing your furniture at the same angles, or at 90 degrees instead of adding different angles. Also, try not to place all of your furniture against the walls. Bring pieces out into the room to create a more comfortable environment.

Leave a minimum of three feet around a nook or dining table so you have enough room behind each chair to pull it out and sit down. Also, if you will walk behind the chairs when serving meals, at least three feet is needed from where your guests are sitting.

A 48-inch round table for four requires a minimum of 100 square feet of space; a 72-inch table for six needs 144 square feet; and a 96-inch table for eight needs 196 square feet.

In your home office, you need a minimum of three feet behind your desk for your chair and around your desk for walking.

These are just some basic furniture placement guidelines. The most important consideration is to make your home functional and comfortable for you. What is clutter for one homeowner may seem sparse for another.

Gail Mayhugh, owner of GMJ Interiors, is a professional interior designer and author of a book on the subject. Questions may be sent by e-mail to: gail@gmjinteriors.com. Or, mail to: 8170 S. Eastern Ave., Box 4-275, Las Vegas, NV 89123. Her Web address is: www.GMJinteriors.com.

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