One secret of getting a homelike quality in the arrangement of furniture is to assemble it in small groups or units which suggest specific uses, as for instance a reading group, a writing or business nook, a rest corner, or a music section.
GET A CENTER OF INTEREST FIRST
If you are arranging furniture in the living room, decide on a central interest. Often this is called a built-up composition—table, be grouped. A fireplace with its cheerful fire-glow may well be a natural center of interest. (See fig. 31.) A window or group of windows opening upon a lovely vista may serve equally well. If the family is musical, the grand piano may be so placed as to become the pivotal point of interest.
Secondary centers of interest naturally are created once the fireplace, a window, or the grand piano is assigned to the major role. There may well be more than one of these secondary centers, i. e., a writing corner, and a reading group.
Objects of central interest.—Every wall should have an object of central interest. Often this is called a built-up composition—table, desk, cabinet, or couch standing against the wall—with, in each case, a picture, mirror, hanging bookcase, or tapestry above. The focal point may be a single tall piece of furniture such as a secretary or highboy. The pictures, mirrors, or tapestry hangings tend to build up a kind of "skyline" and the furniture is united with these wall decorations to create the necessary feeling of orderly stability which proper balance and color harmony can give.
BALANCE AND COLOR HARMONY
An effect of balance in the arrangement of the furniture is as essential to the comfort of the occupants of the room as proper lighting, easy chairs, or unobtrusive orderliness. In fact, it is a species of order. It gives a feeling of repose.
Courtesy American Walnut Manufacturers Association.
Figure 31.—Living room showing harmonious arrangement. View from living room to hall in a city apartment. Interior woodwork, mantel, and furniture are of wood in tones which range from the dark chest to the blond chair.