Furniture Maneuvers

A desk in the office, a dresser in the bedroom, and a hutch in the dining room. This is the way most of us live, and all of them are perfectly logical choices, but what if we decided to change it up a little?

Redesigning a home is so much more than moving furniture and displaying your favorite things. It’s about seeing what isn’t there, and imagining what could be. To believe that a piece of furniture has a single place and purpose is  limiting its use, and denying you and your home a whole lot of fun (and function).

When you take a piece of furniture out of its natural environment, not only does it continue to be useful, but it also appears more important, and the room that it is moved to becomes far more interesting. Take the photograph here for example; if that desk were in an office, it would look very pretty (but obvious). By placing it in the Living Room it continues to be a very practical piece, but it also brings an extra dose of personality to the corner.

To be fixated on what we “should” do, restricts what is possible. Why not:

- Have a desk by a window in your kitchen, a corner in your Living Room or on your sun porch during the Summer?

- Move a hutch or china cabinet into a large master bedroom or family room. Display your family treasures in it, fill it with books, or take out a shelf and tuck a small television inside.

- Use an end table, or vintage trunk, as a nightstand.

-  Put a dressing table by the front door. The mirror is perfect for last-minute-checks, and the drawers can store gloves and hats.

When you have time, take a few moments to think about your furniture – they are, after all, the ultimate working accessory.

Thanks to Janie Hirsch for the beautiful photograph (check out her portfolio, it is very inspiring).