Key Points for Furniture Arrangement
Two of the most important factors that are to be
taken into consideration before the furniture is arranged are its design and
its function. A room is composed of lines, shapes and colours in its floor,
walls, furniture and furnishings. The principles of design discussed earlier
must be observed in any type of arrangement of furniture. No matter how
beautiful a room is, it is useless if it is not functional as well. The room
should appear as if it belongs to the family. It should be able to provide for
all the activities that the family normally carries out. A livable lived-in
look is as important as beauty.
v Furniture should be in
proportion to the room in which it is placed. For example, massive pieces of
old, carved furniture look out of place in the tiny sitting room of a modern
flat.
v A centre of interest
should be created and all other interest should be subordinate to it.
v The rules of balance
should be observed. Large pieces of furniture against one wall should be
balanced on the opposite wall. For this, the doors and windows need to be taken
into account. Each wall also needs to look balanced from top to bottom. The
arrangement of pictures on the walls, of vases and other curious on tables
placed near the wall can greatly affect this balance.
v Proportions should be
retained by placing large pieces of furniture against large wall areas and
small items against small wall areas. Generally large pieces need to be placed
parallel with the structural lines of the room.
v At the same time, it is
not necessary that all furniture should hug the walls. The small tables and
some chairs can often be effectively placed at an angle to the wall. In such
cases, it is important not to block traffic ways. The paths along which people
will move across or through each room should be clear enough so that they can
avoid knocking into furniture.
v It is equally important
to avoid the use of too much furniture in any room. One needs to get a feeling
of space and unnecessary clutter can be avoided.
v Upholstered furniture
can be mixed with wooden pieces and placed at right angles to each other when
desired. Straight chairs may even be placed against walls. All furniture should
be arranged keeping in mind its function and grouping it according to the
activity to which it forms the focal centre-conversation, writing, sewing,
reading, recreation etc.
Furniture Care
Furniture care begins with the way you arrange
the furniture. If it is too close to a heat source, say, where the sun comes in
through the window, the polish or varnish is bound to become dull and even the
wood may eventually crack. On the other hand, if it is close to a moisture
source like the bathroom, the wood tends to swell and drawers could get stuck.
The best place for a favourite furniture is somewhere cool and dry inside the
room. Dust all wooden furniture as frequently as required – it depends on how
dust-prone the place is. Wipe clean with a chamois leather that is slightly
damp and wipe dry immediately after. Furniture for the living room generally
has a wax polished surface. Use a time-tested polish like Mansion once in six
months.
If the furniture has a
painted finish like the ones in the nursery, bathroom or kitchen, it is quite
safe to wash with mild detergent and water. If the garden furniture is of cane
or wickerwork, the best results are obtained by washing it with warm water and
detergent. Keep rinsing till all the soap is washed off or simply varnish it.
Cleaning upholstery would again depend on what
kind of material has been used. For leather upholstery, clean with a soft cloth
dipped in soap suds. Follow this with another wipe, this time with a cloth
wrung out in clean water. Dry with a soft cloth. Since this upholstery is like
footwear material, use the same Cherry
Blossom Leather Nourishing Cream for the furnishing material as well. If
the upholstery is of imitation leather or of synthetic material, do not use
abrasive cleaners for they may scratch the surface. Just wipe with a damp cloth
or use a car upholstery cleaner available in special shops.
For fabric-covered
furniture, take out the removable cushions and dust clean the interiors, or
vacuum it. Clean the dirty areas with dry detergent and a damp cloth. As with
most things in life, it is much better and easier to prevent destruction of
furniture and easier to prevent destruction of furniture than to fix it later.
When furniture is not in use for a prolonged period or when the house is being
painted or spring cleaned, protect the upholstery with loose covers. If there
are young children or if the furniture is being used frequently, these covers
can be periodically removed and dry cleaned. This is safer than washing at
home, unless you are absolutely sure that the material used has been preshrunk
and it will not run colour.
Removing Stains
Unfortunately, furniture tends to get maximum
stains during parties particularly on festive occasions, when adults may get as
irresponsible as children! Alcohol stains are deadly for all wood finishes. So
wipe immediately with a damp cloth and follow this with another wipe of wax
polish with a cloth. For cigarette burns and ink stains, rub with very fine,
dry, steel wood. Apply concentrated liquid bleach on the raw wood for twenty
minutes. Then neutralize it with a solution of vinegar and water (50/50). Re-bleach,
if required. Let it dry for twenty-four hours before polishing it with Mansion
Polish. In case of deep burns, fill the area with heated wax after scraping the
burnt area with a utility knife. After the wax dries, scrape off the excess
with a razor blade and polish with Mansion Polish.
White marks on polished
furniture, such as lemon drops or milk can be removed with a damp cloth dipped
in vinegar. Pick up some cigarette ash on the fingertip and gently rub into the
stain. For grease marks on sofa backs, arms and on bed heads, rub gently with a
cloth and dry cleaning fluid. Use Robin Stain Remover. Work from the outer edge
of the stain towards the inner side.