Home Management

Archive for May, 2011

Wherever you eat, although it should be near the cooking area, you will want it to be relaxed and comfortable. The table should be your focal point and the lighting not too hard. When buying tables and chairs there are two things to consider; what you will do with them when they’re not in use, and if they will be practical and comfortable with enough knee/leg room. People need a surprising amount of space, and if your space is very limited, a built in counter with stools or wall benches may be the answer. The counter can double as a work top; but must be at least 20cms wide. Stools should be 25-30 cm lower.

A bench will seat more people, but in that case the table must not be supported from the edges or your eaters will find it difficult to get in and out. Wall seating usually has to be tailor-made, but it is quite simple to construct. Stacking or folding chairs look quite good nowadays, though you should have a cupboard or other space to put them in when they’re not needed. Chairs with arms or struts may not fit if you want to push them under the table. A table that folds right away or an expanding table can be a godsend in a small space. A table should at least 75cm wide if you are using both sides. Each person will need certain space for their plates, cutlery, glass, etc. So to seat six people a round table should be 1.35m in diameter. To allow people push back chairs, and to have space for serving, you will need at least 90 cm between the table and the wall.

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Seating is the most important factor in a living room, so give it pride of place in your designing. You won’t want a stream of people walking through your sitting area, and it will look rather unfriendly placed all round the walls. On the other hand, if the seats are too close together no one will be able to stretch out their legs. Incidentally, people find conversation easiest if they’re seated at right angles to each other. A study area should be tucked away to one side so you can turn your back on whatever is going on and preferably lit from the left. If eating is only occasionally done in the living room, avoid large tables taking up too much space and use trolleys and folding chairs instead. You may feel you could fit everything in a much better if you moved a doorway, a non-load bearing wall or a fireplace.

The best plan is probably one that gives you the most floor space. Remember that in this room, more than anywhere, you will need a focal point that is, something your eyes are drawn to, something you can sit and gaze eats. Traditionally this was the fireplace, and it still takes a lot of beating. But an obsolete fireplace does little for anyone’s feelings of comfort, so yo9u may have to provide an alternative focal point. A television only fills this need when it is switched on. A really good piece of furniture is better, or a large picture or print, but whatever it is, it should emphasize the room’s good points. Extra room can be created by building a separate unit to house items such as the television set, stereo equipments, drinks and glasses and books. Grouping together these aids to modern living in one unit covering, perhaps, one wall from top to bottom can create a focal point.

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Try to overestimate what you need and then fit it in with the shape of your room. Built in storage will hold far more than the conventional chest of drawers, etc. but make sure it’s not going to look like an afterthought. Remember you’ll probably have to store spare blankets here too, as well as clothes and hobbies. You could consider covering your cupboard doors with material, perhaps to match your curtains, bed spread or wallpaper. If you are short of space try a bed base with drawers in it recessed handles are, of course, essential. A lot of bedside junk is rather unsightly so you may want something other than open shelving by your bed. Shelves directly above the bed must be at least 1 m higher or you will be forever hitting your head on them. Well planned storage can give the most hectic household a serene and smoothly run air. To have a place for everything, most people need twice as much storage as they think, even if they’re strong minded enough to get rid of things that are never used.

So, avoiding preconceptions, decide if you need something fixed permanently or movable, what you need to store, in what rooms, how various storage schemes might affect those rooms, and how much you can afford. Here are a few guidelines: allow children at least as much storage as adults; razors and medicines should be stored out of reach of children; you’ll need summer storage for eiderdowns and blankets; cups should be stored resting on their sides; brooms and the vacuum cleaner needn’t be stored in the kitchen after all, you use them everywhere.

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