Thursday, March 28, 2013

Are you a floater or a hugger?

Some people just can't  'own' the concept of floating furniture in the middle of a room, or is it that they don't know how to do it?

Others are more comfortable with the decorating premise of lining the walls with furniture, aka a wall 'hugger'.  This comes from the age-old practicality of having to put furniture and tapestries on walls to quell drafts and noise in castles of yesteryear. It still works to cover a draft, but it is also sometimes 'doctors waiting room'-looking, don't you think? My parents decorated this way and that's what I grew up with. I practiced it for the first 10 years of being on my own.

Since I am a furniture rearranging addict I find the best way to secure a new plan is to angle an area rug in the room and place the furniture on it, no matter what the outer room dimensions are.  This creates a new room within a room.  Emily A. Clark had a great post on this the other day.

Here's the floater:




Here's the hugger:





Either way, the key is to keep high traffic areas unobstructed and to place low furnishings in front of windows so light isn't blocked.  For floating in small spaces one must sometimes downscale the size of furniture.

There are justifications for each style, but it is a personal preference if you have taken the leap..are you a hugger or a floater?

Nancy

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17 comments:

  1. Great post Nancy. I think I gravitate towards being a floater, but in my current house I don't have a lot of options, with smaller rooms where floating pieces make the traffic flow funky. I would love to do 4 floating chairs like that photo above with the vaulted ceiling! Gorgeous arrangement.

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  2. When allowed by space ... I am a total floater!! Beautiful images supporting both camps!! xo

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  3. I greatly prefer floating but my room dimensions and traffic flow require hugging in my current space.

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  4. Dare I say that I'm both? In our new house, we have a large living room so I'm able to float all of the seating away from the perimeter; but in our den, which is cozier, our seating almost has be up against the walls. The effect is different in each room, but I think it works because of the difference in size.

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  5. I prefer to float when space allows, it always seems cozier to me.

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  6. I love to "Float". Right now, it's more or less half and half, due to traffic flow and shape. If I could figure out how to float the sofa and room for something behind it...I would! Will work on that...I need a challenge!

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  7. I'm a floater at heart, but my rooms dictate hugger!

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  8. I really prefer the look of floating, but I think that it depends on the room! I haven't actually done much floating....time to branch out a bit I think!

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  9. Former hugger recent floater, that's me. I think it just really depenpeds on the type of house you have. Our first home was very small so huggin most of the furniture to the wall made sense. Now that we have a bigger living space with only 1 wall and 1 wall of windows, I had to float my furniture! Either way, I love it!

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  10. I like it to float but don't have space in my house for that in any room right now. Boo! My curved sofa was made to float though!

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  11. most excellent post and I loved the title. floater, here. donna

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  12. Great post. I like the floater look so much better. I agree, it's so tricky in small spaces, but it can be done! Thanks for the great reminders.

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  13. Love that concept floater/hugger! I do both. PS.Happy Birthday Bethany:)

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  14. I think it depends on the room, how it is used, traffic flow, etc. I usually end up anchoring a sofa but floating a pair of club chairs, so a little of both I guess!

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  15. I prefer to float and call the other wall hugging system "spin-art" design. Remember the old machines where you place the t-shirt in a machine and it spins and comes out with a tie-dye type of design.

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  16. Nice blog! The putting of awning is a good idea as it provides a nice look to the area and in summer serves as sun-shade.

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