Small Spaces Questions: Furniture Arrangement for Long Narrow Rooms

Hi Amber,

I’ve taken into account your explanation of your room and I do have some ideas.

You can throw out whatever you think is unnecessary and keep whatever you think is relevant in this discussion.

Like always, I usually research the situation and then take what I think are the best answers and try to offer them to you in the best way possible.

So here goes…

We’ve already established that you have a room or two rooms that are extremely narrow but very long. In a case like this, one of the easiest solutions is to divide the room up into two sections as you suggested.

You have three options here…

• You could use a room divider and partition off the room completely.
  
• Create a partial partition with a room divider.
  
• Use furniture in the room to divide the room into two sections.
  

Now that I’ve said that, let’s talk about each option…

You Could Use a Room Divider and Partition Off the Room Completely

This idea I think is my least favorite. I think dividing your room up completely would only hinder it by making it feel smaller and closed off. The room is already narrow. It gives me the impression the room is going to feel like a box or a cave if you shut both sections off from each other completely.

Create a Partial Partition with a Room Divider

Do you see how those curtains are not completely closed in the picture?

You could do something just like that to separate one room from the other.

You should be certain to leave the curtains open so that the eyes could flow through to the other part of the room. This would be something that I would really consider doing in your situation.

But before you decide if it’s what you want to do, give it some thought because, this idea MAY only actually benefit your room if you get the impression it will accentuate the space rather than hinder it.

If you decide you’d like to do that… you can check out several different hanging room dividers that I’ve recommended on my site as possibilities.

The one in the picture (above) is available through Walmart, and you could probably get it locally rather than ordering it online, but just in case, here is the direct link to it.

Regular room dividers will work as well if your room is wide enough for you to place one on each side of the room as long as it doesn’t close up your
space too much.

Remember, you’ll want a large opening with this idea, so that the eyes can flow through without too much of a hinderance.

Use Furniture in the Room to Divide the Room into Two Sections or Individual Areas

This is a great option if you don’t want to use room dividers at all and would like to actually just use your decorational style to define that the
room is two different sections or areas.

The best way to explain how to go about doing this would be to offer you links (below) to several pages that show a floor plan of a room like yours.

But before I do that, I think that one of the most notable things to do in a room like yours is to create two separate seating areas. That is, two sections with two sofa sets or chair arrangements, or something to that effect. In just about all floor plans provided (below), you’ll notice that that is a common solution for narrow rooms.

The next common feature is that one of the sections usually has (some) furniture situated in the center of the room (as a focal point) and then in the other section the furniture is situated along the walls with maybe a coffee table in the center.

Now that we’ve talked about how dividing up your room into individual areas will help you decorate the room fairly easily, you might be wondering what you could decorate the room with.

Well, conventional ideas are things like creating a…

• reading area/nook
  
• breakfast nook
  
• writing area
  
• guest area
  
• play room
  

…and I think all of those ideas are great but I would really recommend going with what you’re passionate about.

So my suggestion is to create a dream-come-true section or you could dedicate one entire room to this…

For instance, say I was in the situation. I had this really long room to decorate and I already had a living room, guest area and play room, I would consider what I really would love having that I’ve never had a chance to have.

For instance, I’ve always really thought a room with a (modular) chaise lounge (as you spoke of) would be fabulous and then I’d just decorate around that piece of furniture.

But then I’ve always loved the thought of having a nature area. You know, something with silk trees, an indoor floor fountain, aquarium or water garden or even a tall water panel that I could gaze at.

I would be prone to choose a section specifically as a vacation, stress-free or as my getaway-place in which I played nature sounds, gazed at a fountain, had a few finches, doves or other type of beautiful birds (as an alternative or in addition to nature sounds) and relaxed.

So it’s a matter of what you really want.

I’m sure that if you got together with your family members, one of you would be able to come up with something they’ve always wanted that your room/home currently does not have. Assuming you’re at a loss for what to put in it.

This of course would all add up to some money but it’s something you could do for fun over a period of time and bargain hunt at thrift shops for certain things to add to it. Over an expanse of time the expense would not hurt as it would if you purchased these type of things all at once.

And of course time usually offers a way to find amazing deals on items like that that cannot be found when you’re in a hurry.

Now as to how to arrange your furniture…

I think visual aid always works best in circumstances like this. I could tell you with words all I’d like but in all honesty, it’ll prove most beneficial to you if you saw common denominators in decorating long narrow rooms.

Above, you remember I mentioned some common things done when decorating long and narrow rooms. Now, the links below will provide you with visual floor plans and additional suggestions.

All of those things should make it a fairly easy situation for you…

• Outfitting Long, Narrow Rooms

  I loved this article because the floor plan sounded a lot like how your room looked and it offers you a world of ideas on how to go about working out your narrow space and arranging the furniture. But even if you don’t follow the ideas in this article, the floor plan alone will give you an idea of how you can arrange things on your own accord.

• Small Scale Furniture will Give a Room Greater Flexibility

  This one I like because it gives you a visual idea of how you can arrange the furniture in your room(s). One section could have something as the focal point in the center and the other area could allow you to arrange your seating around a coffee table or something similar.

• Decorating Dilemmas Solved

  I like the floor plan here for the reason that it gives you the idea that you could use two sofas back-to-back or a bookcase, entertainment stand, etc. and a sofa back-to-back as a way to divide each section of the room up.
  

I hope that helped, Amber.

I think that you will be able to come up with some fascinating things to do with your rooms with the links and suggestions above and if you and your family members put your heads together and have a think on it, maybe you could all even create a dream-come-true room.

Maybe all of you in your family could put one thing in the room from your dreams and you could all call it your dream-come-true room so it could have some significance to all of you.

Have a wonderful day!