Interior Design Traffic Flow: Maximizing Furniture Layout

Notice how the traffic flows freely around the Hooker Furniture Bedroom True Vintage King Upholstered Panel Bed?

When you were designing the layout of your furnishings, it is important to consider the wall and door locations. Knowing these things from the outset will tell you the traffic patterns that you will establish later.

A traffic pattern of every room refers to the movement that people will make through that space. They do this as they pass and live in this area. Generally, traffic patterns begin at the entryway of a space. This will then continue to the secondary door or the entry to the adjacent room.

Good traffic should allow a room to be used optimally. Every room in your home deserves to have the right kind of traffic pattern. In order to choose the right pattern for your home, be sure to plan ahead. Here’s how –

Measurements Mean a Lot

You can begin planning by knowing the exact measurements of each room. Of course, you also have to define the function of the room.

Have the floor area measured. Do this starting from one corner to the next. A room that has more than four walls also asks for this same method of measurement. This only means that anyone can do this project without difficulty.

Another measurement that you have to make is to measure all the openings in a room (windows, doorways, and doors). Measure also the width of the door opening.

Consider also the permanent structures such as a wet bar, fireplace, or built-ins. Another important measurement is the height of the room. This can be done by measuring from the ceiling down to the floor.

Measure and write down also the distance between the window sills and the floor.

These measurements have to be done accurately more so when you only have a limited amount of space to work on. In essence, the smaller the room and the more windows, doors, and structures, the more that you have to religiously measure.

Draw

You need to draw for your interior design floor plan. Use a simple graph paper. Set your legend at one-quarter inch for every foot. Use markings along the outer walls, taking careful note of all the doors, windows, doorways and fireplaces. Again, note door swings.

You don’t have to draw like a pro. For as long as you can understand your drawing, you should be fine.

Take note also of all the natural traffic patterns through the rooms. These are the paths which can be marked using broken lines. Minimize these natural paths as much as possible. Also, do not disrupt these natural traffic patterns.

Small Townhouse Traffic Flow

Let’s have a townhouse as the example for a small dwelling place. Since space is limited, a homeowner needs to maximize the seating arrangement, especially in the living room. Storage must also be carefully planned or the place would be at risk for being cramped later.

Keep in mind to have the traffic flow, well, flowing smoothly. Have the seats grouped around the fireplace (if there is one).

As you come from the front door, be sure to keep an open traffic flow to the adjacent room. Oftentimes, this is the dining room. If there’s a patio, then more often than not, this comes next to your dining room.

A flight of stairs can be effectively placed in the kitchen. This can lead to the bedrooms upstairs.

Where you only have a single entry point as is the case with most bedrooms, it becomes doubly important to establish a feasible traffic pattern. The master bedroom should have a traffic flow that openly approaches the cabinet and the bed. There must be no furniture lying right next to the bed except the two nightstands.

Tags: interior design traffic flow, McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings, traffic pattern in interior design

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 10th, 2017 at 9:25 am and is filed under Interior Design 101. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.