Why All of Your New Furniture Might Not Feel Right

Quite often we have clients reach out to us after they have purchased a lot of things they love, but the space still does not feel right. They are unhappy with the result, frustrated with themselves and ready to call in the pros.

What’s wrong with these rooms? It varies widely but here are some challenges we see time and again:
- Scale is off.
- Form is celebrated while function is ignored.
- Everything is too “new”.

Scale
No room is designed at French Gray interiors without a floor plan drawn to scale. When something is too big or too small, you can sense it in a space, even if you aren’t sure why. (This is also one reason why well-designed rooms feel really good when you are in them, beyond just how pretty they are.) A room might feel overwhelmed or it might feel too dinky. A floor plan allows us to see whether the furniture plan provides a good layout, adequate flow, what might be missing, and of course accurate scale. Scale is often wrong when buying furniture without this crucial step.

Form Over Function
A space that doesn’t mean the needs of the people living there is not a good space. It won’t be useful. It won’t service its inhabitants. Sometimes it will even stop being used altogether! A space must appease the functions needs of that room as much as the aesthetic desires, and that - very importantly - includes comfort.

Everything is Too "New"
Going out and buying a bunch of new furniture and hoping it all works is typically a surefire miss. When we say “new“ we mean newly manufactured. Whether or not we realize it, our eye is most pleased when there is a variety of texture in a space. That means using different materials (wood, metal, fabric, etc) as well as finishes (painted, stained, raw, gilded, etc). All brand new furniture - as opposed to vintage or antique - can give off a flat energy. Too much of it makes the room feel boring and one note. When designing projects, we are dedicated to selecting a variety of materials from all different sources. We mix old with new, custom with off the rack. The amalgamation is what makes a room harmonize.