Think big … or small
Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, June 6, 2007
F or many, the American dream isn’t owning a home, it’s owning a miniature mansion.
Nearly a quarter of new single family homes in this country were 3,000 square feet or more, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Compare that to 1988, when 11 percent of homes were that large. Before that date, the Census Bureau didn’t even bother to track houses that big.
At the same time, a smaller group of homeowners are choosing to live tiny, by downsizing to condominiums, lofts and luxury apartments.
Furniture makers are scrambling to accommodate both, with offerings that fit small spaces and other lines designed for houses with super-tall ceilings and grand great rooms.
Century Furniture, a maker of high-end wood and upholstered furniture, introduced two different collections in an attempt to capture both groups. The first collection is called Castellan and features “updated traditional furniture designed for 21st century mansions.” “Castellan” means “the governor of the castle.” The scaled-down line, Metro Luxe, is described as “cozy yet elegant.”
“Amazingly, in an area-to-area comparison, a cocktail table from Castellan actually dwarfs a dining table from Metro Luxe,” gushed a marketing executive for the company.
At Interiorfix in Everett, owner and designer Brenda Paquette is encountering more customers interested in scaling down, rather than ramping up their furniture size.
Every design situation is unique, but she said when it comes to picking the right-size furniture for a room, consider the architecture. Grand rooms with high ceilings often do need larger furniture.
Choose a few quality pieces for the perimeter of the room; an armoire or console, for example, Paquette said. Larger side tables and cocktail tables also can be appropriate. Avoid overstuffed mammoth sofas and chairs, which can make people feel like little Edith Ann.
A common design mistake in large, open rooms is not creating enough groupings of furniture, she said. Instead, a homeowner might put a sofa, chairs and end tables around a fireplace. Four club chairs and a cocktail table could be placed at the opposite end of the room, and a pair of chairs, side table and reading lamp in another corner, for instance. Consider traffic patterns in the room.
“You don’t want to place a conversation area where people are walking in between the furniture,” she said.
Paquette tells her clients with smaller spaces not to be afraid to use some large-scale furniture, which can add drama and contrast. Rather than using many smaller accessories, choose big pieces that add impact.
Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com.
