Furniture is an industrial design product. Furniture matters the most when designing a space and tends to be very important in interior design. Interior designers are known to use existing or new, built-in, custom designed, or ready – made furniture. Every piece of furniture is made with the user’s mindset and psychology in mind. Function determines what a piece of furniture should do, like sleeping (beds), eating (tables), or seating (chairs).
Furniture’s function also dictates what a space should do or used for. Understanding how a space will be used and what activities will take place in that space remains the programming phase of interior design. Furniture tends to matter the most when a design is implemented as furniture brings function to a space.
A good instance of how furniture defines and dictates a space would be airports. How would you know where to sit and wait in an airport? You simply have to look around for seating elements. This is because furniture clearly states the intended function of every given area and how they are perceived.
According to experts, furniture and functionality work together in the space planning phase of interior design. By definition, space planning is the allocation and division of interior space for a client’s needs and activities. The way furniture’s are placed is a crucial part of space planning, where maximum usage is considered.
Very good interior designers tend to pay enormous attention to furniture, especially since they are used to ensure a pleasing sense of order. These experts most times consider two – dimensional and three – dimensional design in the arrangement of furniture along with the elements of design such as shape, form, colour, and texture.
Have it in mind that balance is needed as it becomes the primary consideration in arranging furniture because furniture affects the sense of equilibrium and stability in a space. Just imagine a hotel lobby where all the furniture is placed on one side of the space only. That arrangement will make you feel like you are standing on a sinking boat. Interior designers aim for a well – distributed visual weight in a space.
Various Ways Furniture Arrangement Influences an Individual’s Behaviour
The way our living spaces are furnished isn’t just about providing a good place to sit. Furniture plays a very important role in our everyday lives. Reports have always buttressed how a good office design can reduce stress, and below are various ways they tend to.
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Furniture Layout Affects Movement
Note that the layout of your furniture determines the traffic flow in your living space. A good furniture layout expresses functional, harmonious, and maximizes the space you have to work with. This is one of the reasons it is a good idea to determine the focal point of your furniture layout. Don’t just line up furniture against your walls. The focal point of your furniture layout will help set the tone of your room and convey the message you want your furniture to send.
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Furniture Affects Motivation
Furniture has an explicit effect on our motivation in the workplace. Note that very good furniture ergonomics grows productivity and creativity. Bad ergonomics can be distracting. Furniture can also shape our attitudes. For instance, the right desk, chair or table can improve cooperation and collaboration. A furniture layout that pits individuals against one another can invoke competition.
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Furniture Colour is Important
Just like the colours you choose to furnish a room are important, the colours of the furniture you choose can also matter. For instance, red is an intense colour and it raises a room’s energy level. A red room can be good for stimulating conversation.
Yellow rooms communicate happiness and can be uplifting. Blue and green rooms are calming and relaxing. Purple inspires creativity. Orange evokes enthusiasm. Black is commanding and authoritative. Brown furniture adds comfort and approachability. Oranges, blues, and greens can be excellent colours for use in education and learning. Red is a good choice for office meeting and conference rooms.
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Furniture Affects Memories
Evidence suggests that even our memories are divided into context dependent and context – independent varieties, so both the physical and social environment have an impact on human achievement. Our physical environment can influence the social and task interactions among the people in it.
Majorly this influence involves relative accessibility of interaction and the psychological and social interpretation of such interactions. For instance, physical distance in sitting and furniture arrangements represents a major determinant of social influence.
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Furniture Affects Quality of Social Interaction
Furniture arrangements can interfere with the frequency and quality of social interaction. Have it in mind that the importance of nonverbal cues in the facilitation of interactions between and among people has been recognized for some time; more recently, it has been suggested that barriers to these nonverbal cues may reduce the ease and efficiency of communication (for example, in e – mail and teleconferencing), primarily through interfering with the establishment of trust.
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Furniture Encourages or Discourages Social Interaction
Furniture arrangements, in addition to encouraging social interaction, can augment its efficiency, although this remains somewhat controversial. Nonetheless, there is little doubt that proximity and ease and availability of social exchange can be affected by the structure of the environment; open spaces, particularly open spaces incorporating symbolic focus points or other directing elements, can facilitate and coordinate the communication so necessary for efficient collaboration within the office.
Conclusion
Like arrangement, the selection and specification of furniture and furnishings is an important job duty that even interior designers take very seriously. In furniture selection, the users and activities are considered first. The focus should be on the purpose of the furniture, the need for adjustability, flexibility, finish requirements, durability, and size. Furniture is known to accommodate emotional, social, or cultural values of their users. This is because furniture arrangement is as much an expression of personal style as it is an expression of function.