David Ferguson – Yourhome.ca

Q: My husband and I have just purchased our first home, a downtown condo.

Prior to buying the place, we purchased all new living room furniture, but now we are concerned that it won’t fit into our new space.

Among the pieces we have purchased are two love seats, a chair, an ottoman, a coffee table and a TV stand.

We definitely don’t want it to look cluttered but at the same time, we are reluctant to get rid of anything.

We haven’t bought a dining room/kitchen table yet. Do you think a round table or rectangular would be best?

A: Condominium living has much going for it. Condos are generally low maintenance and convenient, they offer high security, and they often are located in dense, urban areas where single-family home ownership is out of the reach of most first-time buyers.

But most newly built condominiums are not renowned for spaciousness or an abundance of walls along which to place furniture.

At first glance, your living area seems large enough to easily accommodate your existing furniture — that is, until a scale drawing is produced with all the openings, architectural features and traffic patterns included.

The main culprits working against an easy layout are two important areas within the plan: a heavy traffic area defined by the front door, kitchen, mechanical room and corridor to the bathroom and bedroom, and a secondary path that leads to the master bedroom.

Few, if any furniture pieces should ever be placed in the main traffic area in order to ease the transition from space to space (with almost no wall space, there is nowhere to put furniture anyway).

Even with a secondary traffic route, few furniture pieces should be placed in its path, although the space between obstructions can be narrower.

Given that you already have the furniture, I have chosen to show you my best effort in a floor plan that incorporates all the pieces you have.

While tight, it is not impossibly cramped and does allow the furniture to be arranged for conversation and for television viewing, all oriented towards the view through the large windows.

The plan basically defines a “living room” by backing one of the love seats onto the dining area. That love seat sits roughly in the centre of the room, anchored with a sofa table behind.

Assuming that the flooring is hardwood, I have drawn an area rug to further define the seating area.

With all this in place, there really doesn’t seem to be a lot of space for a dining area.

My plan has shown a rectangular table, tucked against the wall, with ample room to expand laterally when the need arises.

If, ultimately, you do choose to replace some of the furniture pieces, I would suggest replacing one of the love seats with a large chair or chair-and-a-half just to open the space a bit more.

You could also consider a small housing unit in which to place the television so that the wires and peripheral components are neatly tucked away.

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Contact Laurin Jeffrey for more information – 416-388-1960

Laurin Jeffrey is a Toronto Realtor with Century 21 Regal Realty. He did not
write these articles, he just reproduces them here for people who are
interested in Toronto real estate. He does not work for any builders.
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