I have a room on the second floor. What do you guys think of this bedroom layout I designed myself? Is there anything I should improve?

This is, roughly, my master bedroom. I hate it. It feels horribly unbalanced inside and the "feng shui" is off as a result. If I lay in bed, the TV is off-center. If I move the bed to where the TV is, then the TV would be off center AND my nightstands would be floating. If I were to move it below the window seat (red) I would lose the nightstands and the TV would be floating. There are sconces above the nightstands and switches next to the sconces, so it appears that the original designers clearly wanted the bed to go where it is. The space is enormous so there is a lot of room, but it's just so poorly thought out. The upper door is the hallway and the lower door is the ensuite bathroom. The room is tall with a vaulted ceiling and a good bit of natural light.

I am open to any ideas as to how to balance this room out. I've considered a "floating" bed as the balance isn't too bad from the first window bays forward. I'd like to keep the closets accessible and nightstands useful if possible, though I could be swayed to abandon those if it helps the room out. I'd love to avoid having direct line of sight from my head laying down to the hallway, if possible (I can see/hear when my kids or guests get up in the night very well right now).

I have this odd space next to the balcony which makes it really hard to plan the space nicely without feeling like I’m wasting space. Any ideas on what to put there?

Yellow is where the windows would go. We are looking at a low profile couch.

We’re renovating a small powder room, approximately 3 feet by 7 feet. When we bought the house, it had an inward-swinging door that barely cleared the toilet. The toilet was positioned off-center to accommodate that door swing.

We’re now replacing the door with a pocket door, so we’re trying to decide whether to center the toilet while we’re doing the work.

Our contractor recommends leaving it off-center because he says it makes the room feel bigger. I can understand the idea of having more open space on one side, but visually, an off-center toilet seems a little odd to me now that the original reason for it is going away.

Is deliberately offsetting a toilet actually a common design approach for small powder rooms? Does it make the space feel more open in practice? Or is the main advantage simply avoiding the work and expense of moving the plumbing?

Would love to hear from designers, contractors, or anyone who’s faced a similar decision.

Bought a home built in the 90s and has these cut outs up near the faulted ceilings. How can I utilize these spaces for storage? And make it look good? And have it not cost a ton of $$$? Thanks!!

Renovating my basement and I want some suggestions.

Specifically:
- Lighting - pot-lights, track lights, sconces, switches. Where would you put what?
- Kitchen/dining placement - table for 4 at least
- Livingroom layout - want big couches and a few chairs with a big TV on one of the walls

The zones are laid out in the picture, the arrow is pointing down the stairs into the basement. All walls and floor are insulated so it shouldn't feel too basement-y.

I'm trying to figure out how to configure the kitchen and living room. The upstairs living room has no TV so I want the basement living room to be more "hangout" friendly. The house and furniture is MCM so trying to maintain warm tones. Ideally not much in the way between stairs and laundry or stairs and workshop.

Additional Details:
- Windows are short (24" tall, against 7'6" ceiling)
- The cold room/pantry is narrow 32".
- Right side of Livingroom has space allocated for a full wall of closet/storage space
- Left side window gets lots of light
- that 68" is a doorway to living room

Any input welcome. Thanks!

Trying to figure out what seating to purchase for this living room. I don’t know whether to put a sectional somewhere or a couch and love seat or a couch and chair. The room is 13ft x 15ft (4m x 4.8m.

I’m currently completing a basement renovation, and desperately need to find a sectional or furniture configuration that would work for this space.

My inclination thus far has been to buy a sectional where the “long” portion runs along the section of wall where the windows are, and the “short” portion size projecting out into the room towards where the staircase sits.

The distance from the wall to the staircase is 117 inches. The distance from the fully opened closet door to the wall unit is 145 inches. The drawers in the wall unit, fully extended, are 15.5 inches.

The sectional I’m looking at has 2 configurations: 88” x 112”, and 88” x 90”.

I feel like each one has its own issues: the 88” x 90” fits the space a bit better, but wouldn’t give us much seating space, whereas the 88” x 112” would be slightly too big.

What would you suggest doing? Totally open to any and all suggestions!

I have been in the interior design industry for 4 years and graduated with my BFA in interior design. Throughout school I used revit and my first job at an architecture firm drew in revit as well. I now work for a small interiors firm and while we have a separate architectural draftsman, I would like to be able to help with drawings. They work in autocad. I’m wondering if anyone has any online resources for learning cad? I know my college program taught revit because it was “easier to learn cad than revit” and it’s how they saw the industry going, but most smaller residential firms seem to still use cad. I’d love to develop my skills and get a deeper knowledge of the program. Please let me know your accommodations!

We're building a house on a hillside with great views. The concrete frame is done and the walls aren't built yet, so the layout can still change. Plans attached.

Fixed things:

- 9.1 × 10.5 m outside. Entrance on the north, terrace and city view to the south.

- U-stair in the north-west corner (3.6 × 2.2 m).

- The west wall has to stay blank: the neighbour is 1.2 m away, so no windows on that side.

- Bedrooms are upstairs. The upstairs bathroom will probably sit on the west, next to the stairs (it still can be modified)

The options:

1. Bathroom + WC (3.6 × 2.3) and kitchen on the blank west wall. Living room with fireplace + TV on the east, study in the north-east corner.

2. Same as 1, but a bedroom in the north-east corner.

3. Bathroom + WC in the north-east (with windows), kitchen on the east. Laundry + storage next to the stairs. Living room on the west, fireplace + TV on the west wall.

4. Bathroom, WC and kitchen on the east. The whole west side is one 3.6 × 7.5 m living room: fireplace on the stair wall, TV + books on the west wall.

Which would you choose and why? Anything you'd change, or anything I'm missing?

I have an undergraduate degree in Journalism and Communications and have been working in PR for the past few years, but I’ve always loved interior design and originally wanted to study architecture.

I’m seriously considering going back to school for interior design and changing careers. Still, I’m unsure which educational path would best prepare me to enter the field and build a long term career.

I talked with a younger interior designer who made a similar career change and entered the field with just an associate’s degree in interior design. Is an associate’s degree enough to get started and advance in the industry, or would it be worth pursuing a master’s degree? I’d really prefer not to get a second bachelor’s degree, but I’d be open to a master’s program designed for someone with a different undergraduate background.

What would be the best route to take, considering both the cost and time involved and my long term career prospects?

We're buying this lake house and need your help! House was built in 71 and reno was done in 22 to make an open concept floor plan. Walls behind couch and near kitchen are half walls to stairs. Pic of how the furniture is currently set up but floorplan has how I'd like to set up the furniture so the fireplace is more of the focus (TV will be over the fireplace as well).

Major problems with this is the engineered beam is not quite centered on the fireplace, and there's a support beam in the center of it all that is only 8 ft in front of the fireplace. So like an 8×14 rug would be great but the dont make those. Might need to do a custom rug to make this work?

*Edited to add: we don't plan to use the dining table much. the back sliders lead to a huge screened in porch which will be our primary dining space except in winter.

Also thinking of Evergreen Fog for the paint color? Or accessible beige? Orange/honey oak cabinets and ceiling cant be changed and need to live with a gray vinyl plank floor for a while.

Advice? ​

Appreciate any feedback! Thank you

The closets in our home are essentially a hole in the wall that goes up to the ceiling. Most of the closets have a rod for hanging clothes and a top shelf. A closet like this is a dream for all of my closets. The IKEA versions are not the right size and are also basic on top of being not cheap. I’d love to do something more like this picture. If someone has experience making these, can you please let me know the steps? I’m done googling and asking ChatGPT… I’d love some real experienced advice.

Update: dimensions of the closet space
91” H × 48” W × 25” D (no top header over closet space and I don’t want to add one in, hence this inspo photo going up to the ceiling)

General floor plan added in comments (unsure how to add to body of the post)

Note: I’m focused primarily on the closet portion of the inspo image

My fiance and I are going to be in this apartment for a few more years at least. We need a new rug, our dog was allergic to the precious one. What color/pattern? Should the couch move away from the wall? I’m looking to getting some new furniture and decorations so any recommendations there are welcome. The couch will stay for a while though it’s pretty new. The beanbag chair looking thing is the dog bed so it stays. It’s an apartment so if we paint it’s got to be painted back when we move out.

We’re gradually replacing our cheap particle furniture with pieces we like. In this room reall it’s the mcm desk, the floor lamp and the couch. Everything else can be changed.

We like different styles, just not really traditional or straight modern.

I am trying to plan my kitchen + living and dining area. The problem is that the space begins to feel quite cramped once everything is placed. Few things to note:

• The sofa is 255 cm long, and having a comfortable, spacious sofa is essential to us. I'd really prefer not to downsize it, as I think we'd regret it in the long run. The main challenge is the narrow passage between the sofa and dining table. I've tried addressing this by using a banquette for the dining area, but I'm not sure whether it'll be practical enough in everyday use.
• In the kitchen the main problem is a vent that has to be gone around and break the whole flow of the kitchen. This is why I have opted for a kitchen peninsula in order to gain more countertop space. A simple L-shaped kitchen without the peninsula feels small to me as I like to cook a lot.I have tested how similar layouts feel in IKEA (2.5m x 3m L-shaped kitchen) and I would say that they do not do it for me personally.

This is my first time designing something and it is for my new apartment in which we (2 people) think of living in the forseeable future so I really want to nail down everything.

Any opinion on whether this layout is even feasible or is completely wrong, as well as advice for what to change will be very appreciated.

Please ignore the mess lol. All furniture pictured is temporary. I just want to have a direction before I get started. I dont want to keep the walls the same color. Plan on doing some whites for wall/accents and deep red for the media cabinet as the center piece. I love mid-century modern but I know it can be viewed as cringe and also expensive as hell. Any reccomendations or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!

Hello all,

I've adder 2 picturea of my soon to be renovated home, would love to hear if you guys have a alternative design. First picture is the ground floor, which will became a living/kitchen. The top wall is with the garden view, and the door on the left is the side entrance that we will use as main. For the rest nothing is fixed and can be chanced around, except for the outer walls.

The other picture is the second floor. Where the bottom room has to stay as is, same goes for the stairwell. And the rest kan be chanced however we want, it has to include 2 bedroom (alternative with more would be interesting to) and a bathroom.

Thank you in advance

(Note to mods: This is strictly an interior design and furniture placement question regarding where to put the bed and doors. I am not asking for architectural advice on the structure, so please do not remove!)

I am trying to finalize the spatial flow for my bedroom and have narrowed it down to two options. Just a quick clarification: the zigzag line visible in the second layout (463673.jpg) is meant to be a curtain dividing the space.

I'm mainly trying to decide the best position for the double bed and how the entry flow works with the rest of the room and seating space. Which layout feels less cluttered and offers better movement?

Going to repaint and replace carpet in this living room and we’re trying to figure out best way to arrange furniture. It’s long and feels long because it extends from the kitchen. We’ll be getting new couches/etc. too after doing this work.

Trying to avoid too much in front of the big windows and an awkward space between the kitchen and the furniture. Considering having the corner by the garage have a bench/bookshelf for shoes/etc. we tried the two chairs by the fire place and couches in L shape and tv in front of window (in pictures, we just didn’t move tv yet). We also tried splitting the room with the shorter couch (she floor plan sketch), but it felt a little weird

Also considering off-white walls with an accent wall by the fire place

Would love recommendations for furniture arrangement and accent wall colors!

Hi All

I am lucky enough to be having a new home built. The bedrooms are quite long and thin and I am struggling to work out how to incorporate an ensuite and dressing area. If the entrance door wasn't where it is I would walk through the dressing to get through the ensuite but the entrance door won't allow it and it can't easily be moved.

Does anyone have any good ideas how to improve this layout?

Many thanks in advance!

Just moved into a new place and need help with our living/front room. Only things that need to stay are the L couch and bookshelf. Budget is around $700

- I’m wanting to add more color
- I like the accent wall since it matches the dining room, but open to suggestions.
- We were going to move the loveseat to the basement and add 2 accent chairs. Something medium and comfy (think curling up and reading a book)
- Looking to get a new rug, but not sure what color to get because this is a high traffic area and cream rugs show dirt quicker. Maybe a solid navy rug?
- Any better rearrangement to the area?
- Not looking to add a TV. Toys can be moved.

I’m in need of some serious help with decorating my living room, please!. The three horizontal windows are making it super difficult for me to imagine a layout for my furniture and decor. I now have new blinds on all of the windows, including the 3 horizontal windows. I have a reclining sofa and loveseat set. My entertainment center in shown in the first pic and I have a little larger tv than the one shown. I don’t and won’t have a dining table. I have a corner bookshelf waiting to be put together. Any help and advice is GREATLY appreciated! 🙏🏻🙏🏻❤️❤️

pardon the paralives/life sim picture, that's what I've been using to plan my house before I get into it lol

I'm using the couch to create a pseudo hallway between the living room and the kitchen, but I still just kind of hate? being able to see the whole kitchen from the front door? so I'm looking for ideas :D thanks in advance!