Getting the right furniture and decorating a home can be daunting tasks, especially when shopping and trying to figure out whether the selected pieces will fit the space allocated for them.
Indeed, space often becomes a challenge, especially for those living in a small house or an apartment.
Cosmas Gozali, founder and director of Arya Cipta Graha, an architecture firm that provides conceptual design services, admitted that sufficient space was required to put the necessary furniture. “Especially when buying big and functional pieces, space should be taken into consideration. In that case, a home – be it house or apartment – should have a wide entrance to ensure the furniture can be brought in. Or else, you need to get the furniture with a knock-down system or made of few small pieces.”
Large furniture should be a room’s centerpiece. It is advisable to keep the area around large furniture pieces free of clutter, which can include smaller pieces of furniture, in order to keep the room from looking congested, Cosmas says.
He also suggests placing large carpets under furniture to “reduce the overpowering effect of the furniture itself.”
Cosmas furthermore asserted that having a comfortable home did not always require a big space. “For small rooms, glossy and shiny fittings with light and bright colors can help create an illusion that makes the room look bigger.”
Apart from this, Cosmas addressed four potential problems when buying furniture, which relates to quality, comfort, design and size.
“Always buy good quality furniture, as it is very crucial for long lasting and easy maintenance. Especially for sofas and chairs, you need to ensure the comfort before making a purchase. Try it out and make sure the piece suits your body frame. For every new fixture you are about to buy, you should ensure that the design and colors match with those of the other fixtures and decorations in your room as well as the style of your home. Size it really matters. Measure the available amount of space for the furniture prior to the purchase.”
As part of routine maintenance, Cosmas advises to wipe furniture regularly with fine cloth to remove dust. Occasionally, use wood oil on wooden furniture, leather conditioner for leather furniture and scotch guard for fabric furniture to prevent dirt from entering and damaging the furniture’s surface.
With almost two decades of architecture and interior design under his belt, Cosmas has created dozens of projects, some of the most renowned ones are in minimalistic style. He built one of his houses with minimalist designs, with modest gray’s door, black floor and simple stair railing.
“In minimalistic approach, the important key is how to utilize the necessary space to accommodate all the furniture, accessories and decorations toward establishing long-lasting beauty and the aesthetic charm surrounding the place you live in, thus creating a comfortable living space,” he asserted.
In line with Cosmas’s views on the correlation between space and furniture, Julius Ruslan, curator and founder of LuxeLiving, a furniture distributor carrying premium brands, said that designs and colors of furniture and home decorations played a crucial role in creating a homey atmosphere.
“Apart from the importance of choosing high quality products of furniture and home decoration, you should consider buying furniture products with mid century design. The design is an expression of timeless and beauty, making the products last a long time. Other than this consideration, of course the products must be comfortable and functional in use,” Julius said.
In choosing furniture products, he advised that the size of each piece should perfectly fit the size of the room.
All the products showcased at LuxeLiving are premium brands that fit any size of the room, though some of the products seem to take up considerable amount of space, while pointing at three brands LuxeLiving carries; Bulthaup, Frizt Hansen and Minotti.
Bulthaup is a one-off kitchen interior that creates the atmosphere of a kitchen living space. Products of Frizt Hansen are created in simple yet timeless elegance. The chairs are innovatively designed with ample function and chic designs with the combination of smart colors. Minotti brings in the nuance of Europe with Italian made details suitable for medium and big living room.
By Aulia R. Sungkar. Published in The Jakarta Globe, special supplement, on July 27, 2011.
