Architects shape a room with walls, openings, ceiling heights and axes. In an open or very large room, furniture can do much of that work: a sofa back becomes a low wall, a console marks a threshold, a run of shelving acts as a screen. The difference from ordinary furnishing is the order of decisions. You first decide what line, height or opening the room needs, and only then choose the piece that provides it.
This guide looks at furniture by the architectural job it does. The measurements are typical ranges and a starting point for your own plan.
Read furniture in three height bands
Height decides whether a piece actually divides a room or only suggests a division. A seated adult's eye level is typically around 110–120 cm from the floor; a standing adult's is around 150–165 cm. That gives three useful bands:
- Low (up to about 80 cm): sofa backs, consoles, benches, sideboards. They mark an edge but keep the whole room visible, seated or standing.
- Middle (about 90–130 cm): taller cabinets and half-height shelving. Seated, you are screened; standing, you still see over them.
- Tall (160 cm and above): bookshelves and full-height cabinets. They behave like a partial wall and should be planned like one, with a clear passage beside them.
A common mistake is mixing all three bands along one edge. Choose one band per boundary and the division reads as intentional.
The sofa and console as one built line
When a sofa stands in the middle of a room, its back is the first thing people see as they enter. A console placed directly behind it turns two separate objects into one solid line. In the room shown at the top of this article, the Akropolis console does exactly that.
A few proportions make the pair look built rather than pushed together:
- Keep the console top level with the sofa back or 2–5 cm below it; a console that rises above the back looks like a separate barrier.
- Make it shorter than the sofa: ending each side roughly 15–30 cm inside the sofa's outer edges keeps the sofa as the main mass.
- Choose a depth of about 30–40 cm, so the walkway behind still leaves around 90 cm.
- Check the back of the sofa: in this position it is fully visible, so it should be upholstered and finished as carefully as the front.
More models and sizes are in our console collection.
Shelving as a partial wall
Tall shelving is the closest furniture gets to a real wall, so plan it like one: where the opening is, how much light passes and what each side looks like.
- Leave an opening. Do not run a partition from wall to wall. A passage of at least 80–90 cm at one end keeps the room connected and the route obvious.
- Open or closed. Open shelves let light and views through and suit a divider near a window; closed or back-panelled sections give privacy, for example screening a desk from the sofa.
- Two faces. A free-standing unit is seen from both sides. Wall units, such as the Moonlight TV unit & bookshelf, are designed to stand against a wall; if you want a shelving piece to stand in the room, mention it when you ask for a quote, since custom dimensions and details are available on request.
- Stability. As general guidance, tall free-standing shelving should be fixed to the floor, the ceiling or an adjoining wall, especially in homes with children.
Axes and datum lines
Architecture relies on alignment: doors on axis with windows, openings centred on a wall. Furniture can borrow two of these tools.
The axis. Centre a key piece on a strong line in the room: a dining table under a pendant light or in front of a window, a sofa facing a fireplace, a sideboard on the long axis of the dining table. The room then reads as ordered even when the walls are irregular.
The datum line. When several low pieces share roughly the same top height, the eye joins them into one horizontal line around the room. A sideboard at about 75–80 cm, a console at the same height and a sofa back close to it form a calm, continuous edge. When you compare sideboards, note the height of each model and match it to the console or sofa you have chosen. The same idea of repeated lines helps connect adjoining spaces, as described in how to create a sense of continuity between rooms.
Thresholds: marking where an area begins
In an open plan, a low piece at the edge of a zone does the job of a doorway without closing the zone off. A bench is particularly good at this: it is low, can be approached from both sides and offers a place to sit at the point of transition. A Felix bench at the foot of a bed, at the entrance end of a living area or along the edge of a dining zone marks the threshold while keeping the floor visible. Keep at least 60 cm between the bench and any route so it does not narrow the passage.
Plan the room in this order
- Draw the plan to scale and mark the routes: about 90 cm for main paths, 60 cm for minor ones.
- Mark the views you want to keep from the entrance and from the main seats.
- Decide where you need a boundary, and in which height band.
- Choose the pieces that form those edges first, then the pieces inside each zone.
- Tape the outlines on the floor and walk the routes before ordering.
Sitdesign makes every piece by hand in its own factory in Büyükçekmece, Istanbul, and standard models can be adapted to custom dimensions on request, which helps when a console has to match a sofa back exactly. Contact us with your plan and measurements to receive leather samples and a quote.
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