Reader design dilemma: Balancing oversize furniture

How was your weekend?
Why is it harder to come back from a three day break than a full vacation?
I actually did a good job of unplugging this weekend.  Not much computer time, no work stress.   I need to do this more often.

But we are back today with a design dilemma.

Nowadays, we all have a lot of stuff, and if you live in an older house there isn't always a ton of built in storage. A reader writes in that she bought a number of dressers for a master bedroom that turned out to be bigger than expected.  She needs the storage space and returns on furniture are expensive, so she wants to work with them.  Because of the layout of the room, all three dressers are on one side, across from the king sized bed.

What she needs is BALANCE.

Here's how to get it:

Option 1: Use furniture
All that furniture on one side of the room is most easily balanced by more, right-scale furniture.  Swap out one of the three dressers for a pair of bachelor's chests which double as nightstands.

Option 2: Use color
If furniture is not an option, two pairs of panels in a heavy fabric (think lined velvet, not sheer silk) and a darker color will give plenty of weight to this side of the room.  Keep existing night tables.

Option 3: Create architecture
Prefer to keep the colors light?  Add valances or pelmets and trim them out with ribbon or trim for an additional sense of architecture.  Fake a bigger window by extending the valances a foot beyond the window frame on the outside of each window, and create a curtain with double fullness.

Instant balance!

Got a design dilemma of your own?  Shoot me an email at heather [at] heatherpetersondesign [dot] com