Although residences range in size from large houses to one-room, or studio, apartments, they must accommodate the same basic living areas.

Entrance. A hall or foyer, the first area of the home to greet visitors, should allow easy passage to the rest of the house and should indicate what atmosphere and style to expect there. The amount of furniture will depend on the size of the entryway, which should not be overcrowded. Since relatively little time is spent there, it may be decorated more dramatically that other rooms, with bolder colors and patterns on walls and floors and perhaps with a highly ornamented piece of furniture. Soft diffused lighting will enable the eye to adjust from outdoor to indoor light and create an effect of warmth.

Living Room. Because the living room is no longer the formal Victorian front parlor but rather, the place where the whole family spends much of its leisure time, its design deserves prime consideration. Generally speaking, the living room should provide for a variety of activities-conversation, reading, writing, car playing, performing or listening to music, watching television-while maintaining a simple, uncluttered appearance. It should also reflect the particular family’s tastes and pattern of living. These factors will determine the basic character and style of the room, including the furniture and its arrangement, fabrics, accessories, and color schemes. For example, it the family frequently uses the living room to watch television, the set and searing accommodation should be arranged for comfortable viewing.

Dining Room. In today’s homes the space for dining may be the traditional separate room or especially in city apartments, an area set off from other room. Whichever, it should provide simply, a comfortable place to eat. If the dining area is a room open to view from other rooms, its colors should be carefully related to those of adjoining rooms; for example it may be in lighter, calmer values of a brilliant living room scheme. If the dining area is part of another room, the furnishings of both areas must be imaginatively related in character and color scheme. The limits of the dining space may be indicated by a change in wall of floor treatment or by using a piece of furniture, such as a screen or chest, as a room divider.

Kitchen. The efficiency of a modern kitchen depends on an economical traffic pattern between conveniently related works centers grouped around major appliances. The refrigerator center should include a counter adjacent to the refrigerator on which to place food, and possibly a freezer, although a freezer could be in a separate utility room. The sink center, which may include a dishwasher, requires ample counter space on either side of the sink for preparing food and stacking dishes.

Bedroom. In the modern house the bedroom is no longer just a space to sleep but is also a room for reading, sewing, talking, watching television, and other quit occupations. Many people prefer to make it more closely resemble a living room or at least to appear large enough to accommodate these other activities.

Quinn Warren has been in the field of interior design for a long time and maintains a website about interior design schools where you can get answers to the rest of your questions.