Will the furniture fit? How to furnish on the drawing
It is cheaper to move a sofa on paper than in the living room. With the furniture drawn in real measurements, you see what fits before you have bought or carried anything.
I have carried a sofa up three floors and back down again. It fitted in the living room, but not through the door. Since then I draw first.
1. Measure the furniture
Measure the width, depth and height of what you own. For furniture you are thinking of buying, the dimensions are in the product description. Measure the outermost point: armrests, cushions that stick out and legs that splay.
2. Draw the room first
You need a floor plan with walls, doors and windows in the right measurements. Include radiators, sockets and switches too. They decide more than you would think.
3. Place the largest furniture first
Begin with what has the fewest possible places: bed, sofa, dining table. Small furniture always finds a spot in the end.
4. Check that you can get past
A common rule of thumb is to keep about 80 centimetres clear where people walk. Around a dining table you also need room to pull the chairs out.
5. Check doors, drawers and windows
Everything that opens takes up space when it is open:
- doors into the room, and which way they swing
- cupboard doors and drawers, pulled all the way out
- windows that need to be opened and cleaned
Draw them open, and see what they hit.
6. Try more than one layout
The first layout is rarely the best. Make two or three versions and compare them. On paper you can cut the furniture out to scale and move it around.
7. Check the way in
Measure the doorways, the hallway and the stairs the furniture has to pass through. It is often the turn in the staircase that decides, not the room.
In Plantekn: The furniture library has 112 types in real measurements, and 29 of them are free. You drag them in, rotate them and move them until it looks right. If yours is missing, you make it yourself with exact dimensions. If you get stuck, the app can suggest a layout based on the room type and the shape of the room. That is a Pro feature, but the free version gets to try it once per project. Finally you flip the plan to 3D, which is free.
Common mistakes
- Measuring the seat cushion, not the whole sofa. Measure the outermost point.
- Pushing furniture right up against the radiator. The heat needs to get out into the room.
- Forgetting that doors and drawers have to open. Draw them open.
- Planning the room, but not the way in. Measure the stairs.