How to draw a floor plan yourself
You need neither an architect nor drafting software to get a floor plan you can trust. You need a tape measure, some patience and a fixed order of work.
I built Plantekn because I was renovating and needed a drawing I could measure from. The method below is the one I use myself. It works just as well with a pencil and squared paper. Where the app saves you a step, it says so.
1. Measure the room
Start in a corner and work clockwise. Measure each wall along the floor, and write the number down before you move on. Include:
- the length of each wall
- the width of doors and windows, and their distance from the nearest corner
- the ceiling height
- anything fixed: radiators, pipes, the chimney and the fuse box
Then measure both diagonals, from corner to opposite corner. If opposite walls are the same length and the diagonals are equal, the corners are right angles. If the diagonals differ, at least one corner is off. In that case, draw the room from the measurements you found, not as a clean rectangle.
In Plantekn: On a device that supports AR, you can measure from point to point with the camera instead of a tape measure.
2. Draw the walls
Begin with the largest room and build the others out from it. If you draw on paper, choose a scale first. 1:50 means two centimetres on the sheet is one metre in reality.
Most rooms are rectangles. Rooms with a slanted wall, a bay or a jog are drawn point by point, in the same order you measured.
In Plantekn: Pick a room type and drag the corners until the measurements match. The length is shown on each wall as you drag. Rooms that are not rectangles are drawn as polygons, and you move the points one at a time.
3. Add doors and windows
Place each door and window using the distance you measured from the corner. Draw which way the door swings as well. The swing decides whether there is room for a cupboard behind the door, and whether two doors collide.
4. Add the furniture in real measurements
Measure the furniture you own, or look up the dimensions of what you are thinking of buying. Draw it to the same scale as the room. On paper you can cut the pieces out and move them around.
Check two things: that you can get past, and that doors and drawers can open fully. A common rule of thumb is to keep about 80 centimetres clear where people walk.
In Plantekn: The furniture library has 112 types in real measurements, and 29 of them are free. If yours is missing, you make it yourself with exact dimensions.
5. See the room in 3D
A floor plan does not show everything. How tight it gets behind a door, and whether the kitchen island sits too close to the counter, only shows once the room has walls.
In Plantekn: Flip the plan to 3D and look at it from above, like a doll’s house. That part is free.
6. Work out the area
The area of a rectangular room is length times width. Split L-shaped rooms into rectangles and add them up.
If the number is going into a property listing or a sale, there are separate rules for what counts, and they vary by country. That measurement is a surveyor’s job. A drawing you made yourself is a planning tool.
In Plantekn: The floor area is calculated as you draw, and the total is always shown in the toolbar.
7. Share the drawing
A tradesperson needs measurements they can read. Write the wall lengths on the drawing, and state the scale.
In Plantekn: The plan can be sent as an image, a PDF, or a web page the recipient opens without the app. The free version adds a small watermark to exports. With Pro you can print on A4 at 1:50 or 1:100 and measure straight off the sheet.
Common mistakes
- Rounding as you go. Write down the centimetre you read. Round at the end, if you must.
- Assuming the corners are right angles. Measure the diagonals.
- Forgetting the door swing. A door takes up space in the room every time it opens.
- Drawing furniture by eye. A sofa is usually deeper than you think.