THE ROOM PLANNER FIELD GUIDE
A better layout starts with a tape measure.
Before you choose a color or buy a sofa, work out what needs to fit. This guide helps you use the online room planner as a first sketch, then check the details in your real room.
1. Measure the usable room
Measure the room’s length and width at floor level. Note skirting boards, radiators, built-in storage and anything that projects into the space. Measure again before ordering furniture.
The web planner supports one rectangular room. It does not model recesses, angled walls, doors or windows. Keep a separate note of those features and leave their space clear in your plan.
2. Put the largest piece in first
In a living room, start with the sofa. In a bedroom, start with the bed. In an office, place the desk where light, power and a comfortable working position make sense. Add smaller pieces only after the main one has a workable position.
3. Protect the routes you use every day
Trace the route from the doorway to the seat, bed or desk. Try to keep primary routes roughly 90 cm (about 3 feet) wide where practical. This is a planning starting point, not an accessibility or building-code specification. Your household’s needs and local requirements take priority.
Allow extra space for drawers, wardrobe doors, dining chairs and recliners in use. A footprint that fits while closed may not work day to day. The planner’s overlap warning checks furniture rectangles, not these operating clearances.
4. Compare three arrangements, not thirty
Use Balanced, Reversed and Across to explore a different wall or orientation. These starter arrangements scale their placement to your room dimensions. Small rooms may still produce overlaps, which the planner flags. There is no guarantee every starter fits every room.
5. Check with tape on the floor
Set furniture dimensions to match your actual pieces. Mark their outlines with removable tape, check door swings, and walk through the room. View your plan in 3D for a sense of arrangement, but use real measurements for buying and installation.
WORKED EXAMPLE · 10 × 10 FT BEDROOM
Same room, two useful trade-offs
A 10 × 10 ft room is 120 × 120 inches (about 3.05 × 3.05 m). These original sketches use a measured 60 × 80 inch bed footprint and a 36 × 18 inch dresser. Those are example outside dimensions, not a promise about a particular mattress or bed frame. Measure the full frame, headboard and handles of your own furniture.
Both sketches assume a clear south entrance and no fixed obstructions on the other walls. They deliberately omit bedside tables. Doors, windows, radiators, sockets and wardrobes can make either layout unsuitable. The diagrams are to scale for the furniture shown, not construction drawings.
- Side space: (120 − 60) ÷ 2 = 30 inches on each side. This is narrower than the roughly 36 inch planning starting point above, so do not label these as accessible routes.
- Foot space without the dresser: 120 − 80 = 40 inches.
- At the dresser: 120 − 80 − 18 = 22 inches between the closed dresser and bed. Drawer opening consumes more of that space. That is a pinch point to test, not a recommended clearance.
Choose this direction if: access to both sides of the bed matters most. Try moving storage outside this room or choosing a shallower piece rather than accepting a crowded foot route.
- Open side without the dresser: 120 − 60 = 60 inches.
- At the dresser: 120 − 60 − 18 = 42 inches with drawers closed. Subtract the actual drawer extension before judging the usable passage.
- Trade-off: the wall-side sleeper cannot get in from that side, and changing bedding is harder. This is not automatically better for two people or someone with mobility needs.
Choose this direction if: a larger continuous open area matters more than access to both bed sides, and the real door and window positions allow it. Never block an exit, ventilation or required access to a window.
Recreate and test either layout
- Open the planner and set both room dimensions to 10 ft (or 3.048 m).
- Set furniture to its actual outside measurements. The example bed is 1.524 × 2.032 m; the dresser is 0.9144 × 0.4572 m. Check the orientation in 2D after rotating.
- Place the largest item first. Use the dimensions above to compare the two arrangements; these sketches do not automatically load into the planner.
- Measure door swing and drawer travel separately, then mark the footprints on your floor with removable tape. Walk the real route with furniture in use.
- Save explicitly in My plan before leaving. An SVG export is a visual reference, not an editable backup or installation drawing.
Neither example proves a room is safe, code-compliant or accessible. For those requirements, consult local rules and an appropriately qualified professional. For photo-based style ideas rather than measured layouts, see AI room design in the app; website plans do not transfer automatically.