Space Planning

One of the most critical steps in interior design–the space plan–is often the most skipped.  Without a space plan, you are gambling with your furniture budget!  Here are steps to creating a basic space plan:

  1. A space plan requires first that your room be accurately measured, including windows, doors, electrical outlets, heating vents, anywhere the wall juts out or indents, pathways, etc.
  2. Then those measurements need to be transferred to paper (or computer software) so that you can see the room in proper scale.
  3. Analyze how the room will be used, what pieces of furniture are needed, how many people do you want to seat, are there special factors to consider such as facing a TV, allowing for book shelving, reading, sitting by the fireplace, etc.
  4. Select the furniture pieces (sofa, chairs, tables, etc.)  that work best and are in proper scale for the room, measure them and add to the space plan in a way that allows you to easily move the furniture around on the space plan.
  5. Try different arrangements, keeping in mind there needs to be enough room between the furniture, the pieces need to relate to each other, etc.
  6. Consider the various pathways through the room.
  7. Flesh out the space plan with rugs, lighting, accessories.
Share