The Easy Guide to Measuring Your Room

Knowing the dimensions of your room is the foundation of any successful interior design project. It ensures the furniture and decor not only fit but also complement the proportions and flow of your space. Whether you’re measuring it for your own use, or passing it along to your designer (a.k.a me!), this step-by-step guide will help you measure your room like a pro.

You Will Need:

- Tape Measure

- Graph Paper (or white paper, but graph helps to draw straight lines)

- Pencil and Eraser

- Dark-colored Pen (Optional)

- Straight Edge or Ruler

- Laser Distance Measurer (optional)

Step 1: Prepare Your Space

Clear the room as much as possible to get easier access to walls, corners, and built-in features.

Step 2: Draw a Rough Sketch

With your pencil draw a rough, birds-eye-view outline of the room. This won’t have measurements yet, you’re simply drawing walls, doors, windows, and any other architectural features that you see. It should reflect the room's basic shape and elements.

Step 3: Measure the Overall Dimensions

Start by measuring the overall length and width of the room from wall to wall. Note these measurements on your sketch. For accuracy, measure each dimension at least twice and at different points, since walls can be uneven.

Note: I also like to make a key and quickly place the approximate location of electrical plugs and ceiling lights. This can greatly influence the layout of your room later.

Step 4: Measure Door, Windows, and Other Features

Measure the distance of each door and window from the nearest corner of the room. Measure to the outside of the window or door. Then, measure the dimensions of the doors and windows themselves (including any frames, sills). Next measure built-ins like shelves, fireplaces, and cabinets. Note their dimensions, including depth, and their distance from other things in the room.

Note: For this step it's a good idea to re-draw the room using a ruler and pen to make the lines straight and clear. This makes it easier for you and/or your designer to reference later. You'll notice I draw a curve where to show the direction of the door, and I fill in the windows to make it clear where they begin and end.

Step 5: Elevated Drawings

If you are thinking about window treatments, how tall a piece of furniture should be, or hanging art, you may want to include an elevated drawing as well. This drawing will represent how tall the walls are, and where any windows or doors sit within the walls. First, measure the ceiling to floor. Then, measure how high a window or door is from the floor, its distance from the ceiling, as well as the height of the window itself.

Note: If your ceiling slopes or has varying heights in any areas please make note of this as well.

And that's it! Remember, if you have any questions, contact us! As long as you have the basic measurements correct, I can do the rest for you!