by Janette Peel

Created on: December 31, 2008

Whether you are buying new furniture, planning a fresh look for your home or moving house, drawing plans of your rooms should be the first step and is a good way of saving effort and avoiding costly mistakes.

A scale plan, a simple drawing setting out the important dimensions of a room, has many uses. If you are moving home, plans of the new rooms can help you work out the best furniture layout and let you know whether doorways or low ceilings will prove awkward during the move. If you want to replace or add to existing furniture, a plan quickly reveals what will work in the available space. For buying wallpaper or paint, the same plans can be used to estimate correct quantities of materials.

Plans can also provide useful information to pass on to workmen. Removal men will know where to site furniture. Plumbers, electricians and builders can familiarize themselves with a room before working in it and can also be informed of your exact requirements.

The main types of plan that are useful for these purposes are floor and wall plans. Floor plans give a bird's eye view of the room and show its length and width. They are useful for working out how much floor covering to buy and where to site furniture.

A wall plan shows the height of a room and detailed features such as doors, windows and alcoves. These plans are drawn wall by wall. They can be used to estimate quantities of paint and wallpaper, even curtain fabric, and to work out where to site fitted furniture.

A perspective drawing gives a three dimensional view of how a room looks and is useful when precise planning is needed, for example, for a fitted kitchen. However, these plans are complicated and are best left for a professional to do on a computer. Draw up your final plans accurately and keep them for future occasions. You will be surprised how often they will be used.

To draw a floor plan you will need:

Pad of 5mm squared paper or 2, 10 and 20mm graph paper

Retractable steel tape measure

Pencil and Ruler

Stepladder

Calculator

Start by making a rough outline sketch of the room on which to record its measurements as you take them. The plan doesn't have to be accurate at this stage.

Mark in the position of doors, window, radiators, power sockets, light switches, chimney breast, alcoves, fireplaces and other permanent features. It is also important to show the arc of the doors, which way they open, and note down whether the windows hinge, slide or pivot, since this affects the positioning of the furniture.

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