It's cheap, easy and fun to design
your own floor plans

Design your own floor plans

In the days gone by, before most people had computers, people would usually draw and design their own floor plans and then get them checked by either an architect, draughtsman, trades person or builder.

When designing your own floor plans is it is most important to measure with accurately, the length and width, including any odd shapes, of your room, plus the width and depth of each intended piece of furniture that you hope to place on the floor.



Items required for to draw and design your own floor plans

• A sharpened pencil
• A soft rubber
• One or two A3 sized sheets of graph paper with 10mm to1cm squares
• A notebook
• A metal tape measure to give accurate measurements. (a material one is not so accurate)
• A few sheets of thin cardboard to cut out the shapes of your furniture
• A pair of scissors
• Some paper glue
• A lot of patience!

Planning for the Design of your Floor Plan

• furniture for storage
• all the fixed items in the room such as windows, fitted furniture, protruding shelves, radiators, fire surround and electric and TV sockets, floor standing lamps and important pictures that need to be visible and treasured.

Note all Measurements in Centimetres

• Take your notebook and pencil draw as best you can, a rough diagram of the shape of your room.
• Measure the length of all the walls of your room and write the measurements in centimetres (cm.) on your diagram.
• Measure the widths of the doors and the windows . Add these measurements to your diagram.
• Measure any fixed items (as discussed above)and add these measurements, with an image or name, onto your floor plan
• Measure the height of your room and note it down. You may be looking at tall furniture at a later date.

How to draw your free floor plan to scale

The following method is the easiest way in which to design your own floor plan.

• On your graph paper you will notice that each square measures 1 centimetre (cm) and each centimetre square is divided into 10 by 10 tiny squares and each square measures 1 millimetre (mm).
• If your room is a rectangular shape and measures 4 metres by 3 metres or 400cm by 300cm then, if your graph paper is large enough, draw a diagram of your room’s rectangular shape one tenth of the size of the actual room, so 40 squares long and 30 squares wide.
• If your room measurements were 440cm, then the line would be 44 squares long and if it measured 445cm it would be 44 cm squares+5 tiny mm squares. (If one sheet of graph paper is too small, carefully stick two together with adhesive tape).
• Now you have a plan of your room on your graph paper the next job is to draw in all the fixed items. (see above)

Making the cardboard cut-outs of your Furniture

• Each piece of furniture must be scaled down, drawn on the thin cardboard and cut out with the scissors.
• You have the measurements of all your furniture, so scale them down in the same way as above. If a chair measures 85cm by 60cm the cut-out card would measure 8 squares (8cm) and 5 tiny squares (5mm) by 6 squares. Do this with all pieces of furniture you plan to place in your room.

Your creativity can now run riot with your project to design your own floor plan!

• Use the cut-outs to place onto your graph paper plan. Move them around and see where your furniture fits the best. Leave your plan on view and consider your designs for a few days. Most people change their plans many times. Let time pass until you are happy with your wonderful, almost free room plans.
• Enjoy looking at your plan and when you are sure everything is in the right place, either stick the cut-outs onto the graph paper or draw around them carefully .
• Now you know that you can design your own room plans but before you use them, it is advisable get to checked them out with a professional draftsman or designer.