When it comes to interior designing, space planning is the key to a successful project. It’s all about utilizing the amount of space you have to its fullest potential, no matter how small or large the area is. Without proper space planning, rooms can end up overcrowded and uncomfortable. You may not have room to walk between the sofa and chairs or you may discover the dining room table is too big for the chairs to pull out so you can sit comfortably.

On the flip side, if there is too much space for the furnishings, rooms can appear cold and indifferent making it uncomfortable to relax. You need the right combination of space and furnishing to create the perfect design and that requires good space planning. The following tips can help to ensure your design ends up a total success instead of a disaster.

Determine What You Want

The first step in creating the perfect design is to determine what you want and expect to achieve once the project is complete. To accomplish this, you need to take some time to sit in each room separately and think about what you want it to look like once the work is finished. It’s also a good idea to jot down your thoughts as you go so you don’t forget any important details.

During this stage of planning, consider how you want to use each room. For example, is the living room for family only or do you plan to use it for entertaining guests? How many people will be using the space daily? What kind of mood do you want to create? The more you know about what you hope to achieve from the design project, the easier it will be for you to utilize the space effectively.

Create a Scaled Floor Plan

You must have a floor plan or blueprint of your design to ensure everything goes according to plan, so use it to help determine where the furniture should go, too. If you don’t have any experience with interior design, this stage of the project would be best left to the professionals. Your interior decorator will have the experience needed to envision how everything will look together.

He will be able to look at the space available and choose the best position and sizes for each room of your home in order to achieve the most comfort and to maximize usage. Once you know where you want to place the furniture, you can determine what size each item should be.

Take Measurements

One of the biggest mistakes that many people make when choosing furnishings is not taking measurements. Have you ever bought a sofa that you loved and had it delivered only to find out that it takes up too much space? It may have looked small in the store due to the large open display area when in reality, it’s much bigger than you expected.

It can be difficult to judge sizes and that is why taking measurements is so important. This way, you know the item will fit perfectly in the space provided. You may even need to have a few pieces custom made to ensure proper fit.

Determining what you want, creating a scaled floor plan and taking measurements are all part of space planning. Each step is necessary in order to achieve the desired look while maintaining functionality.