Sometimes you just need a little inspiration to get your creative juices flowing. These sample furniture layouts are meant to help you visualize different furniture layouts. My hope is that they help you see the possibilities in your own spaces.
Bedroom Layout Ideas
Bedroom layouts tend to be fairly standard. But here are a few ideas…
Bedroom Layout 1
A bed with a nightstand or two by the head and a bench at the foot if there’s room. Of course you may want a chair and a dresser comes in pretty handy!
Bedroom Layout 2
If you have a long space, like we currently do, you could add a chair in the corner, a dresser and maybe even a fireplace and TV.
Bedroom Layout 3
If you have a small bedroom, think more minimalistically. You don’t need the full bedroom suite that your local big box store sells. Keep a bed (obviously), a nightstand (or two) and a cozy rug. If you can fit it comfortably, add a dresser. But if there’s not room, purge and use a closet organizer.
More bedroom layout tips:
- Put the head of the bed on your longest wall, if possible, to give the impression of great flow.
- It’s absolutely okay to put a bed in front of a window, and often this will make the most sense in a room. But avoid a big, solid headboard if the window is small or it provides minimal light to the room. Maybe try a metal headboard that you can see between the spindles, or a shorter headboard that fits under the window.
Key Bedroom Measurements:
In the Interior Design Measurements You Need to Know guide, I list all the important measurements you need. Make sure you refer to it when planning your room layouts.
Here are a few key measurements for bedrooms:
- Nightstands – typically the height of a nightstand should be the same as the height of your mattress. The most common nightstand heights are 26 to 28 inches. Smaller nightstands should be used in smaller rooms and with smaller beds.
- Dressers sizes vary greatly. The most important thing to consider is to make sure you have a wall for both the bed and nightstands and the dresser.
- Sitting area – if you want to add a sitting area to your bedroom, you will need an additional 8 foot by 8-foot space to accommodate seating, a table, plus the space to move around those things.
- Standard bedroom furniture sizes:
- Twin-size bed: 39 inches wide by 80 inches long
- Double or full-size bed: 54 inches wide by 80 inches long
- Queen-size bed: 60 inches wide by 80 inches long
- Eastern king-size bed: 76 inches wide by 80 inches long
- California king-size bed: 72 inches wide by 84 inches long
- Chest of drawers: 30 inches wide by 18 inches deep
- Nightstand: 18 inches wide by 18 inches deep
Living Room Layout Ideas
Unlike bedrooms, living rooms can have a wide range of furniture and thus several different options for layouts. The trickiest living rooms to plan are of course the ones with entrances and windows and other obstacles. Long, narrow living rooms can also be tricky.
Depending on your preferences, you may want to give preference to a tv. At the very least you’ll have some sort of focal point.
Here are a few layout ideas for living rooms, using one of our previous living rooms as an example.
Living Room Layout 1
Despite having a lot of entries and foot traffic, this layout provides a lot of seating, which is perfect for having company over or for a large family. The focal point is an electric fireplace with a TV mounted above it. There’s room for a small desk and even a separate cozy seating area in the corner. Plus, because we used open shelving instead of side tables, there’s a lot of storage space too!
Living Room Layout 2
This living room layout would work if you have two larger sofas for seating. In this case, the electric fireplace is a little larger and on the other side of the room. There’s still space for a desk, but the main seating is limited to the two sofas.
Living Room Layout 3
This layout has only one couch and a couple of arm chairs, again with the fireplace tv focal point. But it also has space for a small table and chairs. This would work as somewhere to eat, if your dining space was otherwise non-existent (like in a small house or apartment) or if you wanted a spot in your living room to play games or do puzzles.
Key Living Room Measurements:
In the Interior Design Measurements You Need to Know guide, I list all the important measurements you need. Make sure you refer to it when planning your room layouts.
Here are a few key measurements for Living Rooms:
- Walkways between large furniture pieces should be at least 36 inches.
- Space between couch and coffee table needs to be 18” to accomodate for leg room and “walking around” room.
- Max distance between seating for conversation is 8-10 feet.
- The center of your TV should be at eye level when seated if possible, which is approximately at 42 inches.
- The traditional “distance from seating measurement” for a TV is 2.5 times the diagonal size of the tv. Some people recommend only 1.5 times that distance for new higher res screens. So, for example if you have a 50 inch tv, it should be 75 inches to 125 inches (about 6 to 10 feet) away from your seating.
- A TV over a fireplace is often not recommended by designers. However, it is often the only logical location. In this case, don’t worry about what the “experts” say.
- The distance between a pair of chairs in a conversation area should be 42 inches. Or enough room to fit a small table between.
- Standard living room furniture sizes:
- Three-seat sofa: 35 inches deep by 84 inches wide
- Loveseat: 35 inches deep by 60 inches wide
- Armchair: 35 inches deep by 35 inches wide
- Coffee Table: 48 inches long by 30 inches wide
- Square end table: 24 inches long by 24 inches wide
- Rectangular end table: 28 inches long by 25 inches wide
Dining Rooms
The basics for any dining room are a table, chairs and hopefully somewhere to store and display dishes, glasses and table linens. What you can fit into your dining room comfortably depends on the size and shape of the room!
I’ve used a dining room with a large window, a doorway to the kitchen on one end and a large opening to a living room on the other.
Dining Room Layout 1
This dining room has a standard sized table and chairs and a long-ish buffet for storage.
Dining Room 2
This dining room has essentially the same furniture, but two of the chairs are replaced by a bench. This allows for a larger walkway through the dining room, which is something to consider if your dining room is on the smaller or narrower side. Plus if you have smaller windows, you could create a built in banquette instead of the bench for more storage!
Dining Room 3
This dining space utilizes a round table (with hidden extensions) for a spacious feel. You could potentially squeeze a long, narrow set of shelves on the wall opposite the window. There’s even room for two extra dining chairs!
Key Dining Room Measurements:
In the Interior Design Measurements You Need to Know guide, I list all the important measurements you need. Make sure you refer to it when planning your room layouts.
Here are a few key measurements for Dining Rooms:
- The distance between top of table and chair seat should be 12 inches. So, if your tabletop is 30-inches high get chairs that have an 18-inch seat height.
- The bottom of any dining room light fixture should be 36 inches above the tabletop for an 8-foot ceiling. (For higher ceilings, hang your chandelier 3 inches higher for each foot of additional ceiling height.)
- The width of your chandelier should be ½ to 2/3 of the table length.
- For a rug under a dining table the rug should be at least 24 inches longer and wider than the table. 30 to 36 inches is better so that the chairs are on the rug even when they’re pulled out.
- The space between table and walls should be 36-42 inches to allow for traffic flow around the table and chairs.
- Standard dining room furniture sizes:
- Side chair: 18 inches deep by 18 inches wide
- Armchair: 18 inches deep by 22 inches wide Round tables
- To seat four people: 36- to 44-inch diameter
- To seat four to six people: 44- to 54-inch diameter
- To seat six to eight people: 54- to 72-inch diameter Oval tables
- Start with a 36- to 44-inch diameter table and use leaves to extend it
- To seat four to six people: 36-inch diameter (minimum) x 56 inches long
- To seat six to eight-8 people: 36-inch diameter (minimum) x 72 inches long
- To seat 8 to 10 people: 36-inch diameter (minimum) x 84 inches long Square tables
- To seat four people: 36- to 33-inch square Rectangular tables
- To seat four people: 36 inches wide x 48 inches long
- To seat four to six people: 36 inches wide x 60 inches long
- To seat six to eight people: 36 inches wide x 78 inches long
There are definitely ample ways to layout a room, and these are certainly just a few ideas to get you started.
If you’re still searching for more inspiration for plotting your furniture layout, check out my “Room Layout Ideas” board on Pinterest!
