Small homes and studios
Living zone Furniture Planning for Small homes and studios
Specify the occupied size, operating clearance and route into the building before choosing furniture by catalogue dimensions.
Explore the ideas
Compare the options
- Set the brief
- Use templates at the size of the actual furniture. Include seated users, open drawers and reclined positions where relevant.
- Compare
- Decide which items need to move independently and which benefit from built-in anchoring.
- Before buying
- Confirm that the largest pieces can turn at the entrance, lift lobby and corridor, or specify assembly in place.
Worked example
A deep sectional looks suitable online but may block the only route to a garden door.
Tape its full footprint, including reclined seats, and verify it can enter through the doorway before ordering.
How to test it
Overlay the furniture in its stored and in-use positions, then check both against the measured plan.
Apply it to this space
- Layout
- Anchor seating on a wall and preserve a central route; use a movable table rather than fixed dividers.
- Detail
- Choose a sofa with hidden storage and a rug to mark the lounge footprint.
- Trade-off
- A larger sofa improves comfort but limits hosting and sleeping flexibility.
- Mock furniture footprints with tape
- Check clear route to windows and entry
The Elixir portfolio
Details worth a closer look
