Small homes and studios
Work nook 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
Imagine choosing a desk, task chair and storage cabinet for a room reached through a tight apartment corridor. Catalogue dimensions appear to fit the room itself.
Tape each item's occupied footprint, including chair pullback and cabinet doors, then measure the entry turns. Prefer knock-down assembly or smaller independent pieces if a full cabinet cannot turn into the room.
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
- Fit a desk into an alcove or wall run near daylight but away from the bed’s direct sightline.
- Detail
- Use a fold-down desk, task lamp and a concealed cable route.
- Trade-off
- A fold-down surface saves space but offers less permanence and equipment capacity.
- Check chair pullback when desk is open
- Test screen glare at work hours
The Elixir portfolio
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