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This honestly surprised you? Even Candace Olsen draws a floorplan at the beginning of her show - That's "Space Planning 101".

Tho a floorplan doesn't do a darned bit of good if it isn't to scale and the furniture pieces aren't drawn to scale - When I worked in a showroom for office furniture, I can't count the number of times that a "Decorette" would come in either without a floorplan or with a hand-scrawled "floorplan" that had incomplete/inaccurate measurements and included pieces drawn in that were not to scale and could never fit.

I've always done this! It's best if you the kind of paper that already has those tiny squares on it. Then you say that each square is 10 inches or whatever, and you take it from there. A good way to spare your back and legs before moving stuff around!

www.floorplanner.com
It's free, includes furniture that can be placed and resized, and has a 3d option.

bepsf, you're better. So glad to see you back in action. I've missed your comments~~

The basic rule of design (at least for me) is that if it doesn't work, it doesn't matter what it looks like. A properly scaled floor plan and, in some cases, wall elevations, is priority one. More than just the furniture fitting, there needs to be thought about how a person will get around that space. I once had a client tell me to arrange the bedroom with a bed pushed against the wall--his wife won't mind.

I've done the same thing that Jennie K. described...since elementary school! I remember having my bed stick out from the corner of the room at a diagonal...just because I knew it would fit :)

Designing without starting with a floorplan would be like choosing the makeup, hairstyle, and clothing for a woman you've never seen. It might co-ordinate but it might not fit.

I prefer drawing plans by hand (to scale). I've hand drawn plans for my living room so many times I know the exact dimensions of every wall, window, door, radiator and piece of furniture off by heart and that is incredibly handy to know when out shopping and wondering if something will fit.

Yes very standard procedure and wanted to add to ensure the best layout add electrical outlets, phone/data outlets onto scaled plan as well. Also, good to add light switches and thermostats to plan.

Common mistake is buying too big to fit through doors and elevators too.

"bepsf, you're better. So glad to see you back in action. I've missed your comments~~"

Thank You so much!

Yes, I've been recovering from gall-bladder surgery in recent weeks - I highly recommend against it!

I am addicted to making floor plans - it drives my husband crazy. : D

I prefer using the computer, though. I usually just open up Adobe Illustrator and begin my virtual rearranging. Any program that allows you to easily apply custom measurements to "shapes" would work, however, if you want an alternative to graph paper and a ruler.

Love that first image. So cute!

I have even resorted to using "The Sims" to set up a floor plan for a quick and dirty way to help me visualize a space from above.

prometheanne, i too am addicted to making floor plans! i even did a fantasy one for the last gingerbread house i made. my co-workers thought i was a total dork. i do everything in 1/4" scale, but i'm terrible at math, so i have to have the online feet to inches converter at hand when i find a piece i want to scale.