Can you fit another chair next to the couch? No matter how good one is at looking at space, there are always moments when eying something doesn’t quite cut it. That is why we tape out furniture shapes (and sizes) on the floor of a room before plopping down the cash for the big-ticket items.
Another great solution is the Icovia website program, which allows you to easily select, arrange and rearrange furniture to the exact measurements of your space. The program ain’t cheap ($29.95/month) but there is a free sample, and in truth, the $30 just might be worth it before you blow $2500 on that 92” sofa for the den.
Better Homes & Garden has a pretty good free room planner on their website (bhg.com, I think).
Adam is correct! In the Tools and Guides section is Arrange A Room, allowing you to drag and drop architectural and furnishing items. You can resize the individual items to reflect the actual size of YOUR current furniture, save, and print. And it is www.bhg.com
A friend used it to map out where her furniture would go when she was moving to a new place, and gave the printouts to the movers.
They also have Plan A Garden, Color A Room, etc. Lots of interactive things to play with. I sent RSW from the AT-NY boards over to Arrange A Room and he was playing with his arrangements for 2 hours, he said.
Accurate measurements of your own home (or future home) and your own furnishings makes the difference. Thinking it will fit and KNOWING it will fit are often two different things.
Carry a tape measure with you when checking out new items, before buying them. Come home and throw that new item into the Arrange A Room program, in one of your saved rooms, and see if that coffee table will fit.
They didn't have a washer or dryer in the BHG program, so I just used showers. Then showed my mom a house plan layout and she asked me why there were three showers. Well, *I* knew that the two smaller ones were laundry items.
So, make due with what they have and change it's shape or size to represent something they don't have.
I did my apartment with graph paper and cut out paper furniture. Worked. Unless a breeze came along and blew my futon or bookcase away.
Another free one to try is from the D.I.Y. network, http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/pac_ctnt/text/0,2019,DIY_14161_14281,00.html
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Thanks again.