Think back to the last time you updated a room in your home.

How many hours did you stress about the right layout?

How many times did your husband roll his eyes as you asked him to “try it over there this time”?

How many times did you give up and put all the furniture back because you just couldn’t get it right?

I’m going to guess quite a few.

Wouldn’t it be great to know exactly how things would look before moving a single piece of furniture?

And to know whether each piece will fit in the area you want it to go?

You don’t have to be a psychic to achieve this.

I’m going to teach you my super easy trick that gets it right every single time.

It’s the exact method I use in all my clients’ homes.

And it’s really easy.

Here’s what you need:

A measuring tape

A pair of scissors

A pencil

2-3 sheets of graph paper (you can print them for free from my Design Resource Library!)

Start by getting exact measurements of the room you’re working with.

Write these down on a scrap sheet of paper.

For the room I’m using, the space measures 12 feet by 14 feet.

If you have any awkward angles or extra walls, you’ll need to notate all of them.

Now create a shape of your room on the graph paper.

You can make each square equal six inches, one foot, two feet, or any scale you choose.

As long as it fits on the paper, you’re good to go.

I usually do one square for one foot for large rooms, and one square for half a foot for small rooms.

In this design, each of my squares equal half a foot.

Now break out that measuring tape and head back to your walls.

Measure the distance from each wall to each window and door, as well as the widths of each window and doorway.

Notate all of these measurements in your drawing, and be sure to keep them to scale.

In my design, there are three doors and one window.

When drawing windows, just a simple rectangle the width of the window will do.

When drawing doors, be sure to visualize the door’s swing.

You’ll want to show which way the door opens, and also how wide the swing is.

To create the door swing to scale, just draw the straight line the distance of the width of the door, then curve it in to the edge of the doorway.

(See the photo above for a visual)

Now that your room is drawn, it’s time to get to the fun part.

Whip out the measuring tape one more time and note the measurements of each major piece of furniture that will be going in the room.

If you don’t own the furniture yet and you’re planning ahead, you can get the measurements from the product’s website.

If the furniture is round or oval, measure it as if it were a square or rectangle by measuring from edge to edge.

Each piece of furniture should be noted on the scrap paper with a length and width.

On a new sheet of graph paper, you’ll create each piece of furniture to the scale of the room.

If your room scale was half a foot for each square, your furniture pieces will be drawn the same.

After you’ve drawn and labeled (labeling is VERY important) each piece, cut them out.

Now you’re ready to design your space!

You can move around the pieces as many times as you’d like without actually touching a piece of furniture.

When you find the layout you like best, tape the pieces in place, then you’re good to go!

If you really want to get fancy, you can include outlets, light switches, HVAC vents, and cable coax jacks into your layout for utilization in furniture placement.

I usually don’t do this for my own projects, but I do in my client designs.

Ready to get started on your own layouts?

Just print out my free graph paper sheets from the Design Resource Library and get to work.

I’d love to see your completed designs, too!

Post them on social media and tag me @inthenewhouse for a chance to be shared!

And if you still need help deciding on a layout that’s perfect for your family, I’d be happy to help.

You can check out my design services here to get your own professionally customized plan.