How to Draw a Room to Scale for Decorating

It is important to be able to draw a room to scale when you are decorating your home. Having your room drawn to proper scale gives your a guide to bring with you when you are buying carpet, or furniture, and it can even be useful in helping you to arrange furniture in a room. Follow these steps and you will be able to draw a room to scale.

To draw a room to quarter inch scales means that for every linear or square foot in the room, you will have one-quarter inch on paper. So one foot in real life equals one-quarter inch on paper. You can purchase graph paper in quarter inch scale, you you don't have to worry about using a rule when converting your measurements to paper.

To draw a room to scale you will need one-quarter scale graph paper, a measuring tape, and a pencil. Once you have secured your items, you need to measure your room in feet (not inches). Transfer your measurement to your paper by making a quarter inch line for every foot. So if your room is 12 feet long, your line will be 12 boxes long. When you have measured width and length of the room and transferred it to paper, you should have a miniature representation of your room on paper.

Don't forget to include any structural elements in the room like bay windows, diagonal walls, and bump-outs. Transfer these measurements to the room. Measure all four or more walls in the room. Don't make guesses. You will want to make sure your room is drawn correctly.

Transfer doors and window to your drawing as well. Mark your doors by making an angled line in the direction that the door opens. Designate windows by drawing a very skinny rectangle where the window is placed. Be sure to check the placement of your windows and doors by measuring from the nearest corner of the room, then making a corresponding mark on the paper. Then measure the width of the door or window and and make another mark in the corresponding space.

Once your room is drawn to scale, make several copies. You can also draw your main furniture items to scale and cut them out so you can move them around and look at different furniture arrangements in the room. Take your room drawing with your when purchasing furniture or flooring, this will help you to get a decent estimate at the design stores.

Your room is now drawn to scale. You can use these drawings when purchasing carpet or other flooring. You can also use these drawings to determine where you want to place furniture in the room, or make to indicate changes you want to make in the room.