Planning a bedroom layout
Position the bed first, then check access on each side, wardrobe doors and drawers, and the door swing. Includes a worked example with real numbers.
A bedroom has one dominant object and several pieces that need space in front of them to be usable. Plan in that order: bed, then storage, then everything else.
Step by step
- Enter the room and its fixed features. Door with swing, windows, radiators, and any built-in wardrobe as a fixed obstacle.
- Use the bed frame’s real size. A frame is larger than its mattress, sometimes by 10–20 cm in each direction with a headboard and footboard. Type the frame’s overall width and length.
- Try the bed on each possible wall. Most people prefer the head against a solid wall, not under a low window sill and not directly behind the opening door, but your room may not allow every preference.
- Check access beside the bed. For a bed shared by two people, access on both sides makes getting in and out and changing sheets easier. Many planners start from about 60 cm (24 in) per side as a comfortable minimum; that is a suggestion, not a rule, and a bed against a wall on one side is a normal compromise in small rooms.
- Place the wardrobe and check its doors. A hinged door needs its own width in front of it. Sliding doors need none, but drawers inside still pull out.
- Add drawers and bedside tables last, then read the distances on the plan.
Worked example
The room is 340 cm wide and 380 cm long. A double bed frame of 145 × 200 cm is centred on the 340 cm wall. Space on each side: (340 − 145) ÷ 2 = 97.5 cm. Adding a 45 cm wide bedside table on each side still leaves 52.5 cm between each table and the side wall.
A 60 cm deep wardrobe stands on the opposite wall. Between the foot of the bed and the wardrobe front: 380 − 200 − 60 = 120 cm. If its hinged doors are 50 cm wide, an open door reaches 50 cm into that gap, leaving 70 cm to stand in while it is open. That works. With a 212 cm long frame the gap would be 108 cm and 58 cm respectively — tighter, and worth knowing before you choose the longer bed.
Children’s rooms and bunk beds
Bunk beds, cots and high sleepers come with manufacturer’s safety instructions about ceiling clearance, guard rails, distance from windows and ladders. The planner shows floor footprint only. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for everything else.
Common mistakes
- Planning with mattress size instead of frame size.
- Putting a chest of drawers where the drawers open into the bed.
- Letting the room door hit a wardrobe or bedside table. Add the door swing to your plan.
- Covering the only radiator with the headboard.
Limits
The planner draws closed footprints. It does not open drawers or doors for you. Add a temporary rectangle the size of an open drawer if you want to see it.
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