1.Start with a rough sketch

Before you measure anything, stand in the doorway and draw the room as seen from above, looking down, a simple bird’s-eye outline. It does not need to be neat or to scale. Mark the doorway you are standing in, then every window, door, fireplace, chimney breast, alcove, radiator and any column or step. This sketch becomes the page you write your measurements onto, so leave plenty of space around each wall.

Then draw the room a second way: one box per wall, as if each wall were a flat picture in front of you. These are your elevations (section 5), and they are where window, door, fireplace and electrical heights are recorded. Label your walls clearly, Wall A, B, C, D, going clockwise from the door, and use the same labels in your photographs.

2.Room dimensions — the plan

Measure the full length and full width of the room at floor level, skirting to skirting, holding the tape tight and level. Record the longest and widest points. Then measure each individual wall along its base, from corner to corner, and write the figure on that wall in your sketch.

• Each wall, corner to corner, at floor level (skirting board to skirting board).
• Overall room length and width, the maximum dimensions in each direction.
• Alcoves and recesses (for example either side of a chimney breast): measure the width and the depth of each one separately.
• Chimney breast or any projection: measure how far it projects into the room and how wide it is.
• Columns, boxed-in pipes, steps or level changes: measure their size and note their position from the nearest corner.

Note the floor finish in each area (timber, tile, carpet, stone) and whether there is a threshold or change of level at the doorway.

3.Checking the room is square

Very few rooms are perfectly square, and built-in joinery, rugs and large furniture are unforgiving of walls that splay. Measure the two diagonals of the room, corner to opposite corner, and write both down. If the two diagonals are equal the room is square; if they differ, the room is out of square and we will plan for it. You do not need to correct anything, just give us the honest numbers.

4.Ceiling height

Measure from the finished floor straight up to the ceiling. Take this in at least two places, ideally each corner, because ceiling height often varies across a room. Record the lowest and the highest reading.

• Standard ceiling height, floor to ceiling, in the main body of the room.
• Beams, bulkheads or downstands: measure the height to the underside of each, and its width and position.
• Sloping or vaulted ceilings: measure the height at the lowest point (eaves) and at the highest point (ridge), and the height of the wall where the slope begins.
• Coving or cornice: note its presence and approximate depth, it affects curtains, wall lights and tall joinery.
• Ceiling roses, existing pendants or fixings: note their position, measured from two walls.

5.All four elevations (the walls)

An elevation is each wall seen straight on, as a flat rectangle. For every wall in the room (Wall A, B, C, D and any more), record on its own elevation sketch: the wall’s width, the floor-to-ceiling height at each end, and the exact position and size of everything mounted on or set into that wall.

For each feature on a wall, give us two things: its size (width and height) and its position (the horizontal distance from the nearest corner, and the height from the finished floor). With those, we can place it precisely.

On every elevation, capture:

• Windows, doors, fireplaces and chimney breasts (detailed in the sections below).
• Wall lights, sockets, switches, TV points, data and aerial points (section 9).
• Radiators, air-conditioning units, vents and thermostats (section 10).
• Picture rails, dado rails, panelling, niches and any existing built-in joinery.
• Skirting board and architrave height (measure the depth from floor to top of skirting).

6.Windows

Windows drive curtains, blinds, furniture placement and how light moves through the scheme, so they need full detail. Measure each window separately and label it to match your elevation.

• Width of the window opening, and the height of the opening.
• Sill height: from the finished floor to the top of the windowsill.
• Head height: from the finished floor to the top of the window opening.
• Wall space above the window: from the top of the opening to the ceiling (or to any cornice). This decides whether curtains can be hung high.
• Wall space each side: the gap from the window to the adjacent corner or next obstruction, left and right, for curtain stack-back.
• Reveal depth: how deep the window sits into the wall (face of wall to the glass), which determines recess blinds.
• How it opens: casement, sliding, sash, tilt-and-turn, French or bi-fold doors to outside, and which way it opens.
• Radiator or obstruction under the window: note its size and clearance.

If a room has several windows, also record the distance between them so we can read the rhythm of the wall.

7.Doors

Doors and their swings dictate circulation and where furniture can and cannot go. Record each one.

• Door opening width and height (the structural opening, not just the door leaf).
• Position of the door from the nearest corner.
• Which way it opens: into the room or out, and which side it is hinged (the swing). Sketch the arc of the swing on your plan.
• Type: hinged, double, sliding, pocket, or opening to outside.
• Architrave width around the frame, and the clear wall space beside the door, this matters for switches and furniture.
• Access route: note the narrowest doorway, corridor, stair turn or lift between the street and this room, large furniture has to get in.

8.Fireplaces

A fireplace is usually the focal point of a wall, so the surrounding furniture, art and lighting are all set out from it. If your room has one, measure it fully on the relevant elevation.

• Chimney breast: overall width, how far it projects from the wall, and the alcove width and depth on each side.
• Fire surround / mantel: overall width and height, and the mantel shelf height from the finished floor.
• Fire opening: the width and height of the opening itself.
• Hearth: width, how far it projects into the room, and its height above the floor.
• Above the mantel: the clear wall height from the mantel shelf to the ceiling (for art, a mirror or a TV).
• Type: working, gas, electric or decorative, and the material (stone, marble, timber, cast iron).

9.Wall lights, sockets and switches

Existing electrics decide where lamps, wall lights and joinery can go, and what (if anything) needs moving before second fix. For every electrical point, give us its height from the finished floor and its distance from the nearest corner, recorded on the right elevation. Photograph each wall so we can cross-check.

Record the position and height of every:

• Wall light (existing fitting or a blanked outlet/back-box), including its height and projection.
• Socket (single, double or floor socket), with the number of outlets.
• Light switch (and how many gangs / which lights it controls, if you know).
• Dimmer, thermostat or control panel (heating, AV, blinds, smart-home keypad).
• TV point, aerial, satellite, data / network and telephone point.
• Ceiling light position(s) and any existing pendant or ceiling rose, measured from two walls.
• Shaver point, USB outlet or any other special outlet.

10.Radiators, AC and other services

• Radiators: width, height, depth (projection from wall), and position from the nearest corner. Note the valve positions.
• Air-conditioning / heating units: size and position, wall-mounted or ceiling.
• Underfloor heating: note if present (it affects rug choice and fixings).
• Air vents, extractor, MVHR grilles, and any access panels.
• Smoke / heat detectors and sprinkler heads on the ceiling.

11.Photographs to send

Take photographs in landscape, with as much daylight as possible, and stand in each corner to capture the opposite wall whole. Aim for the full set below.

• One photo of each wall (elevation), straight on, showing the full wall floor to ceiling.
• One photo from each corner looking across the room, four in total.
• A close-up of every window, door, fireplace and any built-in joinery.
• A close-up of each socket, switch, wall light and control panel.
• The view out of each main window (it informs the scheme’s light and mood).
• The ceiling, including any beams, slopes, roses or existing fittings.
• The floor finish and any threshold or level change.
• A photo of your finished sketch with the measurements written on it.

12.How to send it to us

Once you have your sketches, measurements and photographs, send everything to [email protected] with your name, the property address and the room name in the subject line. If you have an architect’s floor plan, a measured survey or CAD drawing, send that too, the more accurate the source, the better, and we will work from your drawing rather than the sketch.

If anything in this guide is unclear, or you would rather we arranged a measured survey for you, just ask. We would always rather answer a question now than design from a number that wasn’t quite right.