Speaker A
[Music] Hi everybody, it's Alexander here from Marlow Room by Room. I'm with my colleague Venus, who works with us in the studio and is one of the designers. We are going to measure this client condo today, so we're going
Interior designer Alexander and Venus demonstrate how to measure a home accurately, including tips on tools, drawing floor plans, and noting key room features.
Key Takeaways
- Measuring in pairs is easier but solo measuring is possible with the right tools.
- A rough floor plan with notes is essential before taking measurements.
- Overall room dimensions help verify accuracy of detailed measurements.
- Marking all architectural features prevents furniture placement mistakes.
- Accuracy within an inch is sufficient for interior design planning.
What the video covers
- Alexander and Venus from Marlowe Room by Room teach how to measure a client condo.
- They emphasize measuring in pairs but also show how to measure alone using tape measures and laser tools.
- Start by studying the space and drawing a rough floor plan noting bulkheads, closets, windows, and ceiling heights.
- Mark important room elements such as light fixtures, air conditioners, and openings to avoid furniture placement errors.
- Take overall room dimensions first to verify accuracy and then measure openings like windows and doors precisely.
- Explain the importance of sill height for window furniture placement decisions.
- Demonstrate using both tape measure and laser measuring tools for accuracy and ease.
- Highlight that measurements do not need to be perfect but should be within an inch for design purposes.
- Encourage adding text notes on drawings to communicate clearly with designers.
- Suggest additional resources for photographing interiors to complement measurements for design projects.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction and Tools Needed
- 00:43Starting in the Master Bedroom
- 01:18Studying the Space and Drawing Floor Plan
- 01:55Adding Major Elements and Notes
- 02:37Overall Dimensions and Measurement Tips
- 03:23Using Laser Measure and Tape Measure
- 04:58Measuring Windows and Doors
- 07:23Ceiling Height and Finalizing Measurements
- 07:51Closing Remarks and Additional Resources
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
to show you how to do it. One of the top tips that we can give right now is to measure in pairs. It's the easiest way to do it, but if you don't have somebody to work with when
Speaker A
you are measuring, you can also do it on your own. All you need is a tape measure, and our favorite tool is the laser if you have one. If you don't, don't worry about it. You also need, of course, drawing paper and
Speaker A
pens. But it's super easy. Don't be intimidated. We're going to start in the master bedroom, Venus, okay? And we're going to show you all the things you need to look out for: different bulkheads, weird corners, how to
Speaker A
place windows. Super easy. The first thing we're going to do is go in there, take a look, and draw the space, so come with us. So, of course, the first thing we always start with when we are measuring
Speaker A
is to draw up the floor plan, but we want to study the space first and take a look at all the things that are unique to the space. So, what do we have here, Venus? We have a bulkhead, entrance to the
Speaker A
bathroom, two closets, a store, and a different ceiling height, right? And from the corner over there? Yeah. We'll mark our light fixtures as well so we know where they're located, and, um, and yeah. Once we know the space, we can start to draw it. Of course, it's
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just a representation. It doesn't have to be perfect, but the goal is to draw something that you can then put the measurements on afterwards. So now that we've studied the room and the major elements that we need to
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measure, we take a break, we sit down, and we start to draw a representation of the floor plan. Now, that's super important because it takes away the pressure of getting it perfect. It doesn't need to be perfect. All you want to do is exactly what Venus
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has done here: just draw the perimeter, the footprint of the room, and start making note of all the major elements. So here we've got the floor-to-ceiling windows, the entry, the closets, and the entry to the washroom,
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and then just over there in the corner with a big X, Venus has recorded the air conditioner in the room just to make sure that we don't plan any furniture for that corner. So she's noting all of the openings here.
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This is a great way to communicate with your designer exactly what's what in the room, so make sure you put these little text notes on. And so now that we have the major elements in the room, we're doing these two dimension lines
Speaker A
here, which are the overall dimensions of the space. It's just a great way to check that your measurements are correct when you finish drafting it up. So these overalls are really for your designers to get a good sense of exactly how much
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space you have. And now that we have that, our floor plan is pretty much done, and we can start to take our measurements. So we're working with a tape measure, but we also like the laser every now and
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then, so we'll show you how to work with both. Start with our overall measurements and then begin to locate the openings on each wall. Okay, so our overall measurements are really important because it helps us to make sure that we've measured everything
Speaker A
else correctly. And what overall means is they're the two long measurements in the space from wall to wall, so this wall and its opposite, and then the wall behind the camera and its opposite, which is the window
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wall here. So this is a great time to have a partner. Thanks, Venus. When you're doing it with a tape measure, you want to make sure that you hold the tape really, really tight so it's nice and straight, so you get a
Speaker A
good accurate measurement. What we have here is 10 feet. Venus, thanks. I got it. Now, while Venus is recording that on the floor plan, I'll just show you how you can also use a laser. These are great, available at most
Speaker A
home stores and also great for just doing measurements by yourself. So what you do is you just position the laser against the wall, press the arrow the first time so that you can see the red laser mark. You can see what you're
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measuring there, and then you press it again, and we've got exactly nine foot 11 and 15/16 of an inch, which is 10 feet. All right, so the overall again from this side of the room to the wall behind the camera, we'll grab
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that as well. And Venus, we've got 11 foot 6. Okay, so while we're here, we might as well start locating openings. We'll start with the window, from the corner of the wall, from the corner to the inside edge of the window opening. Yep,
Speaker A
12 inches. Perfect. You want to record that, and I'll take the inside measurement of the window here before we do the height. Perfect, thanks. Okay, so it's actually a sliding glass door that's 82 inches. Now, it's worth noting
Speaker A
here that while we have a door, meaning that the glass goes all the way down to the floor, you might have a window in your project, and if that's the case, you have a sill. So sill height is really important
Speaker A
because it allows us to know whether or not we can use the space in front of the window to place a piece of furniture. Obviously here we wouldn't; we have a door. But if you have a window with, say, a
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24 or 30 inch sill height, it might be the right spot for a window bench or a window seat. So I'm also going to measure here the height of the window opening, and we'll do this consistently with all window and door openings in the space. So, Venus, we've got 93 inches. Thank you. All right, and I'm just going to continue along. So Venus has drawn our floor plan, and she's included this air handler here, this shaft in the
Speaker A
middle of the room, or in the corner of the room rather. And so the front face is 39 inches, side is 25 inches. Venus, the reason you don't want to miss them is because if they're not on the plan,
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then we might assume we can select a beautiful piece of furniture or something for that corner that actually doesn't fit. So make sure you don't miss those things. Why don't we get the wall here to locate the door, the door
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opening exactly? We've got 68 and a half inches. Thank you. Great. And while we're here, we'll also measure the height and the width of the door opening, and these again can just be positioned as text on your drawing anywhere near the
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door. If we have any questions, of course, we'll ask you when we speak to you on Zoom. And, uh, 84.5 inches high, and the width is 32 inches. We'll continue to go around the room and finish the openings, but I
Speaker A
think we'll just get ceiling height now while we're here. Now, of course, this is going to be much easier to do with a laser, which we always do, but if you don't have a laser, you can also do it with a tape measure.
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This one is a great tape measure because it's very rigid, so it stays nicely, but you just position it on the floor here and climb it up the wall, and we've got nine feet. So this is the finished
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product of our measurement this afternoon. You know, it's not very tidy; it's a little messy, and that's absolutely fine. This is what it should look like. Don't worry if you missed something; we'll know from the pictures, and
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we'll certainly ask you in an email or via Zoom. In terms of accuracy, know that if you can get us to about within an inch of a measurement, that's just fine. But this is it, so have fun with it and
Speaker A
happy measuring. If you do need some help knowing how to take photographs for interior design, please check the link here. Those two pieces of the puzzle will certainly help us pull your room together and get started on your project, which we're very excited
Speaker A
to do. So thanks very much for watching, and we look forward to meeting you soon. Bye for now. [Music] Now [Music] You
Speaker A
to do so thanks very much for watching and we look forward to meeting you soon bye for [Music] now [Music] you
Topics:interior designhome measurementfloor plan drawingtape measurelaser measureroom dimensionswindow measurementsdoor measurementsbulkheadsinterior design tips
