How to Create a Space Plan + Video Tutorials for Homestyler
Planning room layouts is one of my favorite parts of the design process. It may sound pretty nerdy, but it’s the truth! It’s one of the very first things I do when I dive into a room design. Starting with the space plan helps me get a sense for the scale of the pieces I’ll be looking for and their placement in that space. Getting those two right is important for both the look and the function of the room.
You want to make sure you have “good flow,” which means that you can easily walk from one room to the next, navigate the furniture in a space, and pass by others without any awkward interaction (no shimmying!). The goal is to make it natural to move through and within a space.
Now, I don’t want this to be an intimidating process - taking time to learn a few key numbers and measurements will actually make designing your home a more enjoyable experience! Playing with numbers may not feel very glamorous or exciting, but think of it as a helping you create a roadmap to a well-decorated room. Learning how to create a space plan is pretty simple and we’re going to walk through the steps here. After you go through this lesson, head to the next one that has Cheat Sheets with some key measurements you’ll want to keep in mind as you’re putting your own plan together.
So what does it look like to create a space plan?
Designing a room that functions well and has good flow requires a little bit of technical know-how and a little bit of trusting your instincts. In order to create a space plan, you’ll want to have these things at the ready:
Your plan for the project to remind you of the functional needs and goals of the space.
Your Budget and Item Tracker spreadsheet that lists out the furniture you’ll be purchasing as well as a list of any existing pieces you’ll be using. (Make note of the measurements of those existing pieces so you can add them to the space plan.)
The hand drawn floor plan from your Project Planning Worksheet (grab one here if you don’t have it already!).
Space Planning Cheat Sheets. I mentioned these in the intro above, but these can be your guide to making sure you set everything up well for good flow.
A browser window open to Homestyler, a free, easy-to-learn web-based floor planning software program.
Once you have everything ready, it’s time to create your digital floor plan so you can play around with furniture arrangements.
Going digital with a tool like Homestyler allows you to easily create a plan with to-scale pieces of furniture and decor. When you can input the exact measurements of your existing pieces and/or new ones you’re sourcing, you’ll be able to see exactly what it will look like when it’s set up. How cool is that? Below you’ll find a video introduction to Homestyler, but before we get there, I’ll give a quick run down of what to expect.
When you first open Homestyler, it can seem a little intimidating, but once you learn where the tools are and how to find what you need, you’ll be set! Be sure to create an account (it’s free) so you can save your designs and go back to them later, and then once you’re “in,” you can create a new design.
Once you’re at the home screen of a new design, hit play on the video to watch a tutorial to get you started:
Introduction to Homestyler
The 2D space plans you create in Homestyler are a bird’s eye view of the space, so you’ll want to focus mostly on the major pieces you can “see” from that angle.
Once you’ve watched the introductions, take a look at this short video showing you a couple of other tips and tricks including how to measure the amount of space between pieces as well as how to look at the room from a 3D perspective. Those two tools are the icing on the cake, if you will, for this software and don’t require any fancy skills!
Have fun designing your room and playing around with different furniture arrangements! Figuring out what works best now will save you a lot of time, money, and energy down the road as you source actual pieces. Sticking to the dimensions of items in your space plan will help ensure your room will have the right scale and proportions as you put it together in real life!
Have questions about the software? Hop on over to the Community and ask away.
