This document provides information about home staging techniques including clearances around furniture, circulation paths, measuring rooms and furniture, drawing floor plans, and arranging furniture. It discusses guidelines for furniture layout based on function, focal points, and priority of large pieces. Specific measurements are given for typical furniture, fixtures, and clearances in rooms like living rooms, kitchens, dining rooms, and bathrooms. Drawing conventions for floor plans and exercises for measuring rooms and creating scaled floor plans with dimensioned furniture are also outlined. Students are assigned homework to create a room-by-room staging report and floor plans for their own homes.

1. Home Staging Week 4
Clearances
Circulation
How to Measure
How to Scale
Drawing Conventions
Dimensioning
Floor Plans Exercise
Furniture Arrangement
Discussion Q&A

2. Clearances
Refers to the distance between:
Architectural elements and furniture
Elements within a space, appliances etc.
Entry
Egress

3. Clearances
Most furniture items need open
space around them to be
accessible and functional.
Furniture arrangement is a visual
composition including clearances
or “space”.
Space itself is a design element,
negative and positive space affects
the overall perception of
spaciousness.
Space in design should be
considered in all three dimensions

4. Home Measurement
LIVING ROOM
Pictures/Art centre of frame height 57”
End table height below armrest 1-2”
Knee space couch to coffee table 9-18”
Screen Size 40” - 5-8 feet distance, 46” - 6-10 feet distance
52” - 7-11 feet distance

5. Kitchen
Microwave height - 54”
Food Prep counter ideal width - 36”
Island distance from counter 42”

6. Dining Room
Leg room between table and seat - 10”
Dining chairs space between - 12-18”
Space for chairs between wall and table - 24-36”

7. BATHROOM
Towel rack height - 48”
Height of sink -36”
Legroom radius around toilet - 16”
Toilet paper distance from sink - 8”

8. BEDROOM
Door width 24-36”
Foot traffic lanes for all rooms in house - 2-3’
Dresser drawers pullback space - 18”

9. Resource

10. Video on Furniture Resource

11. Circulation
Furnishings should not block easy
movement in a space
Plan around natural traffic pattern
as much as possible
Redirect a bad natural traffic
pattern
Circulation should not interfere
with a function – conversation
area, entertainment area, etc.

12. Circulation in Home Staging

13. Furniture Placement and
Circulation in Home Staging

14. Guidelines for furniture layout
FUNCTION
Consider how the room is used and how many people will use it. That
will dictate the type of furnishings needed and if it is a living
room/dining room the amount of seating required.
FOCAL POINT
Identify the rooms focal point whether it be a fireplace or bay window
and orient the furniture accordingly.
PRIORITY
Largest pieces of furniture should be placed first, chairs being no more
than 8 feet apart to facilitate conversation.

15. How to Read a Tape Measure

16. Drawing Floor Plans

17. Simple Way to Create Floor
Plans

18. How to Use a Scale

19. Drawing Conventions
Scale for floorplans use ¼”=1’-0”
Scale for Elevations use ½” = 1’-0”
Orientation if at all possible orient your direction so that N is facing up or the
entrance is at the bottom of the drawing
Dimensioning feet and inches for floor space and architectural elements
Inches only for furnishings
Extension Lines extend outside of the drawing, overall extension line farthest
away from the drawing dimensions on top of the line
Lettering is in block caps used for titles and scale information on drawings
Furnishings drawn in place on the drawing and dimensioned on top of the
furnishings
Architectural features dimensioned outside of the drawing

20. Typical Floor Plan

21. Tools

22. Room Shape
Rectangle or Square
• Balance furnishings
• Create a circulation pathway
• Reduce large items
• Soften the edges
• Use circular motifs or organic
shapes
• Emphasise focal point if
possible in centre of the room
across from doorway
Image Source: lastdetail.ca

23. Room Shape
L- Shaped
• Define functional areas
• Open space between two areas
• Direct flow
• Fixed or non fixed focal point in
each area
• Pay attention to entry ways,
circulation and potential dead
zones
• Circulate around rather than
through functional areas

24. Room Shapes
Bowling Alley or Long and
Narrow
• V shaped conversation area
•Angle furnishings
• Circular elements
• Organic forms
• Use art or other elements to fill
wall expanses
• Balance both sides of the room
Image Source: luvne.com

25. Room Shapes
Angled
• Created by walls, windows or fixed
elements
• Balance the angle
• Soften the edges
• Light the opposite angle
• Pay attention to traffic patterns and
sight lines
Image Source: home-design-information.com

26. Multi Purpose
Multi Purpose
-Define functional areas
-Continual sight lines
-Proportioned furnishings and
accessories
-Continuous cohesive colour
palette
-Repeated motifs, materials, style
-Circulation around functional
areas, not through
Image Source: memebrooks.com

27. Making Small Rooms Larger
• Choose properly scaled furniture
• Allow space around furnishings
• Use glass tables that don’t take up
visual space
• Use a monochromatic colour scheme
• Show your legs
• Remove the area rugs
• Expand the view
• Use mirrors and light to expand the
space
• Take advantage of the vertical space

29. Measuring and Floorplan
Exercise
Draw your floor plan to scale using your preferred method.
Measure and dimension all of the furnishings and architectural elements
in the room
Draw the furniture onto the floor plan dimension the furnishings.
Draw in the circulation pattern on the floor plan.
Bring to class next week.

30. For Next Week
Homework:
Walk through your home and create a room by room staging report.
Focus on the condition of the floors, walls, ceilings, furnishings and
accessories as well as colour and lighting in each space.
Bring your report to class next week.
Add before photographs and suggestions for staging each room in your
home.

31. Discussion