Picking the Wrong Size Furniture for Your Home

• Real Estate Tips
• July 20, 2018

When it comes to finding different furniture for your home, it’s hard to determine what it’ll look like and how it’ll fit. These are some of the trickiest items to scale for your home, and how to judge it best.

Sofas

When it comes to your sofa or couch, you should be measuring before you buy. If you don’t, you’ll mostly likely end up with a couch that’s too big. If you have a lot of extra room and you get a smaller couch, you can always add accent furniture if the room seems to bare rather than a giant couch. For measurement, most living rooms fit a 75-80-inch piece, but there should be about 24-36 inches of clearance between the furniture in the room.

Lamps

Limit the size of your table lamps to the size of the table. But, if it’s too small, it could be a mistake and get swallowed by the table. The best rule of thumb is to make sure the bottom of the lampshade is at the seated eye-level.

A floor lamp is between 5-6 feet in height for a home with the average 8-foot ceiling. With higher ceilings, you can adjust the height be a foot or so taller and follow the same scale for the height of your ceiling.

Area Rugs

For an area rug, start with 8 feet by 10 feet, or even 9 feet by 12 feet if your room is large. Aim to place the front legs of the chairs and couches on the rug – or all 4. Whatever the size of the rug, make sure you have 2 feet of space from the rug to the wall.

Dining Room Tables

Not only will the size of your family determine your dining room table, but there are also some judgements you can make to help with that decision. You’ll want 42 inches of clearance between the table and walls. If you buy a table that expands, make sure you’ll be able to exit with however many leaves you will need to add.

Beds

Beds are also a tough decision to make, mostly based off of what size bed you are looking for. At the least, allow 2 feet of clearance so you can change the sheets without an awkward shuffle. If your bed is still a tight squeeze, you can eliminate dressers, nightstands, and lights. You can put any clothes from your dresser into the closet, and floating shelves work great as a nightstand as well as suspended lights.