Furniture Measuring Tips Sponsored Ads

Furniture Measuring Tips - Furniture Buying Guide

Improper measurement can swiftly sour a furniture purchase.

People routinely return furniture because... "it doesn't fit."

Don't eyeball it...measure your room and compare it to the space taken up by the piece you're buying.

Here are some measurement tips:

Even though a piece may "fit" into your room...it may be out of scale.  Sorta like the person buying a 52" TV for an 8x8 room.

 It's often hard to tell by the picture, or in the showroom, what the scale of the furniture really is.

 In a showroom there aren't usually any walls, ceilings, and/or hallways to give you a point of reference as to the size of the piece...the big open spaces distort the actual size. 

Not only does a piece need to fit into the scale of the room...it also must fit  through the doors, hallways, and stairs in order to get it into the room.

Take a look at this short list:

• Do you live in a single family housing unit?  Is there easy access curbside for the delivery truck?
• Do you live in a high rise /condo / or other type of multi-family housing?  Is there a freight elevator?  Will the furniture you are selecting fit in the elevator?
• Do you have to take the furniture down a hallway?
• How many corners do you have to go around?  How much room is there to "round" these corners?
• How wide are your door openings?
• Does the furniture need to be brought in through a window?
• Etc.

Check doors for...

• Height
• Width
• Protruding hardware

Check Furniture for...

• Hardware protrusions
• Unusual shapes or lumps that stick out
• Slanting surfaces (half an inch could keep you out)

Bring the furniture down hallways?  Check...

• Height
• Width
• Turning angels (check the depth of the furniture)

Stairways have hidden problems.  They may look nice and high when you peer up them...but, in reality, they have one bottle-neck that restricts you (I've been burned by this one)

Make sure you measure the headroom of the staircase from the bottom of the step to the top of ceiling, directly above.  Plus take into consideration the length of the furniture in conjunction with staircase corners and headroom for the entire length of the piece.

Will your new furniture fit as you expect it to in it's final placement.  Please make sure you measure the room and consider the furniture's dimensions.

Conclusion:

When you purchase furniture you must consider how you will get it to its' final location as well as how it will fit into the room.

I was looking at an Entertainment Center for my small house.  The Entertainment Center measured 107 inches in length.  I had 110 inches of wall space.  The unit would "fit" the location but it was not a "fit" for the room.  It would have over-dominated the entire room and left little space for anything else.