Tag Archives: small living room

Day 2: Measure the Walkways (Then Move One Piece)

YOUR DESIGN GUIDE | 5-DAY SMALL SPACE REFRESH SPRINT

Day 2 of the 5-Day Small Space Refresh Sprint. Yesterday: the 20-minute edit. Missed the plan? Start here.

Yesterday a lot of you took out a chair. Good.

Today, grab a tape measure. This takes fifteen minutes and it will change how you see the room.

Small rooms don’t feel cramped because they’re small.

They feel cramped because you can’t walk through them without turning sideways.

Visual guide to small living room walkway clearance: 30 to 36 inch main path, 14 to 18 inches from sofa to coffee table
Day 2: the walkway clearance numbers I use in every small room.

Today’s task (15 to 30 minutes):

  • Measure every walkway in the room: door to sofa, sofa to coffee table, bed to dresser, anywhere you walk
  • Compare against the numbers below
  • Move one piece to fix the worst one
  • Walk it three times

The walkway clearance numbers I use

Main walkway (the path you take through the room): 30 to 36 inches. Under 30, and the room feels tight every single time you cross it. Thirty is fine in a small space. You don’t need 36.

Sofa to coffee table: 14 to 18 inches. Closer than 14 and you bang your shins. Farther than 18 and you can’t reach your coffee.

Around a bed: 24 inches minimum on the sides you use to get in and out. One side can be against the wall in a studio, and that’s a real designer move, not a compromise.

In front of a dresser or a closet: 36 inches so the drawers and doors open with you standing there.

Dining chairs: 36 inches behind the chair to pull it out and sit down. In a nook, 24 works if nobody has to walk behind it.

Write yours down next to the number. Most small rooms have one walkway that’s at 20 inches. That’s the one.

Move one piece

Now fix the worst walkway with one move. Not a new layout. One move.

The moves that fix it most often:

Pull the sofa off the wall 2 to 3 inches and angle nothing. It sounds backwards, but it usually frees the path on the other side of the room because the coffee table and rug shift with it.

Turn the coffee table 90 degrees or swap it for the side table you took out yesterday if it’s smaller.

Slide the bed to the wall in a studio or small bedroom. You get a real walkway on the other side instead of two bad ones.

Rotate the dining table so the long side runs with the walkway, not across it.

Take the second nightstand out. One good one is enough in a small bedroom.

Walk it

Walk the path three times at normal speed. If you don’t turn your shoulders, you’re done.

If you still do, the piece is too big for the spot, and now you know that before you buy anything.

If you only do one thing

Measure the main walkway. If it’s under 30 inches, move whatever is narrowing it, even by three inches.

Tell me your worst number

Leave a comment with your tightest walkway, before and after. The usual culprit is a sectional or a coffee table that’s a few inches too big for the spot, and the usual fix is a few inches, not a new piece.

Know someone who turns sideways to get to their sofa? Send them this.

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Want help with your own room?

If your walkways still don’t add up, this is exactly what I draw for clients: a furniture layout on paper, to scale, with every clearance marked before anything gets moved or bought. My design drawings, plans and furniture layouts are $150 an hour.

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Walkway clearance FAQ

How wide should a walkway be in a small living room? 30 to 36 inches for the main path through the room. Under 30 inches the room feels tight every time you cross it; 30 is fine for one person, 36 is comfortable.

How much space should be between the sofa and the coffee table? 14 to 18 inches. Closer than 14 and you bang your shins; farther than 18 and you can’t reach your coffee.

How much clearance does a bed need? 24 inches minimum on the sides you use to get in and out. In a studio or small bedroom one side can go against the wall, and that is a real designer move, not a compromise.

How much room do dining chairs need behind them? 36 inches behind the chair to pull it out and sit down. In a nook, 24 works if nobody has to walk behind it.

Originally published on Your Design Guide. Read the full post and the comments on Substack: https://yourdesignguide.substack.com/p/sprint-day-2-measure-the-walkways

Day 1: The 20-Minute Edit (Take Three Things Out)

YOUR DESIGN GUIDE | 5-DAY SMALL SPACE REFRESH SPRINT

Day 1 of the 5-Day Small Space Refresh Sprint: five free tasks, 15 to 30 minutes each, Monday to Friday. Missed the plan? Start here.

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When a client tells me a small room feels cramped, the first thing I do isn’t measure.

I look for what’s in the way.

An extra side table.

A chair nobody sits in.

A basket that became a pile.

Three throw pillows too many.

A plant stand in the walkway.

Almost every small room I walk into has two or three things that are only there because they were already there. Take them out and the room gets bigger without moving a wall.

That’s today.

Visual guide to editing a small living room in 20 minutes by taking three things out
Day 1: the 20-minute edit. Take three things out of the room.

Today’s task (20 minutes):

  • Stand in the doorway and look at the room like you’ve never seen it
  • Find three things that are in the way, duplicated or just not working
  • Take them out of the room (not “away,” just out, for the week)
  • Live with it until Friday

1. Stand in the doorway

Don’t start inside the room. Start at the door, where everyone sees it first.

What’s the first thing your eye lands on? If it’s the back of a chair, a tangle of cords or a pile, that’s your first candidate.

2. The three I’d look for

The extra seat. A small room usually needs one good place for everyone to sit, not a seat in every corner. The chair nobody sits in is almost always the one taking the most space.

The doubled surface. Two side tables where one would do. A nesting table that never nests. An ottoman and a coffee table. Pick one.

The small stuff that reads as clutter. Five little things on a surface read as a mess. One tray with three things on it reads as styled. Today, just clear the surface. We style it on Friday.

3. Out of the room, not out of the house

Put the three things in another room, a closet or the hallway. This is a test, not a purge.

By Friday you’ll know which ones you miss. (You usually miss none of them.)

4. Take a photo

One photo from the doorway, before and after. You’ll want it on Friday.

If you only do one thing

Take out the chair nobody sits in.

If you can’t decide which one that is, it’s the one with the laundry on it.

Tell me what you took out

Leave a comment with your three. I read every one, and tomorrow I’ll pull a few into the post.

And if someone you know has a room that feels too full, send them this. Day 1 works best with company.

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Want help with your own room?

If you would rather do the edit with a designer looking over your shoulder, my Room Refresh service is a one-room accessorizing refresh ($350 per room): I tell you what to take out, what to move and the few pieces worth adding, so the room finally feels finished.

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Day 1 FAQ

How long does the Day 1 small space refresh take? About 20 minutes. Stand in the doorway, find three things that are in the way, and take them out of the room.

Do I have to get rid of the three things? No. Put them in another room, a closet or the hallway until Friday. It is a test, not a purge, and by Friday you will know which ones you actually miss.

What if I cannot decide what to take out of a small room? Start with the chair nobody sits in. If you cannot tell which one that is, it is the one with the laundry on it.

Originally published on Your Design Guide. Read the full post and the comments on Substack: https://yourdesignguide.substack.com/p/sprint-day-1-the-20-minute-edit