Calculator
Furniture footprint and walking path check
In a very small room, the furniture list can quietly use up the floor. Enter one room and its furniture to see how much floor is covered, how much you get back when fold-away pieces are stowed, and how wide your walking path is. Everything runs on this page.
28 percent of the floor covered
Worked example (shown when scripts are off): a room 96 by 144 inches is 96 square feet. A 72 by 30 sofa is 15 square feet, a 40 by 24 table is 6.7 square feet and a 30 by 24 chair is 5 square feet. Together that is about 27 square feet, or 28 percent, and the walking width between walls with 24 and 30 inch furniture is 42 inches.
Before you decide
These are layout rules of thumb, not code. Tape the footprints on the floor at full size and live with them for a few days before you buy or build.
The math
Each item is width times depth, divided by 144 to turn square inches into square feet. The room is its width times length, divided by 144 the same way. Covered percent is the furniture total divided by the room area. The stowed figure leaves out every item you ticked as folding, lifting or stowing away, such as a wall bed, drop-leaf table or folding desk.
The walking width is the room width minus the depth of furniture along wall A and along wall B. It treats the two walls as the pinch point. If your furniture sits mostly on one side, set the other depth to zero.
How to read the walking width
- Under 24 inches: you will be squeezing past furniture.
- 24 to 30 inches: tight, and awkward when carrying anything.
- 30 to 36 inches: the range our layout guide gives for a comfortable main path for one person.
- 36 inches or more: room to pass someone or open a door.
Door and drawer swing are not included. A drawer pulled out can use another 15 to 20 inches of path, so check the open position too.
What a fold-away piece really buys you
The stowed figure is the best case. A wall bed or fold-down table gives the floor back only if putting it away takes seconds. If the daily routine is annoying, the piece stays out and the covered percent stays at the first figure. Be honest about which pieces you will actually fold. Our furniture guide goes through which pieces earn their place.
Limits
This tool counts only footprints on a rectangle. It cannot see an L-shaped room, a loft above, built-in benches or items that overlap. We give no target percent for how full a room should be, because it depends on how you live. Use the numbers to compare options for the same room, for example sofa against two chairs.
Where this comes from
The area math is basic geometry. The 30 to 36 inch path range is the figure given in this site's layout guide, and it is a rule of thumb, not a legal requirement. This is general information, not design or building advice.