Plan the arrangement
Real furniture dimensions tested against your room, with every clearance shown.
How this planner works
- The longer room dimension becomes the length and the shorter the width, regardless of which order you enter them.
- Standard furniture depths are subtracted from the width: sofa 900 mm, coffee table 600, TV unit 450, wardrobe 600, desk 750, dining chair pull-back 900.
- What remains is reported as the clear walkway, and compared against the target for that room type.
- Where a room clears the full target, the planner returns the roomier arrangement. Where it does not, it steps down to the next layout that does, and says why.
- For a living room the seated viewing distance is also calculated, and a screen size recommended at distance ÷ 1.4 — the sensible upper bound for 4K content at normal seating.
| Clearance | Minimum | Comfortable | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-person route | 750 mm | 900 mm | Past a sofa, beside a desk, between bed and wardrobe |
| Two-person passing route | 1,050 mm | 1,200 mm | Main circulation spine in a living or dining room |
| Dining chair pull-back | 900 mm | 1,050 mm | Behind every occupied chair — 600 to pull, 300 to pass |
| Beside a bed | 600 mm | 750 mm | Both sides of a double or larger bed |
| Foot of the bed to wardrobe | 900 mm | 1,050 mm | Enough to open a hinged shutter fully |
| Sofa to coffee table | 400 mm | 450 mm | Close enough to reach a cup without standing |
| Behind a desk chair | 600 mm | 900 mm | A route past a seated person |
| Piece | Size used | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Three-seat sofa | 2,100 × 900 mm | A 750 mm deep slim-arm model buys back 150 mm |
| Coffee table | 1,200 × 600 mm | Two 450 mm side tables are the small-room substitute |
| TV unit | Depth 450 mm | Wall-hung with a 250 mm shelf saves 200 mm |
| King bed | 1,830 × 2,010 mm | Needs 3,030 mm across the room |
| Queen bed | 1,520 × 2,010 mm | Needs 2,720 mm across the room |
| Six-seat dining table | 1,650 × 900 mm | Needs 3,450 × 2,700 mm clear |
| Eight-seat dining table | 2,100 × 1,000 mm | Needs 3,900 × 2,800 mm clear |
| Desk | 1,500 × 750 mm | 600 mm deep wall-hung where width is tight |
| Wardrobe | Depth 600 mm | 550 mm works with sliding shutters and no hanging rail |
Design and build under one accountable roof
The five arrangements, and when each is right
- Facing pair — living room, 11 ft wide or more
Two three-seaters facing across a 1200 × 600 table. It needs 3,300 mm across the width and 4,200 mm of length, and it is the best arrangement for conversation. Circulation runs along the length, behind one sofa.
- L-shape on the long wall — living room, 9 to 11 ft
The default for Mumbai flats. The long arm sits against the longer wall, the short arm caps one end, and the TV goes opposite. It clears at 2,750 mm width and leaves an honest walkway on one side.
- Bed centred, wardrobe on the foot wall — master bedroom
Works from 2,800 mm width upward. Both sides of the bed are accessible, the wardrobe run takes the foot wall, and side tables fit in the 600 mm clearances. Below 2,600 mm the bed goes to one wall and you accept single-side access — which is fine for a guest room and wearing in a master.
- Centred dining table — six or eight seats
A table is only as good as the pull-back on its tightest side. If one side is under 900 mm, put a bench there instead of chairs: a 450 mm bench pushes in fully and recovers the difference.
- Loft bed with the study under — children's room
Below 2,100 mm of width, a bed and a facing desk cannot coexist. A loft bed with the desk underneath recovers the entire footprint and is the standard answer in Mumbai. Allow 1,500 mm of headroom above the desk and 900 mm above the mattress.
Clients argue about sofa fabric for weeks and about walkway width for four minutes. It is entirely the wrong way round — you will notice the walkway every single day.
Greenbox principal designer
Every constant above comes from Greenbox site records — measured drawings, signed BOQs and completion certificates from projects delivered between 2023 and 2026 — rounded to figures an estimator would actually use. We publish them so you can audit the arithmetic instead of trusting a black box. Treat the output as a planning figure: it is accurate enough to brief a landlord, a bank or a spouse, and not accurate enough to sign a contract against.
What this tool does not cover
- Door swings. A 900 mm door sweeps a 900 mm quarter circle. This planner asks which wall it is on but does not draw the arc — check it against your chosen arrangement.
- Window positions and sill heights, which determine where a sofa back or a headboard can actually go.
- Air-conditioner position. A split unit blowing directly onto a bed or a dining table is the most common regret in a finished flat.
- Columns, ducts, niches and beams. Any of these can remove a wall from consideration entirely.
- Socket and TV point locations, which are cheap to move before wiring and expensive after.
- Irregular room shapes. The planner assumes a rectangle; for an L-shaped or splayed room, test the largest rectangle inside it.
- Draw the result before you buy anything — the floor plan drawer gives you a scaled rectangle to work on.
Selected work by Greenbox Design Studio. Tap any image to enlarge.
Frequently asked questions
How much space do you need around a dining table?+
900 mm on every occupied side: 600 mm for the chair to pull out and 300 mm for someone to pass behind it. A six-seat 1,650 × 900 mm table therefore needs a clear 3,450 × 2,700 mm. Where one side is tighter, use a bench that pushes fully in.
What is the minimum room size for a king bed?+
3,030 mm — about 10 ft — across the room for 600 mm access on both sides, and 2,910 mm of length for the bed plus a 900 mm walkway at the foot. In a smaller room a queen is the better decision than a king with a 400 mm squeeze on one side.
How far should a sofa be from the TV?+
For 4K content, roughly 1.2 to 1.6 times the screen diagonal. An 11 ft wide room gives about 2,000 mm of seated viewing distance, which suits a 55 to 58 inch screen. Bigger is not better at close range — you see the panel, not the picture.
Can a 10 ft wide living room take a sofa and a coffee table?+
Yes, but not a facing pair. At 3,050 mm you can run a 900 mm sofa, a 450 mm gap, a 600 mm coffee table and a 450 mm TV unit, leaving about 650 mm of walkway — below target. A slim-arm 750 mm sofa or a wall-hung TV brings it back over 750 mm.
Is this a drag-and-drop room planner?+
No, deliberately. Drag-and-drop tools let you place furniture that does not actually clear. This one tests your dimensions against real furniture sizes and clearance standards and tells you what fits, which is the part that matters before you order anything.