space planning
Furniture clearances: how much space to leave in every room
Walkway and furniture clearances for living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms, in millimetres with inches, and how to apply them.
How much space do you need around furniture?
As a guide, allow 900–1000 mm (36–39 in) for main walkways, 600–750 mm (24–30 in) for secondary routes and beside beds, 400–450 mm (16–18 in) between a sofa and coffee table, and about 900 mm (36 in) behind dining chairs where people walk. Kitchens need 1000–1200 mm aisles.
Furniture that fits on a plan can still make a room awkward to use. The difference is usually clearance: the space you need to walk past, sit down, open a drawer or pull out a chair. The figures below are standard planning guides used by designers. They are not legal minimums, and where building regulations or accessibility standards apply in your area, those take precedence.
Why clearances matter
A room has two kinds of space. There is the space furniture occupies, and the space people need to use it. The second is easy to forget because it is invisible on a plan. A wardrobe needs room in front for its doors to swing and for you to stand. A dining chair needs room behind to be pulled out. A bed needs room at the sides to make it.
When clearances are too tight, people turn sideways, bump into corners and stop using parts of the room. When they are too generous, furniture floats and a room can feel empty. The ranges here give you a sensible middle.
Circulation first
Before you place any furniture, decide where people will walk. Draw a line from each door to each other door, to windows that open, and to the main seating or working positions. These are your routes.
- Main walkways that carry people through a room: 900–1000 mm (36–39 in).
- Secondary routes used by one person at a time, such as the path to a bedside or a desk: 600–750 mm (24–30 in).
- Routes where two people pass regularly, such as a busy hall: about 1200 mm (47 in).
- Wheelchair turning: a clear circle of about 1500 mm (59 in) is the commonly published figure.
Keep routes straight where you can and avoid sending a main walkway between a sofa and the television, or through the middle of a seating group.
Clearance figures by room
| Room | Situation | Typical clearance |
|---|---|---|
| Living | Sofa edge to coffee table | 400–450 mm (16–18 in) |
| Living | Seating to seating across a conversation group | 2000–3000 mm (79–118 in) apart at most |
| Living | Walkway past a seating group | 900–1000 mm (36–39 in) |
| Dining | Table edge to wall, chair pulled out, no walkway | 750–900 mm (30–36 in) |
| Dining | Table edge to wall with people walking behind | 900–1100 mm (36–43 in) |
| Dining | Table width per place setting | 600 mm (24 in) |
| Bedroom | Beside a bed | 600–750 mm (24–30 in) |
| Bedroom | Foot of bed, if a route | 900 mm (36 in) |
| Bedroom | In front of a wardrobe with hinged doors | 900–1000 mm (36–39 in) |
| Bedroom | In front of a chest of drawers | 900 mm (36 in) |
| Kitchen | Aisle between runs, one cook | 1000–1100 mm (39–43 in) |
| Kitchen | Aisle between runs, two cooks | 1200 mm (47 in) |
| Bathroom | In front of a WC | 600–750 mm (24–30 in) |
| Bathroom | WC centre-line to side wall or fitting | 400–450 mm (16–18 in) |
| Bathroom | In front of a basin | about 700 mm (28 in) |
| Bathroom | Beside a bath, for getting in and out | about 700 mm (28 in) |
Living rooms
The coffee table distance is the one people most often get wrong. At 400–450 mm (16–18 in) from the sofa, you can reach a cup without leaning but still walk between them. Much less and knees catch the table; much more and it is out of reach.
For conversation, seats facing each other work best when they are no more than about 2 to 3 metres apart. Further than that and people raise their voices. A rug sized so that at least the front legs of each seat sit on it helps tie the group together.
Leave about 900 mm (36 in) in front of a fireplace or media unit you need to reach, and keep a clear route to any window you open regularly.
Dining rooms
Allow about 600 mm (24 in) of table edge per person, and about 400 mm (16 in) of depth for each place setting. A rectangular table 1800 mm long therefore seats six comfortably, with one at each end if the table is at least 900 mm wide.
Behind each chair you need room to push it back and stand. If nobody needs to pass, 750–900 mm (30–36 in) from table edge to wall is usually enough. If the space behind the chairs is also a route, increase this to 900–1100 mm (36–43 in). For a sideboard behind the chairs, measure from the front of the sideboard, not the wall.
Pendant lights over a dining table are commonly hung so the bottom is about 750 mm (30 in) above the table top, which lights the table without blocking views across it.
Bedrooms
Aim for 600–750 mm (24–30 in) on each side of a double bed so both people can get in and out and the bed can be made. If one side is against a wall, the bed becomes harder to make and the person on that side climbs over, which works in a guest room but rarely in a main bedroom.
At the foot of the bed, 600 mm (24 in) is workable if nobody walks there. If the foot of the bed is on the route to a wardrobe or bathroom, give it 900 mm (36 in).
Hinged wardrobe doors are often 450–600 mm wide each, so you need their swing plus somewhere to stand: 900–1000 mm (36–39 in) in front is a common guide. Sliding doors save the swing but you still need about 700–800 mm to stand and choose clothes.
Kitchens
Kitchen clearances are about safety as well as comfort, because people carry hot pans and open oven doors. An aisle of 1000–1100 mm (39–43 in) suits one cook; 1200 mm (47 in) suits two. Below about 900 mm, an open dishwasher or oven door blocks the aisle entirely. Above about 1500 mm, you take too many steps between runs. The same figures apply between a run of units and an island.
Bathrooms
Bathrooms are small, so every fitting needs its own activity space, though these can overlap because people rarely use two fittings at once. In front of a WC, 600 mm (24 in) is a common minimum and 750 mm (30 in) is more comfortable. From the centre-line of the WC to a wall or another fitting, allow 400–450 mm (16–18 in) so elbows and knees clear. In front of a basin and beside a bath, about 700 mm (28 in) lets you bend and dry off. Check that the door can open fully without hitting a fitting, or hang it to open outwards.
Using the figures sensibly
These numbers are a starting point. Adjust them for the people who use the room: tall people need more legroom, children need less, and anyone using a walking aid or wheelchair needs more circulation and turning space. Where a figure from building regulations, accessibility guidance or a manufacturer's fitting instructions differs, follow that figure.
Checking clearances in Arcvelle Studio
In Arcvelle Studio you can draw the room to its real size, place furniture from the library and resize each piece to match what you own or plan to buy. Collision highlighting shows when pieces overlap, and live dimensions let you check the gap between a sofa and table or a bed and wardrobe against the figures above. For kitchens, the kitchen planner checks island clearances as you plan. The help article on placing and editing furniture covers moving, rotating and aligning pieces.