How to measure a room for carpet and flooring
Measuring a room is one of the less glamorous parts of refurnishing a space, but it’s one of the most important. Although it can be tempting to rush through or skip it altogether, any incorrect measurements can offset the entire fitting.
Whether you’re planning ahead of a visit from our team or simply want a rough idea of cost before you start browsing, you can get accurate figures in 20 minutes or so with a tape measure, a notepad and a bit of patience.
The fundamentals for measuring a room for new flooring
Before you start, make sure you have the right equipment with you:
- Tape measure
- Pen and paper
- Calculator
- A second pair of hands (if possible)
Sketching the room and taking key measurements
It helps to draw a rough floor plan of the room from an aerial view, marking on any doorways, windows, alcoves, chimney breasts, or fitted furniture. This sketch provides a base to work from, so the more detail you include, the more it’ll help you and your fitters.
Measure wall to wall at the longest and widest points of the room. Older homes don’t tend to have perfectly straight walls, so it’s safer to take a couple of measurements across each dimension rather than relying on one. Then note down the largest figure you get for each.
Most flooring is priced and sold in square metres, which makes it much easier to work in metres too. You can switch between units if you have a different preference, but you must remember to convert it back to metres after.
Rooms are bespoke
Not every room is a simple square – bay windows, nooks, alcoves, and doorways all require their own measurements. Measure all the way into a doorway to where the next room begins, and note the width of the opening too, as this affects the door bars and thresholds needed to finish the job neatly. If there are any steps, split levels, or drop-backs in the room, measure and label those as well.
Taking pictures of these can help, as they catch details that a simple sketch misses. And if you’re sending your measurements to us for a quote, photos help our team envision exactly what they’re working with.
Converting to square metres
Once you have gathered your measurements, they need to be turned into square metres. Multiply your final length and width to get your total area in square metres. For example, a room measuring 5m long and 3.5m wide would be 5m x 3.5m = 17.5m².
For anything other than a straightforward rectangle, such as an L-shaped room, measure at the longest and widest points as if you’re squaring the space off. This won’t be exact, but it ensures you order enough material to comfortably cover the room, even with an irregular layout.
Make sure you include a small allowance for waste, seams and pattern matching, generally around 10cm onto both the length and width. This gives a bit of breathing room during fitting, particularly around awkward corners or where two pieces need to join.
If you’re choosing a striped or patterned carpet, keep in mind that the design usually runs along the length of the roll – and mention this to the fitters when you get your quote so they can prepare accurately.
Before you put the tape measure away, go back over each figure. It’s surprisingly easy to miss a corner or transpose a number, and a quick check now can save delays further down the line. Label your sketch clearly so anyone looking at it later, including our team, can understand it.
Where we come in
If you have followed the process above, you should now be in a position to start exploring flooring options with a realistic idea of cost. But if you’d rather leave the tape measure to the professionals, we are more than happy to take the reins.
Our showroom has a wide range of carpets, flooring and interiors from leading brands, along with a friendly team on hand to talk you through your options. Bring your sketch and photos in, or book a home visit, and we’ll take the measurements to make sure your new floor fits exactly as it should.