How to Measure Your Room for a Bedroom Set with Wardrobe in 12 Easy Steps

To measure a room for a bedroom set with a wardrobe, record the wall lengths, the ceiling height, the door and window positions, and the clearance in front of every opening, then plot the furniture footprints onto a scale plan before you order. Twelve checks cover everything that usually goes wrong, and each one takes a minute.

Most returns in bedroom furniture happen for one of three reasons: the wardrobe would not go up the stairs, the drawers could not open fully, or the set looked correct on paper but left no room to walk. All three are avoidable with a tape measure and a sheet of paper.

What you need before you start

A five metre tape measure, a pencil, squared paper or a notes app, and a step ladder if your ceilings are high. Work in centimetres throughout. Mixing feet and metres is the most common source of error, because furniture listings in the UK are almost always metric.

Step 1: Measure each wall at floor level

Run the tape along the skirting board, not at waist height. Walls in older UK properties are rarely straight, and the floor level measurement is the one your furniture actually has to fit into. Note each wall separately rather than assuming opposite walls match.

Step 2: Measure the same walls again at furniture height

Take a second reading at around two metres, the height of a typical wardrobe top. Bowed walls and old plaster can narrow an alcove by several centimetres between floor and ceiling. The smaller of the two numbers is your working width.

Step 3: Record the ceiling height in more than one place

Measure at the centre of the room and again at each corner where a wardrobe might stand. Floors slope, especially in Victorian and Edwardian houses. If you plan to tilt a tall wardrobe upright during assembly, you also need the diagonal clearance, which is why an extra centimetre or two matters.

Step 4: Note the position and swing of the bedroom door

Measure from the nearest corner to the door frame, then the frame width, then the arc the door travels. A wardrobe placed inside that arc will stop the door opening fully. If the room is tight, consider whether the door could be rehung to open against a different wall.

Step 5: Measure the window and the sill height

Record the distance from the corner to the window reveal, the window width, and the height from the floor to the sill. A chest of drawers taller than the sill will block light and look awkward. If you want furniture under the window, the sill height sets the maximum.

Step 6: Map the radiator

Note the radiator width, height and its distance from the nearest corner. Furniture should not sit directly against a radiator, both for heat efficiency and for the timber. Leave a gap of at least ten centimetres, and avoid placing solid wood pieces in front of one entirely.

Step 7: Find the sockets and switches

Sockets hidden behind a wardrobe are lost for the life of the furniture. Mark every socket and light switch on your plan, along with the TV aerial point if there is one. Then decide which ones you actually need to keep accessible: usually the two beside the bed.

Step 8: Measure the alcoves separately

Chimney breasts create alcoves that are often almost wardrobe sized, and almost is the problem. Measure the alcove width at the back and at the front, because they frequently differ. Take the narrowest figure and subtract two centimetres for handling room.

Step 9: Work out your circulation space

Draw the bed on your plan first. You need around seventy centimetres beside the bed to get in and out, and the same in front of a wardrobe so you can open a door and step back. In front of a chest of drawers, allow the full drawer depth plus fifty centimetres for you to stand. Our modern chest of drawers UK sale listings include drawer depth, which makes this calculation straightforward.

Step 10: Check the delivery route, not just the room

This is the step people skip. Measure the front door width, the hallway width, the narrowest point of the staircase, the turn at the top, and the bedroom doorway. Compare these against the packed carton dimensions rather than the assembled size. A wardrobe that assembles in the room will pass through spaces an assembled one never could.

Pay particular attention to stair turns. The limiting figure is the diagonal across the turn, which is often far smaller than the stair width suggests.

Step 11: Plot the set on a scale plan

Draw the room to a scale of one to fifty on squared paper, then cut out paper rectangles for the bed, wardrobe, chest and bedside cabinets using the same scale. Move them around. This takes ten minutes and reveals immediately whether a set fits or whether you need to drop a piece. If you are choosing from our modern bedroom collections UK, note each item’s width and depth from the listing rather than estimating.

Step 12: Test the layout with tape on the floor

Before ordering, mark the footprint of the wardrobe and bed on the floor with masking tape, including the door swing. Live with the tape for a day. You will notice instantly if the route to the window is uncomfortable or if the wardrobe blocks the light. This final check catches the problems a paper plan hides.

Common measuring mistakes

Measuring only the assembled furniture size and forgetting the carton. Measuring the widest part of an alcove rather than the narrowest. Forgetting that a sliding door wardrobe needs no front clearance but does need its full width available. Assuming a fitted carpet is level. Recording the ceiling height before allowing for coving. Each of these turns up regularly, and each is easy to avoid once you know to look.

How wardrobe type changes your measurements

A hinged door wardrobe needs clearance equal to the door width in front of it. A sliding door wardrobe needs none, but you can only reach half the interior at once, so it suits long hanging rails rather than deep shelving. A corner wardrobe uses awkward space well but needs an accurate reading of both walls that meet at the corner, plus the diagonal across the front.

Wardrobes with a top box add height but not footprint, which is useful in rooms with generous ceilings. Measure from the floor to the lowest obstruction, such as coving or a light fitting, rather than to the ceiling itself. Our modern sliding wardrobes UK sale pages list overall height and track depth separately, which helps when clearance is tight.

Matching the set to the numbers

Once the measurements are down, the shortlist usually writes itself. If your longest clear wall is 240 centimetres, a three door wardrobe and a chest will not both fit there, so the chest moves to the window wall or is replaced by a taller, narrower unit. If the ceiling is under 230 centimetres, a top box is out. If the door opens into the only corner that suits a wardrobe, a sliding model becomes the practical choice.

We list full dimensions on every product page at Furniture in Fashion, including packed sizes, so the numbers you gathered translate directly into a shortlist. If the bed is the piece you are least sure about, work through the modern beds UK sale range by frame size first, since the bed footprint determines everything else on the plan.

Frequently asked questions

How much space should I leave around a bed?

Around seventy centimetres on each side you use for access, and at least fifty centimetres at the foot if you need to walk past. Where the bed sits against a wall on one side, the other side needs the full seventy.

Do I measure for the packed size or the assembled size?

Both. Use the packed carton size for the delivery route and the assembled size for the room layout. The two figures are often very different, especially for wardrobes.

What clearance does a wardrobe need above it?

Allow at least two to three centimetres above the wardrobe for handling, and more if you plan to tilt it upright in the room. Check the diagonal height of the assembled frame against your ceiling height before lifting it.

My walls are not straight. Which measurement should I use?

Always use the narrowest reading, then subtract a further one to two centimetres. Old plaster, skirting boards and slightly out of square corners all eat into the space a furniture listing assumes is available.

Can I fit a full bedroom set into a box room?

Sometimes, if you go vertical. A single or small double bed with under bed storage, a tall narrow chest and a single door wardrobe can work in a room of around seven square metres. A full three door wardrobe rarely will.