Measure the room. Then the piece.

How to measure a room

1. 01

   Floor-to-ceiling height

   Standard Indian apartments: 2.7–3.0 m. Low ceilings require lower-profile furniture — a 2.2 m wardrobe reads like a wall in a 2.7 m room.

2. 02

   Wall-to-wall in both directions

   Measure at floor level, then 90 cm up. Walls are rarely perfectly parallel. Use the shorter of the two readings.

3. 03

   Doorway clearance

   Measure the clear opening, not the frame. Most Indian doorways are 81–90 cm wide. Pieces wider than 90 cm need a plan before they arrive.

4. 04

   Traffic and circulation

   60 cm is the minimum walkable corridor. 90 cm lets two people pass. 120 cm is comfortable. Mark these lanes on a floor sketch before committing.

Chair heights & clearances

Chair seat to table top gap is the one people miss. Thirty centimetres is right — less and thighs hit the apron.

Sofa + coffee table

• Coffee table gap40–45 cm between the sofa edge and the table edge. Close enough to reach a cup without standing.
• Table height2–5 cm below the sofa seat cushion. Never above.
• Table lengthTwo-thirds the length of the sofa is the rule. Shorter reads mean, longer reads cluttered.
• TV distanceFor a 55″ screen: 2.1–2.7 m from sofa. For a 65″: 2.5–3.2 m. Formula: screen diagonal in inches × 3.8 = cm.
• Rug under sofaAt least the front legs of every seat on the rug. All legs on is better. No legs on makes the rug float and the room shrink.

Dining table by seat count

Room minimum assumes 90 cm clear behind each chair so people can stand up. Less and dinner becomes a negotiation.

Bed + bedside (Indian sizes)

Allow 60 cm on the sides you walk around, 90 cm if there is a bedside table with a drawer.