Are you a furniture spacing geek like me? If you have ever wanted to know what is the perfect spacing to have between the edge of your coffee table and your sofa then this is the blog for you! It may not be the most engaging of subjects but this is a really useful reference to keep handy when you are redesigning a room.

Getting the furniture spacing right is actually really important.  Artwork hung too high or pendant lights hung too low can ruin the look and practicality of a room. So let’s get on with it. Here is everything you need to know.

IPhoto by Christian Mackie on Unsplash

Disclaimer: I work in centimetres (because we’ve been metric now since 1965). So apologies to those of you who still work in inches!

FURNITURE SPACING – PENDANT LIGHTS AND WALL LIGHTS

PENDANT OVER WORKTOP

Kitchen pendant lights should be hung 70-85cm above a worktop in a room of standard height. The standard height is 2.1m. If your ceilings are higher then hang the pendant an extra 8cm higher for every 30cm over the standard 2.1m. Got it! Make sure it’s above the eye line of the person/people who will be standing at the island.

PENDANT IN HALLWAY

A hallway pendant light near the front door should be hung so there is at least 10cm clearance from the top of the door and the bottom of the light fitting.

When it comes to the stairwell, a ceiling pendant light should allow clearance of approximately 60cm from the bottom of the light and the top of someone’s head.

PENDANT ABOVE TABLE TOP 

For a side table in a living room ceiling pendant lights should hang 50cm from the table top.

For bedside tables, ceiling pendant lights should be hung 30-50cm from the top of the table.

PENDANT OVER BED

If you have a ceiling pendant hanging over the centre or foot of the bed it should be high enough so the people getting in and out do not bump their heads. It should be high enough to ensure it doesn’t block the view of a TV or a lovely view out of a window when lying in bed.

WALL LIGHTS

Wall lights should be approximately 155 to 170cm from floor level.  Make sure the middle of the light fitting is at eye level so you do not look directly at the bulb. This can easily happen if they are too high or too low. If your floor hasn’t been laid yet take the thickness of the substrate and the flooring into consideration before fitting your light.

These rules aren’t always foolproof. The perfect height will often be dependent on the size and scale of the light and what you are using it for. So if you’re ever in doubt always be led by your common sense.

FURNITURE SPACING – WALL ART

HOW HIGH?

The accepted standard height for hanging artwork is for the centre of the piece to be 145cm from the floor. This is eye level of the average person. So if you are not average height then measure your own eye level.

If in doubt always hang lower than you think, art work that is too high is difficult to see and feels disconnected to the room, you can read more about that in this blog here.

When hanging artwork above a sofa, bed or other piece of furniture make sure bottom of the artwork is not more than 15 to 20cm above the top of the piece of furniture.

If you are displaying two paintings or prints one above the other, then your eye line should be directly between the top of the lower piece and the bottom of the higher piece.

DISTANCE BETWEEN

When hanging two paintings side by side keep them close together, 10cm between them is just fine.

If you want to enjoy a piece of art whilst sitting then of course hang it lower.

And don’t ever hang your artwork simply to line up with something like the top of a door or a lampshade. People often do this to create a ‘clean line’ but it just looks odd. Stick to the rules above and you’ll get it right.

FURNITURE SPACING – THE DINING AREA

DINING TABLE

In terms of what size table you need, it is accepted each individual needs a minimum of 60cm of width for adequate elbow room on a square or rectangular table. For a round table, it’s 80cm.

The minimum distance between the edge of your table and a wall or piece of furniture should be 90cm. This is to allow people to get in and out of their chairs, and for clearance to walk past. In an ideal world, you would have 110cm clearance for people to push their chairs back after a meal and others to still be able to walk past.

A dining table should be 70 to 74cm tall.

A dining chair seat should be 45 from the floor.

There should be 26-30cm clearance between the seat height and the tabletop.

There should be a clearance of 120cm between your table and doorway to allow for easy movement in and out.

RUG

If you have a rug under your dining table (which you definitely should if you have hard floors) then make sure it is at least 60cm wider and longer than your table on each side. In an ideal world, it would be 90cm bigger. So basically you need to make sure there is a minimum of 60cm of rug behind each chair so it doesn’t get caught up in the rug.

FURNITURE SPACING – THE LIVING AREA

SOFA AND COFFEE TABLE

Allow 46cm between the edge of the sofa and your coffee table.  This gives you enough room to comfortably walk between the two to sit down but keeps your glass of wine within easy reach.

RUG

Ensure your rug is large enough for at least the front legs of the sofa to sit on it. The larger the better. A room will feel larger and more anchored the bigger the rug.

TELEVISION

The distance between the sofa and the TV should be about 213cm but this is dependent on the size. The larger the screen the further back you can afford to be.

In terms of height, the middle of your TV screen should be at your eye level. So you need to measure your own eye level when you are sitting on your sofa as sofa heights vary dramatically. Whatever this height is, that is where you need to make sure the middle of your TV screen. So it will take a bit of maths. If you can’t be bothered with the math then go for the middle of the screen being 107cm from the floor. This is considered to be the average. So this ‘ideal’ scenario rules out TVs mounted high up on a wall or above a mantle piece (sorry).

I hope this is a helpful guide. It’s not totally comprehensive but many of these ‘rules’ give you the foundations for good layout design. And if you need any advice feel free to give me a shout.