Will your bed actually fit — with room to walk around it and open the door? Enter your room measurements below and the Bedroom Layout Planner works out the walkway on each side of the bed, checks your door swing, and suggests the best placement before you move a single piece of furniture.

Bedroom Layout Planner

Measure your room, pick your bed, and see instantly whether it fits — with honest walkway clearances and a placement suggestion.



Measure the longest wall, wall to wall.


Measure the shorter wall, wall to wall.


Queen mattress: 60 × 80 in (152 × 203 cm).

Bed placement




Default 30 in (76 cm) — the floor space a standard door needs to open.


Minimum 24 in (61 cm) is the squeeze-by standard.




How to Measure Your Bedroom for a Layout Plan

Start with a tape measure and record the wall-to-wall dimensions of the room — measure the longest wall first and call that the length. Measure twice: once at floor level and once at about waist height, since older walls are rarely perfectly straight, and use the smaller number. Write down the position of the door and which way it swings, the position and width of every window, and the height of the window sill from the floor. Note anything that sticks out into the room: radiators, built-in wardrobes, chimney breasts, and closet doors, including how far they open. Mark electrical outlets too — they decide where lamps and chargers can live. If you work in feet and inches, enter feet here; the planner converts everything behind the scenes, and you can flip to metres and centimetres at any time without losing your numbers.

Clearance Rules That Actually Matter

Designers argue about many things, but walkway clearances are not one of them. These are the numbers that keep a bedroom comfortable: 24 inches (61 cm) is the minimum walkway — enough for one person to pass sideways. It works beside a bed but feels tight as a main route. 30 inches (76 cm) is the comfortable single-person standard and the space a standard interior door needs to swing open. 36 inches (91 cm) is the generous main path — two people can pass, and you can carry a laundry basket through without turning sideways. At the foot of the bed, aim for at least 24 inches, and 30 to 36 if drawers or a storage bench open there. On each side of a shared bed, 24 inches is the workable minimum; in a very small room one side can go against the wall, but expect grumbling from whoever has to climb over. Finally, a bed under a window only works when the sill sits above the headboard and no radiator blocks the space — heat and headboards are a bad combination.

Small Room Layouts That Work

A 10 by 10 foot room with a queen bed is the classic squeeze: centred, a 60-inch-wide queen leaves 30 inches on each side and 40 inches at the foot — above the 24-inch minimum, so it genuinely works. Push the same bed against the wall and one side jumps to 60 inches, which suits a single sleeper who wants a desk or dresser on the open side. A king in a 10 by 10 is the layout to avoid: 76 inches wide leaves just 22 inches per side, below the comfort line, and the door swing usually becomes the deciding factor. For a child’s room or a guest room, a twin against the wall is unbeatable — 38 inches wide leaves most of a small room free for play or a desk. Sharing a room? Two twins on opposite walls with 30 inches between them beats one cramped double bed, and each sleeper gets a wall side. In a long, narrow room, put the headboard on the long wall; the planner’s suggestion engine checks both orientations and tells you when rotating the bed wins.

What to Avoid

The most common mistake is planning around the bed and forgetting the door — a beautiful layout fails on day one if the door bangs into the foot of the bed. Second is the under-window trap: a headboard taller than the sill blocks light and looks crowded, and a radiator under the window dries out bedding and wastes heat. Third, walkways under 20 inches are not walkways; they are gaps you will resent every morning. Fourth, remember that closet and wardrobe doors need their own swing space — a walkway that works on paper can vanish when a 24-inch closet door opens into it. And finally, do not buy the bed before measuring. A king needs a room of at least 12 by 12 feet to keep honest walkways; in anything smaller, a queen plus good clearances sleeps better than a king you have to climb over.

Bedroom Layout FAQs

How much space do you need around a bed?

Allow at least 24 inches (61 cm) on each side you use and at the foot of the bed. That is the minimum for getting in and out without shuffling sideways. For a main walkway — the path from the door to the closet, for example — aim for 30 to 36 inches (76 to 91 cm). If the bed sits against a wall, give the open side the full 30 inches so one generous walkway does the work of two tight ones.

Can a king bed fit in a 10×10 room?

A standard king is 76 by 80 inches, and a 10 by 10 room is 120 by 120 inches. Centred, that leaves 22 inches on each side and 40 inches at the foot. It physically fits, but the side walkways fall below the 24-inch minimum most people find comfortable, and the door swing usually becomes impossible. In a 10 by 10 room a queen is the practical maximum — it leaves 30 inches per side. Run your exact numbers through the planner above before you commit.

Is it OK to put a bed under a window?

Yes, with three conditions. The window sill should sit above the top of the headboard so the bed does not block light or look crowded. There should be no radiator under the window — heat rising behind pillows is uncomfortable and inefficient. And the headboard needs to feel anchored, since you lose the visual weight of a solid wall; a taller upholstered headboard and curtains hung outside the frame help. Choose “under a window” in the planner to check the walkways for this placement.

Where should the bed go if the door is in the middle of the wall?

Put the headboard on the wall opposite the door or on an adjacent wall, and keep the door’s swing arc completely clear — that arc is non-negotiable floor space. Avoid placing the foot of the bed directly in the swing path. If the room is small, a bed against the side wall often leaves the widest clear lane from the door. Enter your door swing clearance in the planner and it will flag any placement the door cannot open into.

How do you lay out a shared bedroom?

Give each sleeper equal access. Two twin beds on opposite walls with 24 to 30 inches between them is the most comfortable small-room solution, and each person gets a wall side for a nightstand. In a narrow room, place both beds against the long walls facing each other. Avoid squeezing two sleepers into one full-size bed when two twins would fit — the planner’s “against a wall” option shows exactly how much walkway each arrangement leaves.

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