How to measure your room
You do not have to measure anything — we survey every job ourselves before we quote, at no charge. But a rough figure lets us give you a ballpark over the phone before we drive out, which is useful if you are still deciding. All you need is a steel tape, a pen and five minutes.
Measuring a floor
Sketch the room
Draw a rough outline of the floor as seen from above. It does not need to be to scale — it just needs every wall on it.
Measure length and width in metres
Measure wall to wall at the widest point in each direction, and write the figure on the matching wall of your sketch. Metres to two decimals is ideal, for example 4.25 m.
Split odd shapes into rectangles
An L-shaped room, or one with an alcove or a bay, is far easier as two or three rectangles. Measure each block separately and label them A, B and C.
Multiply for square metres
Length times width gives the square metres of each block. Add the blocks together for the room total.
B 2.10 m × 1.80 m = 3.78 m²
TOTAL 19.08 m²
Add a cutting allowance
Add about ten percent to your total for cuts and wastage — more if the floor is going down on a diagonal or in a herringbone pattern, which uses noticeably more material.
Measuring a window for blinds
Blinds are quoted per window, not per square metre, so give us a width and a drop for each one — in millimetres, which is how they are manufactured.
Width
Measure the opening in three places — top, middle and bottom. Old walls are rarely square, and the difference matters.
Drop
From the top of the opening to the sill, or to where you want the blind to end if it is hanging past the sill.
Inside or outside the reveal
Tell us whether the blind must sit inside the window recess or mount on the wall in front of it. This changes the finished size.
Obstructions
Handles, burglar bars, deep sills and air-conditioner pipes all affect what will fit. Mention them or send a photo.
One caution: use your figures for a ballpark only. We take the manufacturing measurements ourselves, because a blind cut to a customer's measurement cannot be returned if the opening turns out not to be square.
Also tell us about
- Doorways and thresholds, which need trims between rooms
- Built-in cupboards — we normally measure to the front of them, not under
- Stairs, which are quoted per step rather than by area
- What is on the floor now, and whether it needs lifting and disposing of
- The state of the skirtings, and whether they come off or stay on
- Whether the room is upstairs, and how the material gets in