Create a floor plan with dimensions
ApaPlan team · Updated
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A floor plan with dimensions is the starting point for any renovation or furniture purchase. With ApaPlan you can draw one online for free, right in your browser: no subscription, no payment card and nothing to install. The editor opens without sign-up — your guest project is kept in this browser. When you want to save the plan to an account, open it on another device or return to its project history, sign in with Google or email.
This guide covers what a measured floor plan should include, how to measure a room, how to draw a plan from scratch or from an existing drawing, what common floor plan symbols mean and which mistakes most often distort dimensions.
What a floor plan with dimensions should include
A useful plan answers one question: will your idea fit? Total area is not enough for that — you need the length and position of every element. The minimum data set is:
- the internal length of every wall in each room, hallway, kitchen and bathroom;
- wall and partition thickness, which affects opening widths and the overall outline;
- doors: opening width, distance from the nearest corner and swing direction;
- windows: width, position on the wall and sill height above the floor;
- ceiling height, plus niches, bulkheads, boxed-in pipes and columns;
- the position of risers, ventilation ducts, radiators and the electrical panel.
The last item is often skipped, yet it is exactly what limits where a kitchen, bathtub or wardrobe can go. Mark these elements at least approximately; you can refine them later.
How to draw a floor plan online, step by step
- Open the ApaPlan editor. No account is needed to start: a guest project is created in this browser.
- Draw the outer outline of the apartment with walls. Set each wall's length and thickness by typing the number instead of dragging until it looks right.
- Add interior partitions. When walls form a closed outline, the editor creates rooms you can work with separately.
- Place doors, windows and open doorways. Set the width and the distance from the corner; for a door, pick the swing side and flip it if needed.
- Check the plan against your measurements: opposite walls, the diagonals of rectangular rooms and the total length of the façade wall.
- Add bathroom fixtures, kitchen units and the main furniture from the catalog to see how the plan works in daily life.
- Switch to 3D to check heights, download the renovation PDF if you need it, and sign in to save the project to your account.
If you already have a drawing of your apartment, you do not need to trace it by hand — import the image instead, as described below.
How to measure a room accurately
A plan is only as accurate as your measurements. Take a tape measure or a laser distance meter, a notebook, and sketch the rooms by hand first so you have somewhere to write the numbers.
- Measure each wall twice: near the floor and at about one metre high. Walls in older buildings are rarely perfectly straight; a difference of 1–3 cm is common.
- Check right angles with diagonals. If the diagonals of a rectangular room differ by more than a couple of centimetres, the corners are not square — keep that in mind for built-in furniture.
- Partition thickness is easiest to measure inside a doorway, from one face of the wall to the other.
- Record opening positions from the nearest corner: “window 1.20 m wide, starts 0.65 m from the left corner, sill at 0.85 m”.
- Measure ceiling height in several places; differences occur in new buildings too.
- Units. Use one unit throughout — centimetres or millimetres. A slipped decimal point is the most common reason a wardrobe “doesn't fit”.
| Element | Measure | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Walls | Length, thickness and height | Check the outline and usable space |
| Doors | Size and distance from corners | Keep access and opening clearance |
| Windows | Size, position and sill height | Avoid blocking them with furniture or worktops |
| Niches and fixed boxes | Width, depth and position | Account for occupied volume |
| Radiators and risers | Position and projection from the wall | Plan around them for beds, kitchens and baths |
Draw a floor plan from an image or an existing drawing
If you have a developer's plan, a building-records drawing or a listing image, you do not have to redraw it. ApaPlan can import a PNG, JPEG or WebP floor plan: walls are detected automatically, and you review and correct the result.
- Open the editor and choose “Plan from photo” in the “Construction” section.
- Upload your drawing. Select one apartment if the image contains several.
- Enter the internal room area, excluding walls, to set the scale.
- Review detected lines over the image and correct walls, openings and corners.
- Create an editable project, then check dimensions and the position of doors and windows.
Which area to enter. Official plans usually list the area of each room in a schedule next to the drawing. For the scale, enter the sum of the rooms that fall inside your selection. Balconies and terraces are often listed separately — leave them out if they are outside the selection. Dimensions on official plans are usually internal, so compare them with wall lengths in the editor after import.
Import runs entirely in your browser. A tilted, handwritten or heavily compressed image may need manual corrections. An official plan may also be outdated if the apartment was renovated, so image recognition does not replace a quick check on site. More about formats and accuracy: floor plan from an image.
Floor plan symbols
Drawing conventions vary between countries and between architects, and plans in listings are often simplified. Here is how the most common floor plan symbols usually look and how the same elements appear in ApaPlan.
| Element | How it is drawn | How it looks in ApaPlan |
|---|---|---|
| Load-bearing walls | Thick lines, often filled or hatched | Walls with a set thickness that shapes the outline and openings |
| Partitions | Thinner lines, unfilled or with a lighter hatch | Thin walls with their own thickness, for example 8–12 cm |
| Windows | A break in the wall filled with two or three thin parallel lines; sometimes a sill line | A window opening with width, position and height |
| Doors | A break in the wall with a line for the leaf and an arc showing the swing | A door with a swing arc; flip the side and direction as needed |
| Open doorways | A break in the wall with no arc, sometimes a dashed header line | An opening of set width without a leaf |
| Bathroom fixtures | Simplified outlines: a bathtub as a rectangle with a rounded basin, a toilet as an oval with a tank, a shower tray as a square with diagonals | 3D models of bathtubs, toilets, basins and showers with real dimensions |
| Kitchen equipment | A sink, a hob with burner circles, sometimes the worktop outline | Models of kitchen units, hobs, sinks and appliances |
| Dimension lines | A thin line with ticks or arrows at the ends and a number in millimetres, metres or feet and inches | Wall lengths shown on the plan; type a new value to change them |
| Room area and labels | A room name and an area figure inside the room | Rooms form from closed walls; areas appear in the renovation PDF room schedule |
| Ducts and risers | Small squares or circles, often hatched, next to bathroom and kitchen walls | Mark them with short walls or objects so furniture does not go there |
| Balcony | An outline outside the exterior wall with a thin railing line | A separate room drawn with walls of the right thickness |
If you are unsure which wall is load-bearing, do not decide from line weight alone: listing drawings are often stylised. Removing or moving walls requires professional design and approval.
Worked example: a 4 × 3 metre room
This is an illustrative exercise, not a finished plan for your apartment. Internal sides of 4 and 3 metres give a room area of 12 m² excluding walls. Check both lengths after drawing the outline: matching the area alone does not prove that the proportions are correct. A 6 × 2 metre room also has 12 m², yet furniture fits very differently.
Start from a ready-made layout
If your apartment is a compact open-plan space, open the studio apartment floor plan and adjust it to your measurements — it is faster than starting from a blank page. For single rooms, use the room planners for a bedroom, living room, kitchen, kids' room, home office or bathroom.
Renovation PDF: what you get
When the plan is ready, click “Download renovation PDF”. It includes the floor plans, a room schedule with areas and a finish schedule based on the materials you chose. It is a convenient document for discussing the job with a contractor, designer or furniture supplier, because everyone sees the same numbers. It is not approved construction documentation or working drawings: structural changes and building services need a qualified professional.
Common floor plan mistakes
- Entering the area instead of wall lengths: the plan matches in square metres, but the room proportions are wrong.
- Using outer dimensions and forgetting partition thickness, so rooms look wider than they are.
- Ignoring the door swing: the wardrobe fits on paper, but the door hits it.
- Not measuring the sill height, so a desk or a tall headboard will not fit under the window.
- Missing a radiator, riser or boxed-in pipe, so built-in furniture does not fit.
- Mixing centimetres and millimetres in the same project.
What ApaPlan does not do
ApaPlan helps you draw and check a floor plan, arrange furniture and view the interior in 3D. It does not approve structural changes, calculate load-bearing elements or produce working drawings. If you need a complete drawing package for a contractor, compare tools in our floor planner alternatives guide.
Once the outline is ready, arrange furniture online and then review the interior in 3D.
Frequently asked questions
Can I draw a floor plan online for free without signing up?
Yes. The editor opens without sign-up and your guest project is kept in this browser. All features are free. Sign in with Google or email to save the project to an account and open it on other devices.
How do I enter exact wall dimensions?
Select a wall and type its length and thickness. Compare opposite walls and room diagonals to catch measuring errors early.
Can I create a plan from an existing drawing or image?
Yes. Upload a PNG, JPEG or WebP image with “Plan from photo”, enter the internal room area for the scale and review the detected walls. You can correct any line manually.
What does the arc next to a door mean on a floor plan?
The arc shows the path of the door leaf: which side the hinges are on and which way the door opens. In ApaPlan you can flip the swing to check that the door clears your furniture.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. The editor runs in a mobile browser with touch controls. A tablet or computer is more comfortable for a complex outline; on a phone, check one room at a time.
Can I export my floor plan to PDF?
Yes. “Download renovation PDF” creates a document with plans, a room schedule with areas and a finish schedule. It is useful for discussions with contractors but does not replace approved construction documents.
Can I use ApaPlan to get structural changes approved?
No. ApaPlan helps you explore and present a layout, but structural design, calculations and approvals are handled by qualified professionals.
What if the imported area is wrong?
Check that you entered the room area excluding walls and selected one apartment. Review closed outlines, detected lines and known measurements: correct area with wrong proportions is still an inaccurate plan.