Figuring Out What Goes Where In a New Home

Last week, I revealed that we moved into a new home about three months ago (surprise!) I also shared that we had about three days to get everything moved from one house to the other. That didn’t give us a lot of time to hem and haw over what was going to go where. Thankfully, since we’ve now moved so many times, I have some reliable tricks to help me figure out room layouts before we even get the keys. I often get asked about our move-in process, so I wanted to share these room layout tools with you. (But take heart…I still get it wrong sometimes. On this move, I couldn’t get one space right until the third try!)

Know Your Stuff

About three or so moves ago, I created a “log” of ALL our furniture and their exact dimensions (height, width, and depth).

There aren’t many things I wish I had done from the very beginning of our military moving journey, but this is one of them.

Having a quick reference of all our furniture, rugs, shelving, etc makes it really easy to figure out what fits where instead of having to guess or constantly grab the tape measure.

BONUS TIP

Create this log digitally so you can easily update it as you purge/buy things AND access it on your phone!

Get In the House

Most people get to tour their new house before moving in. That isn’t always possible in military moves, when we’re often coming from far away or house hunting for a short time. 

In these situations, we use the informal “military spouse network” to connect with the current residents to get an in-person tour (ideally) or (at a minimum) a video walk through of the house.

Without a doubt, an actual walk through of the house is my most valuable tool. 90% of the time, I can visualize what will go where from the walkthrough alone.

Keep in mind though, your memory will NOT serve you. When possible, also record a video during the walk through (be sure to ask permission). We constantly reference videos and pictures to verify where things are (specifically doors, windows, outlets, etc).

BONUS TIP

Do NOT be shy about asking to see your new home. In our experience, most owners/tenants are more than happy to answer questions, send videos, confirm measurements, and yes…even let you in the front door unannounced!

Get Your Hands on a Floor Plan

Well before we move into a new house, we work tirelessly to get our hands on the floor plan. Yes, sometimes this means we have to nag and nag until we get one.

While I sometimes use floor plans to determine layout, I mostly use them to double-check my gut instincts to make sure items will actually fit where I think they will (ensuring no surprises on move in day!)

BONUS TIP

We’ve learned the hard way that floor plans aren’t always accurate. Sure, the general layout is correct. But oftentimes measurements will be missing or inaccurate. When possible, try to confirm measurements, because a few inches off can mean the difference between something fitting and not (like rugs!)

When I’m Stumped

Every now and then, a room will really stump me.

This is when we used to break out the graph paper and scissors and create scaled mockups to move around and experiment with.

For this move, I didn’t have time for arts and crafts and instead discovered SmartDraw, a super cool and easy to use tool that allowed me to type in exact dimensions (of both rooms and furniture) to experiment with layouts in a matter of minutes.

I don’t typically do this precise planning for every room. But on this most recent move, this exercise was really invaluable as we tried to figure out the exact size of a new media cabinet for the family room (above) and a custom dining room table (below).

BONUS TIP

To avoid signing up for a plan, do the 7-day free trial (which is usually plenty of time to figure out room layouts!), and then use a screenshot tool to “save” your layouts.

Dive Deeper Into This Project

At the end of the day, sometimes you just can’t get the layout right until you’re actually in the room…with your furniture.

And sometimes it can even take a little while (like weeks!)

My family will NEVER let me live down the “saga” that occurred with the three boys’ bedrooms this time around, which I detail in this week’s Voice Notes!

BONUS TIP

If something doesn’t feel quite right, you don’t have to settle. But you don’t have to rush it either. Sometimes living in the space for a while can help you (eventually) see the room with clear eyes and find the right solution!