What to Measure at an Apartment Viewing

Twenty minutes, a tape measure, and the order to do it in

Published 2026-10-12

Empty apartment room with wood floors and a tape measure stretched across the floor next to a notepad.

A viewing is short, someone is usually waiting by the door, and you are busy deciding whether you like the place. It is also the one chance to collect the numbers that tell you whether your bed, your sofa and your desk will work there.

So go in with a list. This one is in order of importance. If you run out of time, you have the measurements that matter most.

What to bring

A tape measure, 16 ft (5 m) or longer. More reliable than a phone app.
The listing floor plan, printed, to write your numbers on.
A pen, and your phone for photos.
The sizes of your largest furniture. Sofa, bed, wardrobe, dining table, desk.

1. The rooms where the big furniture goes

Start with the living room and the main bedroom.

Width and length, wall to wall, at floor level. Write them on the plan.
Ceiling height, if you own anything tall, such as a wardrobe or a high bookcase.
Each wall you might put furniture against, corner to door frame or window.

That last one is the measurement people skip. A room can be 13 ft (4 m) wide and still have no stretch of wall long enough for your sofa. A room's size tells you how much floor there is. The free wall tells you where a sofa, a bed or a wardrobe can stand.

2. Doors and the way in

The front door: the clear opening with the door open, which is narrower than the door itself.
Inside doors to the rooms your large pieces are going to.
Which way each door opens, and how far. Draw the swing on the plan.
The route from the street. Entrance, elevator inside size, stairs and landings.
Hallway corners inside the apartment.

If you only have time for one of these, measure the elevator or the tightest stair landing. It is often the narrowest point on the whole route. For checking a specific piece against these numbers, see will furniture fit through my doorway.

3. The things that cannot move

Mark where these are on the plan, with a distance from the nearest corner:

Windows, and the height of the sill above the floor.
Radiators, with their width and how far they stick out from the wall.
Sockets. Count them per room and mark the walls they are on.
The TV and internet connection.
Light switches, so a tall piece does not end up covering one.

4. The awkward bits

Floor plans often leave these out:

Alcoves and recesses. Width, depth and height.
Sloped ceilings. Height at the low wall, and where you can stand upright.
Columns, pipes and boxed-in corners.
Built-in closets: the depth inside. Some are too shallow for a hanger to sit straight.

5. Windows, for curtains

If the apartment has no curtains or blinds, measure the width and height of each window while you are there. You can then order them before you move in and have privacy from the first night. The curtain calculator turns those numbers into the size to buy.

Take these photos

Photos answer the questions you did not think to ask.

Each wall of each room, straight on.
Every socket and connection point.
Each window, including the sill.
The inside of the closets.
The route in: entrance, elevator, stairs, hallway.
Any existing marks or damage, for your own record.
Your marked-up floor plan, in case you lose the paper.

While you are there, ask

Does the elevator need to be reserved for a move, and are there set moving hours?
Where can a truck stop?
What stays in the apartment: curtains, light fittings, appliances, shelves?
Is the floor plan in the listing to scale?

For reading the listing's drawing, see how to plan furniture from an apartment floor plan.

What to do with the numbers

That evening, while you still remember the place, put the measurements onto a plan and place your furniture on it. The method is in Will my furniture fit in my new apartment?.

If you are deciding between two apartments, this is also the fairest way to compare them: the same furniture, placed in both. For how to take each measurement precisely, see what to measure before buying furniture.

To try one piece quickly, the furniture fit checker takes one room and one piece and tells you whether it works.

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