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Furniture spacing and clearance best practices

How much space should you leave around everything? Here are the rules of thumb — and how Smart Flow Check checks them for you.

Updated 2026-06-10

Smart Flow Check enforces clearances automatically — but knowing the standards makes your layouts work the first time, not the fifth.

Step by step

  1. 1

    Walkways

    Main walkway: 36 inches. Secondary: 30. Doorway approach: 36 both sides.

  2. 2

    Seating

    Sofa to coffee table: 14–18 inches. Sofa to opposite seating: 84 inches max for conversation. Between two adjacent chairs: 12 inches minimum.

  3. 3

    Dining

    Table to wall (chairs in): 36 minimum. Walkway past seated chair: add 24 inches.

  4. 4

    Bedroom

    Walkway around bed: 30 each side. Foot of bed to dresser: 36.

  5. 5

    Kitchen

    Around island: 42–48. Galley aisle: 42 single cook; 48 two cooks.

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