Standard Furniture Dimensions: The Complete Cheat Sheet

By the Napkin Plan team · Updated June 2026 · 9 min read

Whether you're sketching a layout on graph paper, sizing up an apartment listing, or shopping for a new sofa, you need real numbers. This cheat sheet collects the standard dimensions for every major furniture category — plus the clearance each piece needs around it, which is the part most people forget and the reason rooms end up feeling cramped.

Every figure below is given in both inches and centimetres. Where a category has genuinely different regional standards rather than the same object described in different units — mattresses and rugs, mainly — both sets are listed, because converting a US size gives you a precise number that nobody outside the US actually sells.

Beds and mattresses

Mattresses are the one category where converting a size does not travel. A US Queen is 152 × 203 cm — an exact number that no shop in London, Berlin or Sydney sells. Every region has its own named standards, and the names overlap without matching. Below are all four, in both units.

Bed frames add 2–5 inches (5–13 cm) to each dimension, and headboards add more — measure the frame, not the mattress, when planning.

United States & Canada

United Kingdom & Ireland

Continental Europe

Australia & New Zealand

Sizes above are the published standards for each region; individual manufacturers vary by a centimetre or two, and length in particular drifts. Measure the actual product before committing.

Clearance: leave at least 24 inches (60 cm) on each side you get in and out of, and 30–36 inches (76–91 cm) at the foot if it faces a dresser or closet. A US queen or European 160 cm bed with side clearances realistically needs a space about 9 feet (2.75 m) wide.

Sofas and sectionals

European three-seaters tend to sit at the lower end of that width range — around 200–220 cm — where US ones cluster nearer 220 cm. It's a difference of habit rather than a standard, so the ranges above hold either way.

Clearance: 14–18 inches (36–46 cm) between sofa and coffee table (close enough to reach a drink, far enough to walk), and 30–36 inches (76–91 cm) for any walkway passing behind or beside it. Depth is the number that catches people out — a deep "lounge" sofa at 40+ inches (100+ cm) can dominate a narrow living room.

Dining tables

The rule of thumb: each diner needs 24 inches (60 cm) of table edge and the table needs 36 inches (90 cm) of clearance on every side for chairs to slide out and people to walk past — 42–48 inches (107–122 cm) if a walkway runs behind the chairs.

Desks and home office

Clearance: allow 42–48 inches (107–122 cm) from the desk edge to the wall behind the chair — enough to push back and stand. An office chair needs roughly a 42-inch (107 cm) circle to maneuver.

Dressers, nightstands, and storage

Wardrobes are worth a note if you're planning outside the US. American bedrooms usually have built-in closets, so a freestanding wardrobe is optional; across most of Europe it's the only hanging storage in the room, and modular systems are sold in fixed widths — commonly 50, 75, 100 and 150 cm — at a standard 58–60 cm deep. Plan the wall for it, not around it.

Clearance: drawers need their full depth plus your body — leave at least 36 inches (90 cm) in front of any dresser. A dresser facing the foot of a bed needs that gap between them.

TV stands and media units

TV sizes are quoted as a diagonal in inches worldwide, including in metric markets — a "65-inch" television is sold as such in Paris and Sydney too.

Viewing distance is roughly 1.5–2.5× the screen diagonal. Measure your sofa-to-wall distance before upsizing the TV.

Rugs

Rugs are the second category where converting is not enough — the two markets are sold in different sizes, not different units.

In a living room, the front legs of all seating should sit on the rug — 8'×10' (or 200 × 300 cm) suits most sofas. Under a dining table, the rug should extend 24 inches (60 cm) beyond the table on all sides so chairs stay on it when pulled out; a 36"×72" (91 × 183 cm) table needs at least an 8'×10' or 200 × 300 cm.

Walkways and circulation (the numbers that matter most)

How to use these numbers

Dimensions on paper only get you halfway — the layout question is whether the piece plus its clearance fits your actual room, with its actual door swings and window positions. The fastest way to check is to place real-size furniture on your real floor plan:

1. Upload a photo or screenshot of your floor plan.
2. Calibrate the scale against one known measurement (a door or a listed room width). Our guide to reading floor plans explains how.
3. Drag furniture with the dimensions above onto the plan and check the walkways.