This is part 2 of a 5 part series on small business moving and design. To read the entire series, click here.
This was where math and technology failed me completely. For weeks I looked for a space planning software where I would be able to just input the dimensions, and have things snap to the correct scale when I input their dimensions. You wouldn't think it'd be that hard to find in this day and age, but no matter how many programs I tried, I could either not figure out how to work them, or refused to pay for them, and that left me with nothing but the schematic our landlord had given me. So finally, I got smart. The blueprint I had been given was drawn to a 1/8"=1' scale (so every eighth of an inch on paper was equivalent to one foot in real life).
Ask your future landlord for a blueprint of the new office/property.
Check out the key on the bottom- it will tell you what scale they're using.
Google "free printable graph paper" and the increment you need (for example, if you have a blueprint that is 1/4"=1', you'll want 1/4" graph paper squares. Here is the paper I found for my 1/8"=1' version.)
Print that graph paper out on a different color paper than you printed the blueprint out on. For example, if you printed out the blueprint in black and white, use a blue paper to print your graphing paper onto. If you printed your blueprint out in blue, use red paper to print your graphing paper onto.)
Measure your existing furniture.
This is coming from a NOT mathematically inclined human being: with each graph paper square being 1 foot, all you then have to do is eyeball
Number each piece you cut out and create a corresponding index for what that exact piece of furniture is (i.e. "Monica's current desk", "Monica's bookshelf", etc.). Be detailed so you can look back later and use this to identify what fits where. Or, if you have big enough pieces or small enough writing, write the identifiers straight onto the pieces themselves.
Keep a plastic Ziploc bag next to you, and when you finish cutting out each piece, place it in the bag so you don't lose it- trust me, these are easy to lose.
How did it all work? Continue to Part 3 of the series.