Measure the route in as well as the rooms: elevator, corridors, the suite door and every interior doorway, then each room's walls, the bed space, the closets, and where the outlets, windows and heaters sit. Then measure the furniture you are considering. Write it all on one sheet, with the floor plan, and share it with your mover.
Which pieces tend to fit and which do not is covered in our guide to what fits in a retirement suite. This guide is about the measuring itself, because a measurement taken carelessly is worse than none.
Before You Go: Get the Floor Plan
Ask the residence for the suite's floor plan with dimensions. Many have one. Treat it as a guide only — plans are often drawn before construction and rarely show heaters, closet doors or the swing of the entrance door. Arrange a visit to measure in person whenever you can.
Take a tape measure, a notebook, a phone camera and, ideally, a second person.
The Route In
The clear opening of a door is always less than the frame suggests. Take photos of each pinch point so your mover can see them.
- Elevator: interior width, depth and height, plus the door opening width and height
- Corridor: width at its narrowest point and at any turn near the suite
- Suite entrance door: the clear opening with the door fully open — measure between the door stop and the open door leaf, not the frame
- Interior doorways: each one, the same way, especially the bedroom and bathroom
- Any steps, thresholds or tight turns between the loading area and the suite
Each Room
Measure every wall, wall to wall, at floor level. Note where doors swing into the room and how far, since that space cannot hold furniture. Mark windows, with the height of the sill from the floor, and any heaters, vents or radiators along the walls.
Sketch it roughly on paper with the measurements written in. It does not need to be neat; it needs to be accurate.
The Bed Space
The bed is usually the largest piece in the suite and decides the rest of the bedroom. Measure the wall it will go against, and leave at least enough room beside it for your parent to get in and out comfortably, and for a walker or a caregiver if needed.
Check whether the residence supplies a bed or allows a personal one, and whether a hospital-style bed may be needed now or later, since those take more room.
Closets and Storage
Closet space is the most common thing families overestimate. The answer often decides how many clothes come.
- Closet width, depth and height, and the length of hanging rail
- Shelf sizes and how many there are
- Whether closet doors slide or swing, and how much space they need
- The storage locker, if there is one — size and location
Outlets, Cable and Lights
Mark where every outlet, phone jack and cable connection is. They decide where the television, lamps, bedside clock and medical devices can go without cords across the floor, which is a trip hazard.
Note the overhead lighting too. A dim room might need an extra lamp, and that lamp needs an outlet nearby.
Windows and Wall Space
Measure windows if your parent is bringing curtains or blinds, and check what the residence allows. Measure the clear wall space for pictures, shelving and a television, and ask what the rules are about hanging things.
Then Measure the Furniture
For each piece you are thinking of bringing, measure width, depth and height, and note whether it comes apart — legs off, drawers out, top separate. The smallest dimension it can be reduced to is what has to pass the narrowest opening on the route.
Compare each piece with the route measurements first, then with the room. Any piece that is close should be flagged for your mover, with a plan for where it goes if it does not fit. Our guide on what happens when furniture will not fit explains the options.
Get the floor plan, then measure the route, the rooms, the bed space, the closets, the outlets and the windows, and finally the furniture. Photograph the tight spots. Put it all on one page.
Send us your measurements and photos, and we will help you work out which pieces will go and how we would get them in.