Let’s talk about apps and floor-plan tools, shall we? (Yes, that was a Tom Haverford reference, so you might want to picture your favorite snacks before we get into the details.)
While testing some new floor-planning apps for last week’s post about our office floor plans, I took screenshots and photos intending to share them. The previous post already had a lot of images and text, so I initially decided to leave those extras out.
Several dozen readers asked for more detail on how the floor plans were created, so here’s a dedicated post explaining the process and what I learned. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, this article was born.
We’ve covered space-planning techniques and tools before, and while 3-D planning software can be helpful—especially for major remodels—we usually begin with simple 2-D plans. For the new house layout we made previously, we used a desktop floor-planning site to sketch the “before” plan. Recently, commenters mentioned phone apps that promise easy floor plans, so I used our office project to test two popular mobile options.
Both MagicPlan and RoomScan are free to download, though several useful features are behind paywalls. I picked these because they claim to create a floor plan with minimal manual measuring: they use your phone’s sensors and camera to capture room geometry so you don’t have to drag out a tape measure. I searched the iOS App Store and these were the two that matched that promise.
MagicPlan’s concept is straightforward: stand near the center of the room and rotate while using your phone camera to mark each corner and doorway. It’s a little awkward in practice—my partner took photos of me using it and I looked like a giant nerd—but the idea is simple. You point the camera at each corner, align it with an on-screen guide, and the app drops a virtual marker. You can also mark doorways and indicate when you’re aligning through furniture, though marking behind furniture requires guessing where the corner sits.
My first MagicPlan attempt was messy; I moved too quickly and the corners weren’t precise. After a second, slower pass, the results improved significantly. I then adjusted the plan manually to add windows and correct a few measurements. I did end up using a tape measure to verify some dimensions, but the app’s measurements were generally within two to four inches—accurate enough for rough space planning. MagicPlan includes basic placeholder furniture, and it’s easy to scale those objects, but many useful features and exports are locked in the free version.
I reached the limits of the free tier when I tried to add and arrange furniture beyond the placeholders. The free export option (a watermarked PDF and JPG sent by email) wasn’t suitable for my needs. Paying unlocked better export formats, but I wanted to test the workflow before spending money.
RoomScan uses a different technique: you walk the perimeter and hold the phone flat against each wall for a few seconds at multiple points. The app’s prompts are clear and easy to follow, which made the scan feel idiot-proof. While scanning, a rough sketch builds in the background so you can see progress, although the live sketch can look a bit wobbly.
The final RoomScan floor plan was cleaner than the live sketch, but still required manual cleanup. The app even showed the path I walked while scanning, which made the recording look a bit like a cartoon character’s looping path. I tried scanning in different ways—more stops along the wall, scanning in the opposite direction—but the results were similar. Manual edits were necessary to straighten walls and correct dimensions.
RoomScan’s full feature set is behind a paid upgrade (about $4.99), and given that I still had to verify dimensions with a tape measure, I wasn’t convinced it was worth the purchase for this project. For fun and testing, I did pay to export my first MagicPlan layout to a desktop-based planner. The export sent the layout to my desktop account, where I could refine the plan and switch to 3-D mode for furniture placement.
Using a combination of MagicPlan to capture basic room geometry and a desktop floor-planning tool to arrange furniture worked well. That hybrid workflow is what produced several layout options I showed previously. The mobile apps are handy for quick mock-ups and for capturing multiple rooms into one project, but I wouldn’t rely solely on them for precise measurements required for construction or cabinetry.
In short: these apps are useful time-savers for conceptual planning and quick mock-ups, but expect to verify measurements and do some manual cleanup. Have you used MagicPlan, RoomScan, or other floor-planning apps with better results? I’m happy to hear tips, app suggestions, or tricks—my willingness to look awkward while holding my phone in an empty room has not yet been exhausted. Meanwhile, my partner is upstairs painting, racing against the inevitable baby schedule, and will share more updates tomorrow.
Psst—Clara has started chatting more. Today’s topics: favorite farm animals and another baby name idea.