You come home from work, lie down on the sofa and find that your legs will not stretch into a comfortable position. That is because the dimensions are wrong. When buying furniture most of us look at how it looks and overlook how it measures — yet dimensions decide whether the layout of your home works, whether daily life is convenient, and, if they are wrong, whether they affect your health. So what are the right proportions?
1. Sofa
A sofa exists for rest and relaxation, so comfort comes first. A back height of 85–90 cm lets you rest your head fully against the back and completely relax the neck.
If the back and arms are too low, add a cushion for comfort. If the room is not especially large, keep the sofa against the wall.
Allow about 3 m between the sofa and the television.
Seat depth should not be less than 48 cm: too deep and the calves cannot hang naturally; too shallow and you cannot sit securely.
Seat height should be 36–42 cm.
2. Dining table
A dining table’s working height is roughly 73–76 cm.
Dining chair seat height is 45 cm — higher and the feet cannot reach the floor, lower and the posture becomes uncomfortable.
Used together, the difference between table top and seat height should be about 28–32 cm.
3. Desk and chair
Measured against average body height, a desk should be 75–80 cm high and longer than 90 cm; the chair seat 40–50 cm high and at least 38 cm wide.
Clear height under the desk should be at least 58 cm and clear width at least 52 cm, so the legs have room to move.
4. Bed
A bed is best at knee height (45–50 cm): sitting on the edge, your feet reach the floor and the edge does not press into the thigh muscle.
Too high or too low only makes getting in and out harder; too high is awkward, too low invites damp and draws floor dust into the lungs during sleep.
Pillow height affects sleep too. For adults about 15 cm is usual; older people and children can go lower, and for infants about 6 cm. This supports blood flow to the brain, relaxes the neck muscles and keeps the airway open.
5. TV cabinet
The TV cabinet should be at the height where, when seated, your line of sight lands on the centre of the screen. Sitting on a sofa: seat height 40 cm, seat-to-eye height typically 66 cm — 106 cm in total. That is your sight line, and the standard for judging whether a cabinet sits at a healthy height.
Take a 29-inch television: the set is about 60 cm tall, a 70 cm cabinet brings the total to 130 cm, putting the centre of the screen about 110 cm above the floor — right at the healthy viewing height. Choose a cabinet taller than 70 cm and the sight line will certainly sit above this standard, forcing you to look upwards.
Now that you know the standards, measure your furniture. If the dimensions are off, adjust them in good time — health comes first.