Watch my eHow.com video about how to use Professional Interior Decorating Scaling Tools, such as graph paper, T-square and architect's scale.  These tools are indispensable to architects!

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Video Transcript:

Hi, I'm Anjie Cho, and today I'd like to talk about the main professional tools typically used in interior design. Common scaling tools include graph paper, architect scale, T square and measuring tape.

When generating scaled drawings it's important that they're proportional to the actual space. Here's an example of a scale drawing and it's at quarter inch equals one foot. So for every quarter inch drawn, it represents one foot in the actual room. Graph paper with quarter inch by quarter inch spacing is often the easiest to work with for interior spaces. The graph paper makes it easy to lay out straight and diagonal lines and because it's already measured out, it can make things easier to draw a scaled drawing without the need for a straight edge. If I had an eight foot wall I would draw a line that was the length of eight squares because quarter inch or one square equals one foot. Graph paper is easy to find at art and office supply stores.

This is an architect scale. Which looks basically like a triangular ruler. Sometimes you might find flat ones like this that look like a regular ruler. Just like a standard ruler you can use architect scale to measure inches but it can also be used to measure in different increments such as quarter inch, half inch, three eighths, etc. These are great for drawing out a scaled room or to determine measurements from the scale drawing that you might get from your designer or architect.

Next is a T square. This is a technical drawing instrument that is used in drafting scale drawings. A T square makes your life a whole lot easier when drawing straight and orthagonal lines because it has this guide that's built in, and it aligns with the edge of your table or pad of paper. This way you can always draw rectangles and squares with 90 degree corners.

Finally the measuring tape. This is probably the most important tool because you need to be able to measure the space in question. Get as precise as possible at least to the quarter inch. There are a few different types of measuring tapes. I have a long 25 foot tape measure that's pretty versatile, it's good for most interior spaces. I also have a travel 12 footer. I never leave home without this. It's much lighter. You would do best with a 25 foot or 30 foot tape. It's much easier to use a tape measure with a metal tape that's curved. They're rigid and allow for more accurate measurements. Nowadays you can also find the pricier laser distance measures. They're precise and great for long distances. I use both the laser and the 25 foot together.

I'm Anjie Cho, interior architect with Anjie Cho architect and founder of Holistic Spaces and this has been professional interior decorating scaling tools. Happy measuring.

by Anjie Cho

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