Does It Feel Good?

Remember Leonardo da Vinci's famous drawing of the human figure? The one with the man standing inside a circle with his arms outstretched, with his fingertips touching the circle on the sides and his feet planted on the circle at the bottom. That drawing was made in response to a 15th-century Italian who said that the length of a man is equal to his width with his arms extended. From that theory, we've created a total science called anthropometry, and it is from there that ergonomics was conceived.

Big deal? Yes. Through this study, the chairs in which we sit, the cupboards into which we reach and every product we use are made for the comfort of the user. Or at least that's what this science is striving to accomplish.

Things like how tall a dining table should be in conjunction to the height of the chair seat are the benefits we draw from this science. If your dining table is 29 inches tall, for example, the chair seat should be 18 inches. If the game table height is 27 inches, then the chair seat should be 16 inches high.

Most sofa seats are 16 inches off the floor. But if you have a hard time getting up and out of a regular couch, you might consider not only a firmer cushion but also a taller seat.

Let's go back to the dining table. The minimum width a person needs for comfort is 24 inches. If you can afford 30 inches, you get more elbowroom, which will come in especially handy if you're a southpaw.

When sitting in the chairs, your body and the chair will take up only 18 to 24 inches of depth, measuring from the table out. But that will give you only sitting space; allow 30 to 36 inches total clearance to get in and out of the chair with ease.

Here are a few dimensions for the bedroom that might be good to know before purchasing furniture:

• Optimal space from the edge of the dresser and the edge of the bed is 42 to 48 inches. With this much room a person can easily open the drawers. If 48 inches isn't available, you can squeeze by with a minimum of 30 to 36 inches.
• To get around the bed and change the sheets, there should be at least 24 inches from the side of the bed to the wall. Twelve inches will work if you can suck in that gut long enough to make the bed.

With all of that in mind, you can plan your space and space your plan and remain confident there's enough room to include you.

(Rosemary Sadez Friedmann, a member of the American Society of Interior Designers, is president of Rosemary Sadez Friedmann Inc. in Naples, Fla.)