How to use Excel to design simple Floor Plans

Excel in Office 365 is a very versatile app. The built-in features of Excel make it able to be the building block for so many projects. While we cannot predict or avoid all disasters, our response to them can make a big difference. Our response to disasters is strongly tied to our planning and preparedness. One important tool in disaster preparedness is a Floor Plan showing evacuation routes and emergency numbers. Microsoft Office 365 Excel can help you to get your family or even workplace prepared for any eventualities. Microsoft Office 365 Excel has some features that will enable anyone with even basic skills to craft a Floor Plan showing evacuation routes.

Microsoft Office 365 Excel may also be used to do floor plans for organizing rooms, seating arrangements, and a lot more. With the built-in calculation feature, you will be able to show the Floor Plan and do calculations if the plan is for seating arrangements.

How to create a Floor Plan using Excel

Making the Floor Plan with Office 365 Excel requires to follow these steps:

1. Memorize or get the plan for the area
2. Do a rough draft on paper
3. Get a mouse instead of using the touchpad
4. Remember where all entrances stairs are
5. Move from paper to Microsoft Office 365 Excel.

Let us show you how you can create a Floor Plan using Excel.

There may be a point when you want to do a Floor Plan, Seating layout, or organize a room. You may be on a budget so you cannot get the software to do the job. You may have the skills to do the layout, so you do not need to hire a professional. Well, you already have the perfect tools, Microsoft Office 365 Excel, your creativity and skills, and time.

1] Memorize or get the plan for the area

Do a walkthrough of the space a few times to get a mental picture of the layout. You can walk with a pencil and paper so you can sketch the space that you want the plan for. Make notes of important areas that you need to remember. If it is Floor Plan for the emergency route you may want to make notes of stairs, lifts, fire extinguishers, etc. after sketching, try to follow the plan on paper and see if it matches the space. This is the same for Floor Plans for the emergency route, seating layout, or space to design/decorate.

2] Do a rough draft on paper

Doing a rough draft on paper is important as this will help you to remember. When you go to design in Excel, you may think you will remember, but you may miss important details. The rough draft will also give you an idea if you are on the right track when you compare to Excel.

3] Get a mouse instead of using the touchpad

If you are using a laptop, it is best to use a wired or wireless mouse instead of the touchpad. An external mouse will offer more comfort and accuracy. You can get an affordable and simple mouse or go for a fancy one. Whichever you choose, the external mouse will make designing in Excel more comfortable and accurate.

5] Move from paper to Microsoft Office 365 Excel

Now to get to the fun part of putting the design into Microsoft Office 365 Excel. Excel is made up of grids. These grids help to make it more accurate when trying to get things lined up perfectly. These grids can be hard to get around when you need to create curves in a design, but a little creativity, imagination, and some Excel features will help.

If your design has features on all sides then it is best to fit it in the middle of the Excel sheet. Be sure to get the beginning correct or it will affect the rest of the design. Corrections can be very time-consuming. Choose the area and start with the general shape of the structure or space you want to design.

You will use thick borders to show walls or major borders. Thinner borders can be used to show inner walls and partitions, and dotted lines to show doorways. Other features can be represented by your choice of items. Be sure to include a key so that persons will understand.

Shapes are extremely helpful when there is a need for features that cannot be made with the grids. Shapes such as lines, arcs, squares, etc. Shapes can be used to represent objects such as tables, also used to represent curved areas of the plan and accessways.

The finished floor plan with all the parts in place using the different features in Microsoft Excel. The grid lines will still show while in Microsoft Excel. The grid lines will not be printed by default, they will have to be set. In the print segment, you will be shown how to print the gridlines.

A finished Floor Plan, seating plan, or any plan should be clear and to the point. Anyone reading the Floor Plan should be able to see what is to be done. Microsoft Office 365 Excel makes the Floor Plan clear and easy to read.

Printing your Floor Plan in Excel

The first step that should be done before printing is to see how many sheets the Floor Plan is on. Create a print area to eliminate wasting paper. The print area would be the section with the Floor Plan and the information.

To set the Print Area select the areas that you want to be included, go to Page Layout, click Print Area, then click Set Print Area. If you decide to change or delete the print area just go to Page Layout, click Print Area, then click Clear Print Area

The paper size can be changed to facilitate a larger plan on a single sheet. Margins could also be modified to get the Floor Plan to fit on a single sheet. You can choose to keep the gridlines in the final print or make the print be plain with only the lines of the Floor Plan. To print, the gridlines, go to Page Layout then go to Gridline and select Print.

Microsoft Office 365 Excel, like other Microsoft Office apps, is very versatile. They can do so much more than meets the eye.   It is extremely easy to navigate Excel to create Floor Plans and any other plans. Microsoft Office 365 Excel is an app to consider for easy and cost-effective Plan designs. It requires little or no technical skills and anyone with a knowledge of Microsoft Office 365 and Excel can use it to make a Floor Plan.

Read next: How to use the TRUNC function in Microsoft Excel.