Everyone is familiar with MS Excel, right?. MS Excel being a spreadsheet program is used to store and retrieve numerical data in a grid format of columns and rows. Excel is ideal for entering, calculating and analyzing company data such as sales figures, sales taxes or commissions. Yet did you know that it can be used for creating floor plans? Yes, you heared that right!

This 'ible demonstrate the use of Microsoft excel as a tool in designing any type of floor plan (i.e. house, industrial, plant).

So hover on the rest of the steps and learn how I did it.

Step 1: Set-Up Row and Column

Once we open the spreadsheet, we have to set-up the cells to create grid coordinate so that scaling is easy.

I set the column width to 1 and the row height to 9 units.

This can be done by following the steps below:

Select entire cells by pressing Ctrl+A.
Right click column letters then select Column Width. Change value to 1 then click 'Ok'.
Next while entire cells are still selected, right click row numbers then select Row Height. Change value to 9 then click 'Ok'.
Now the grid 'working area' is now ready for layout.

Step 2: Create the Scaling and Wall

This part goes through depending on the design in mind to be implemented.

I decided to create a house layout with 400 square feet area (scaled). I started with the wall. The width is 2 square units. By the way, my scaling for this layout is 4 square units (cells) equivalent to 1 square foot.

To create the lines simply create border lines on the cells depending on the scaling used. I put grid lines (in purple) to visualize the 1 square foot scaling.

Step 3: Start Partitioning the Floor Area

Now that the floor area has been established. I partitioned it by putting walls inside creating rooms in the layout.

I started with the bedroom and living room area. Next I worked with the bathroom and closet. At this moment I added shapes from the Shape toolbar to create figures on the layout (for the lavatory, faucet bowl etc.).

Afterwards, I created partition for the pantry and kitchen adding also shapes to make it look more of a layout .

Step 4: Refine the Floor Plan

I refine the layout by removing the lines connecting the walls making it look as one. I did it by selecting the cells with the 'unnecessary' lines then right click on it. Select the format cells option then go to borders option and remove the unnecessary lines as mentioned.

I eventually end up adding an area for the balcony of my design.

Step 5: Add Color and Last Touches

I colored the layout on some parts. This makes it look more realistic (I guess). Don't forget the labels for each area. Some decorations can be added to improve the look of the design. In my design I added a sofa, a TV, bed, table lamps etc.

That's it for my demonstration of using MS Excel Spreadsheet as floor plan layout tool. One restriction i can see using this tool is that it's limited to horizontal and vertical wall designs. To overcome this, shapes can be used as alternative arranged diagonally.

Hope you enjoyed it!

Thanks for your attention.