Do you know what the difference is between a floor plan and an elevation?
If you are working on a renovation project, your contractors such as your architect, builders or interior designers might be mentioning these terms and you might be wondering what it is they are talking about. Once you know the difference between the two it can make it easier for you to know what each diagram/drawing is used for.
In basic terms, a floor plan is a birds-eye view of a space, drawn from a horizontal plane, looking down from above. Imagine you sliced through an apple horizontally and you were stood over it looking down. When drawing a floor plan, the roof/ceiling would be removed so that the interior space can be seen. Floor plans are used to show the layout of a building, showing locations of rooms and windows, walls, doors, stairs etc and where you might place furniture and lighting.
An elevation is a view from the side of an object to illustrate a portion of a building or a wall of a room. Elevations are drawn from a vertical plane looking straight on to a building facade or interior surface. This is as if you directly in front of a building and looked straight at it. This would include any windows or doors as well as any built-in furniture that is in direct contact with the wall. They are often used in kitchen and bathroom design to detail the placement of built-in furniture.
Remember, interior designers like myself are on hand to understand all of these diagrams and can work with you to ensure that you understand what is being visually represented, so there is nothing to fear!
