Plan a floor that looks right, before you open a single pack.

Usually along the longest wall or towards the main light source, but narrow rooms, hallways and L-shapes change the answer. The reliable way to decide is to look at both: the designer lays your actual room in each direction so you can compare the last row, the number of cuts and the look before you buy anything.

Usually the longest straight wall, with the boards running towards the main window, though the right answer depends on the room. The designer shows you how the boards fall from any wall you start against, so you can check the last row won't end in a thin sliver before you commit to it.

Click-together laminate is one of the more beginner friendly DIY jobs, and vinyl plank is much the same. What usually goes wrong is the planning: direction, stagger, the last row and the quantities. With a board-by-board plan in hand, the laying itself is mostly measuring, clicking and patience.

Yes. Vinyl planks follow the same rules as laminate: end joints in neighbouring rows need to keep their distance, or you get weak points, H joints and visible stair-step patterns. The planner staggers every row for you and keeps the joints apart automatically.

Measure the room in square metres, add a bit extra for waste (around 5% to 8% for a straight lay, 15% to 20% for herringbone), then divide by the coverage printed on the pack. Our free flooring calculator does that for laminate, vinyl and wood in one go. The designer takes it further and lays out every board, so the pack count comes from the real cuts rather than a flat percentage.

No. You can open the designer, draw your room and pick your flooring without signing up. Signing in is free and saves your project; unlocking a room's full cut list is a separate one-time payment when you're ready.

No. Signing in takes no card at all. You only enter payment details if you decide to unlock your room's full plan or upgrade to Floor Optimizer Pro.

You get the full designer at no cost: draw your room, pick your flooring and pattern, and see your whole layout, plus the first two boards of the cut list. One payment unlocks the waste and pack count, the complete cut list and exports for that room, and Floor Optimizer Pro covers every room you design.

Yes. You can draw L-shapes, bays, angled walls and multiple rooms at once, plan the transition between rooms and through doorways, and cut around obstacles like islands, pillars and hearths.

Straight lay, running bond with any stagger, a natural random stagger, strip plank, herringbone (single, double or triple), chevron (the Hungarian point), basketweave and windmill. Each pattern has its own settings, like the chevron point angle or boards per block, and the cut list accounts for every mitre and module.

No. It started as a laminate layout planner and that is still the most common use, but the planner works from the board dimensions you enter, so vinyl plank, engineered wood, solid wood and other rigid boards laid in rows all plan the same way. Tile-format boards work too if they lay in staggered rows.

8 to 12 mm at every wall and fixed object, with 10 mm the common recommendation, and runs over about 8 m need an expansion joint partway across. The designer takes the gap off your measurements automatically, and our expansion gap guide covers where the gaps go and how skirting hides them.

The planner works to the millimetre from the measurements you enter, so the plan is only as accurate as your room measurements. Always measure on site and double-check before cutting, because the cut list is a plan, not a substitute for measuring twice.

Anytime, from your settings. You keep Pro access until the end of your billing period. See our refund and cancellation policy for details.