How far apart should your seats be? Drag the chairs and see

Seats that are too far apart make everyone raise their voice; seats that are too close make a room feel crowded. A rule of thumb from interior designers puts the comfortable band at roughly 1.2 to 2.4 metres between people.

Drag two armchairs around a sofa in a top-down plan and watch the distances change in real time, then learn how to test the idea with masking tape before you buy or move a single piece of furniture.