Your hand: Measure from the line at the base of your wrist to the tip of your middle finger. This is helpful for measuring larger surfaces you touch with your hands, like tables and cushions.
Your pinkie finger: Though not the longest, this finger is handiest because it’s on the outside of your hand and has a clear start and end, unlike thumbs.
Your stride: For measuring room lengths. When measuring your stride in advance, lay a measuring tape on the floor and have someone else watch you walk at a normal, natural pace. You might have to do it a few times to make sure you’re not changing your gait wildly each time.
Your foot: With this one it helps to know your European shoe size: 35 = 9′, 40 = 10″ and 45 = 11″. This is more accurate but more time consuming than using your stride to measure a space, as you must walk toe to the heel of your next foot.
Your height: We have compelled a perfectly 6-foot-tall person to lay on the floor to get a room dimension before, but it’s not necessary to go to that trouble. The distance between your fingertips with your arms stretched to the sides is roughly the same as your height.
