6 common mistakes that condominium homeowners make with their floorplan

 A couple of my friends will be collecting the keys to their brand new condominium units in a couple of month's time. Since it is their first home renovation project, they are pretty inexperienced and need some guidance during the planning process.

Hence, here is a short list of pointers on what homeowners should avoid when they are space planning with their floor plan.

1. Leaving inadequate clearance space between the furniture, walls and walkway

There is actually a simple rule of thumb to follow when it comes to the placement of home furniture and such guidelines are meant to help homeowners move around their home with ease without knocking over furniture or running into walls. In fact, the common recommendations include the following; the clearance space for a person to walk comfortably is approximately 70 cm to 80 cm. In addition, homeowners should leave around 80 cm between the dining table and walls on all sides for the chairs to be pulled in and out easily. Furthermore, the space around each chair should be around 60 cm to prevent elbow bumps. Also, the distance between the television wall and the sofa should be around 2.5 m to 3 m for a comfortable viewing experience.

Interior Designer: Diva's Interior

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2. Not thinking multi-dimensional during space planning

As the floor plan is a flat, 2 dimensional view from above that shows the relationships between rooms and other features of the home, most condominium homeowners made the mistake of planning what goes onto the floor only. In fact, since the condominium ceiling height is typically 20 cm to even a meter higher than most HDB ceilings, homeowners should make full use of the extra vertical space. They can do this by installing ceiling hung cabinets or even constructing furniture decks to eke out a bit more space.

Interior Designer: Museum Homes

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3. Assuming that the placement of the fridges and washing machines cannot be moved

New condominium units usually come equipped with refrigerator, washing machine and dryer and the placement of these appliances is indicated in the floor plan. These kitchen appliances can actually be shifted and it is much easier to relocate the refrigerator and dryer since relocating of the washing machines will mean moving the inlet and outlet water pipes too.

Interior Designer: Orange Cube

Interior Designer: Dots n Tots Interior

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4. Assuming that any walls can be hacked

Structural walls, usually denoted by dark, thick coloured lines, cannot be hacked and the waterproofing warranty for new condominium toilets will be void if their walls are hacked.

Interior Designer: Edgeline Planner

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5. Forgetting to take into consideration the dimensions of the furnishings and cabinets

Storage solution for bulky items should take into consideration of the thickness of the cabinets which is approximately 1 cm thick. For instance, the cabinet need to be at least 47 cm deep in depth to accommodate a 45 cm wide printer. In addition, the custom made bedframe should take into consideration that the thickness of a typical mattress is 30 cm.

Interior Designer: Icon Interior Design

Interior Designer: ID Emboss

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6. Assuming that the floor area provided by the property developer is absolute

Condominium homeowners of new units might be surprised to learn that most of them might end up with a little smaller home than what they have actually paid for. In fact, as long as the size shortfall is within the construction tolerance threshold of 3 per cent, the homeowners are not entitled to compensation under the Sales and Purchase agreement. This is usually due to the changes made as a response to unforeseen circumstances that arise during the construction process. Therefore, this means that the shortfall of larger units could be bigger and thus the homeowners should be conservative in terms of the amount of floor area they actually have when they space plan.