Why your 1,200 sq ft condo feels cramped: The overlooked impact of a poor floor plan

When buying a condo, most people zero in on the obvious — location, proximity to transport, top schools, or the tenure.

However, one critical factor that often gets sidelined can drastically affect your living experience and even your condo's resale value: the floor plan.

For many first-time buyers, the layout's impact only becomes apparent once they've moved in.

You might think you've found your dream 1,200 square foot unit, only to discover it feels oddly cramped, or that awkwardly placed walls turn furniture arrangement into a nightmare.

These overlooked design quirks can easily undermine even the most attractive external features, like freehold status or impressive facilities.

This is why understanding a floor plan, even in its basic 2D form, is crucial before making a purchase.

Let's explore three condos that demonstrate just how significantly a floor plan can influence both comfort and value.

1. The Line @ Tanjong Rhu

If you're a member of the Singapore Swimming Club or have a child going to Dunman High, you probably know this condo.

It's located near both and recently had a boost from the opening of Katong Park MRT (TEL), which is within walking distance.

This freehold condo has only 130 units, but small and boutique condos are pretty much the norm in District 15.

In terms of layout, The Line's two and three-bedder units sort of live up to their name.

They can be a challenge in terms of interiors: the three-bedder has a long corridor leading to the balcony, which greets you from the front entrance.

This can look visually impressive, but it's also inefficient as space is taken up for the long corridor. 

It may also strike some homeowners as being unusual, as we usually expect the living/dining area to be the point of entrance for guests.

Instead, the main door is inexplicably by the common bedroom, so guests would have to walk past two bedrooms and the kitchen to get to the living room. 

For parents with young kids, this can be a frustrating placement as coming home late would mean you have to stealthily sneak in, less you wake them up.

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The kitchen is also on the small side, and for a 3-bedder unit that goes slightly beyond 1,000 sq. ft. in size, the lack of a yard (the washer/dryer is in the kitchen), means that it isn't very practical for its size. 

That said, having the balcony positioned at the end of the corridor does help with ventilation (it would be nice if the master bedroom had a balcony though); and the kitchen nicely connects to the dining area.

Following that setup, the dining table can also act as another surface for the cook (and in Singapore, we're quite fond of using the kitchen for dining anyway).

Finally, we would say that most buyers wouldn't be pleased with the master bedroom being placed right by the living as it is a matter of privacy. 

2. Montebleu

Montebleu is a freehold, 151-unit condo situated near Balestier Road, making this a fairly central condo.

It's also a little close to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, but being in a noisier area is an inevitable tradeoff for living near Novena. 

This 3-bedder layout is one of those that makes new buyers thankful for the new ruling on GFA harmonisation — just look at the size of the AC ledge here.

For 1,141 sq. ft. in size, you do expect a lot more for the layout, so to find two small common bedrooms here may be disappointing for some. 

Also, given the size, some people may be expecting to see a yard (which is typically common for older condos at this size).

Although the positive aspect here is that it is a dumbbell unit, so you do have more privacy for the master bedroom, and less wastage as there isn't a need for a long hallway. 

The bathroom may be a little too close to the dining area, and anyone going in and out of it is very visible if the table's there.

It is nice that there's a wet kitchen which can be fully enclosed though; that's less common in a lot of newer condos, which just leave you with a single open-concept kitchen. 

Last but not least, there are a lot of inefficiencies in the bedrooms, with a bay window present in all of them. 

3. Atrium Residences

Atrium Residences is a freehold project that goes back to the early 2000's (2008 to be precise), and is within range of Aljunied MRT station (EWL).

Like many condos in this area, it's benefited from the development of Paya Lebar Quarter (PLQ) into a major hub; but also like many condos in this area, it's in a rather dense urban area; so this one isn't for those who are big on the outdoor spaces.

But there are only 142 units here, which makes it more private.

We expect many buyers will frown at the liberal use of bay windows, which appear in the living room and all three bedrooms.

We do expect to see these in early '00s era condos, as it was a way for developers to charge more for the square footage; but it's a bit much in this case.

As such, the 3-bedroom unit here is a prime example of how a particular size on paper sometimes doesn't translate well in reality.

At 1,227 sq. ft., this is a size that most buyers would consider to be a spacious three bedder.

But a look at the floor plan reveals that quite a chunk would be taken up by the liberal use of bay windows and AC ledges.

Besides being present in all the bedrooms, there is even an extra one in the master bedroom that takes up space on the balcony! 

It comes down to more than square footage, and the layouts can reveal that

A good designer can look at the floor plans, and identify certain spots that are hard to work with: nooks and corridors that don't have much utility, or which may require quite a bit of work.

These are rarely obvious in the marketing materials; and if it's a new launch, it can be hard to visualise all this until it's built. 

When you're in doubt, ask for a copy of the floor plan and check first. It's also a good way to tell if your desired design themes will fit the overall layout.

ALSO READ: From landed house to condo: A family's $300k renovation journey to create a spacious home

This article was first published in Stackedhomes.