As a home-buyer, one must consider several factors while buying a house. Some of these are the right developer, right location, right size, right floor etc. Often, people also wait for the right time to buy a house. But, this article will talk about another factor one should take into consideration- the right floor plan.

A floor plan is a representation of the layout of a home or property. It illustrates the location of walls, windows, doors, stairs, installations, appliances etc. It is important to analyse the floor plan of any property clearly before deciding to invest.

Here are some pointers that would help a buyer identify a good floor plan:

Entrance

Entrance, here, is related to the view one would get from the main door. Ideally, the visitors should not get a view of the kitchen; rather, the view from the main door/passage should be that of the living room interiors. The main door should not open into the kitchen.

Room layout

One must prefer floor plans that have rectangular rooms instead of square ones. Rectangular rooms offer possibilities for large windows which allow proper light and ventilation. There is nothing like rooms lit by natural light.

Also, in a rectangular layout, there remains more free space for movement even after placing a regular-sized bed.

Usable common areas

If the common area is such that no furniture can be placed on it, it may seem bland and look like wasted space. Common areas should be such that one can put built-in furniture pieces like shelves, desks or convertible sofas in them.

Kitchen layout

Experts believe that the ideal floor plan is one that has an open kitchen with enough seating space in it. However, the concept of an open kitchen is not much preferred in India and is not very plausible in average-sized apartments.

As an alternative, one must choose a floor plan in which the kitchen and dining area are adjacent to each other for convenience sakes. Again, they must assure that the kitchen is not visible from the main door or passage.

Balconies

According to expert opinion, it is better to have one large balcony than multiple small ones.

A large balcony would mean more ventilation and natural light and less maintenance.

Bathroom

When it comes to bathrooms, each family has a different requirement. One must ensure that at least one of the bathrooms present in the house is attached to the bedroom. All bathrooms should have outlets for proper ventilation.

If one's family size is small, and they require only two out of the three bathrooms in the house, it would be a good idea to convert the common area bathroom into a guest bathroom.