In the previous post I attempted to unravel factors which impact attractiveness of a property's location. As a follow-up to those musings, I complement them with thoughts on features of a specific dwelling, which make it a comfortable place to inhabit.
Layout is the key, I would respond, if somebody asked me about only one characteristic to be taken into consideration. The term, nevertheless is broad is could be broken down into a few sub-features I pay attention to.
Shape of rooms determines their functionality. A possible square-like rectangles are preferable. I am not fond of hexagons, triangles, half-circles and the likes. Tram-like rectangles also do not add to practicality of an interior.
Most people appreciate natural daylight at home, hence reasonably large windows, orientation of rooms against cardinal poinst and lack of nearby buildings which obscure the sun play a vital role in choosing a flat. I am of the opinion too much sunlight in summer might be cracked down on with blind rollers, while insufficient sunlight cannot be made up for. My own preference would be to have a living room with windows facing south and/or west, kitchen to the east and/or north, while for bedrooms I have no clear preference, albeit I lean towards getting up with the sun, so I tilt towards eastern exposure.
With respect to the layout, one of major questions is whether to have kitchen as a separate room or to make it a part of a dining or living room, often with limited access to daylight (no dedicated window). I see drawbacks of both solutions, but lean towards a separate room with a table for daily dining. Nevertheless in crampy dwelling a kitchen combined with a living space appears to be the most reasonable choice.
Before COVID-19 the optimum number of rooms (in Poland we count rooms, unlike in the UK, where bedrooms are counted) was equal to the number of inhabitants, e.g. a dwelling suitable for a 2+2 family would consist of a living room and 3 bedrooms. These days, when people work from home, one could argue more space is needed to fit a dedicated desk, yet not necessarily in a separate room, such needs could be met by larger bedrooms too.
A storey on which a dwelling is located does matter too. The higher you live, the more sunlight and the less noise you get. I am not fond of ground floors and last floors. I actually do not mind neighbours above me, but the prospects of heating up or leaking roof would not encourage me to live on the top storey. Also the lack of lift on higher storeys is a nuisance. It is healthy to take the staircase, however I prefer it to be a choice, not a must.
The last, yet quite important to me element are amenities outside a dwelling:
- a balcony or a terrace (to hang out in warmer half of the year),
- a basement (to store tyres, bikes and other stuff not most desirable at home) and
- a garage (no need to mention the comfort of having a vehicle protected from the elements of weather).
Again, the good features a property has, the more expensive it is. Needless to say, comfort of living has its price.
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