Living well · 6 min read
How to read a floor plan properly
A plan tells you more than a render does. Five checks separate a home that works from one that only photographs well.
Last updated 29 July 2026
Separate the areas out
In Cyprus, advertised square metres often combine internal area, covered verandas and sometimes a share of common space. Ask for three numbers: internal area, covered veranda area and uncovered outdoor area. Compare units only on the internal figure, then value the outdoor space separately.
Measure the furniture, not the room
Draw your actual sofa, bed and dining table on the plan at scale. A 4.2 m living room takes a three-seat sofa and a walkway; a 3.6 m one takes one or the other. Bedrooms need 700 mm beside a bed to be usable, and a wardrobe needs 600 mm of depth plus door swing.
Trace the circulation
Walk the plan with your finger: entrance to kitchen with shopping, bedroom to bathroom at night, living room to veranda with plates. Where a route crosses a seating area or a door swing blocks a corridor, daily friction follows.
Check orientation against the compass
Find the north arrow. In Cyprus, a west-facing living room is hot until nine in the evening in July, and a north-facing bedroom stays comfortable. South is generally the best living orientation because high summer sun is easy to shade and low winter sun is welcome.
Count the storage
Look for a coat cupboard by the entrance, a utility position for washing and drying, linen storage, and a place for suitcases, bicycles and the vacuum. Plans that lack these look spacious on paper and feel cramped after a year.
Read the veranda as a room
A veranda under 2 m deep holds chairs but not a table with people around it. From 2.5 m it becomes an outdoor dining room, which in this climate is the room you use most from May to October.
This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules and rates change — take advice specific to your circumstances before you commit.
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