Showflats and pictures can be deceiving. What you see in the showflats and galleries have all been in the hands of professional designers and photographers; and the ones hired by developers are at the top of their game. These are people who can make your junior suite toilet look like a bedroom at Buckingham Palace. To get a less…distracted perspective, it’s always important to look at the floor plans instead. Besides a more objective view, understanding the floor plan also helps you identify inefficient layouts, and the potential for future renovations. Here’s how to read and compare them: The basics of interpreting a floor plan Walls and windows The above is a unit from Riviere. The walls are coloured in so it’s easier to visualise (this is not always the case on every floor plan). Note that the thicker lines indicate structural or load-bearing walls. These can’t be moved. The thinner lines indicate partition walls, which can be hacked away....