Did you realize that deciding on the type of home interior design theme to adopt without going through a proper space planning exercise, is suicidal? 

Space planning is essentially maximizing a room's available space and adjacencies. To do this, you have to consider the demographics and needs of the occupants before deciding on the purpose of the area or room and placement of the home interior furnishing. In this way, your home stays functional and efficient.

The process is extremely straight forward. All you need is basically a scaled floor plan, a furniture template ruler plus a list of all the needs of the occupants.

Finding out the needs of the occupants is the hardest if you do know what to ask. Nevertheless, here is a simple list below to get you started.

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How long would the occupants be staying?

If a young couple knows that they intend to upgrade from a HDB to an EC after 5 years of stay, a minimal renovation with a simple design theme and furnishing should be suffice. Anything more is simply a waste of money.

Will the number of occupants change during the length of the stay?

A young couple may be looking at expanding the family; an elderly couple may foresee their children leaving to start their own family. In short, a family's needs change over the time!

What are the demographics of the occupants?

For a petite sized homeowner, the kitchen countertop cannot go beyond a certain height. Night lights have to be installed along the corridor way so that elderly parents can find their way to the toilet at night.

What is the lifestyle of the occupants?

Does the family play host to a lot of friends over the weekend? Is cooking the favorite pastime? Do the occupants enjoy lounging in the living room or hanging out on the balcony?

What purpose does an area serve?

Does the kitchen double up as an entertaining room for the guests? Does the small kitchen has to pull double duty due to lack of space and so on?

What are the physical characteristics of the room?

Years ago, my spouse enthusiastically proposed a feature wall in the living room. He was absolutely proud of his proposal - until I reminded him that the air con Trunking and ubiquitous ceiling beams will spoil the look he was trying to achieve.  In short, do pay attention to placement of the windows, water and aircon pipes, electrical outlets, beams and so on..

What are the space allowance needed?

Remember that leaving inadequate clearance space between the furniture, walls and walkway are a must! Examples include approximately 70 cm to 80 cm for the hallway, 80 cm between the dining table and chairs and the most common example, 2.5 m to 3 m for the distance between the television wall and the sofa so that you will not be cross eyed after a TV session!

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After going through the above questions, you might finally realize that the original home design theme which you have in mind might not be suitable after all.