Hangzhou When buying a small apartment, it is most likely to be biased by two numbers: one is the building area and the other is the number of rooms. A one-bedroom apartment of approximately 65 sq m and a two-bedroom apartment of approximately 67 sq m may seem to be only about 2 sq m apart, but they may lead to two completely different daily lives. What you should really ask first is: how many people will live in the home for a long time, how many days a week the second room will be used, where the storage will be placed, how much clear space will be left after placing the furniture, and whether the home will change in five years. If you are looking at small apartments in Linping and Chongxian, you can first use the following method to screen them. The official website of Cheuk Nang Riverside displays four types of apartments of about 65 sq m, 67 sq m, 88 sq m and 138 sq m, which can be used as a spatial reference for different family stages.
The first account: How many days a week will the second room be used?
Many people choose two-bedroom apartments because they feel that "an extra room can never go wrong." The problem is that a second room in a small area is not created out of thin air. It usually takes away area from the living room, bedroom, kitchen, hallway or storage.
Don't write vague names like "study" or "guest room" first, write the purpose as an action:
- How many days a week do you need to close your video conference?
- How many nights a year will the parents stay and will a normal bed and wardrobe be required?
- When the child needs to sleep independently in a few years, will he still need a desk?
- If this room is only used to store luggage, can the entrance cabinet and housekeeping cabinet be used instead?
If the second room is used more than five days a week, a door that can be closed is usually valuable; if you only stay for ten nights a year, sacrificing public space for low-frequency needs in the long term may not be cost-effective.
Take the house type displayed on the official website of Cheuk Nang Riverside as an example. A1 of about 65 sq m is one bedroom, two living rooms and one bathroom, and A2 of about 67 sq m is two bedrooms, two living rooms and one bathroom. The difference between the two should not be understood as "an extra 2 sq m means an extra room", but should be checked on site: how many passages are left after the A2 swings out the bed, opens the door, and opens the cabinet; whether A1 can leave a working corner that does not disturb rest.
The second account: Replace the building area with "the net size after placing the furniture inside"
It looks like it can be put down on the floor plan, but that doesn’t mean it’s actually easy to use. When viewing a house, look for at least six sets of dimensions:
| Location | How to measure on site | Issues that are easily overlooked |
|---|---|---|
| Entrance | Clear width to the opposite wall after the door leaf is opened | Will the shoe cabinet block the door or passage after the shoe cabinet is made? |
| guest restaurant | Passage behind sofa wall, TV wall, dining table and chairs | Visual amplification caused by small-sized furniture in the model room |
| Master bedroom | The clear distance between the two sides and the end of the bed after the bed is placed | Does the closet door conflict with the bedside table? |
| Second bedroom | The remaining space after doors, windows, cabinets and beds are occupied at the same time | "Can put a bed" and "can live normally" are not the same thing |
| kitchen | Refrigerator position, continuous length of countertop, clear width when turned | The refrigerator door cannot be opened and small appliances have nowhere to put them. |
| bathroom | Door opening, shower area, washing machine or housekeeping station | Open the door and bump into people, the wet area is too crowded, and there is no storage |
The national standard "Residential Project Specifications" GB 55038-2025 will be implemented on May 1, 2025, and sets out requirements for the floor height, indoor clear height, sound insulation, and clear traffic width of new residences. However, you cannot directly conclude that all new indicators apply by looking at the "house in 2026". The specifics still depend on the specifications and drawings based on the project design, approval and construction. The most practical way for home buyers is to ask about the design basis and test the specific housing.
The third account: What small apartments lack most is often not rooms, but fixed storage spaces.
Hangzhou A common source of crowding in small apartments after half a year of moving in is not the lack of one bedroom, but the lack of fixed locations for five categories of items: shoes and rain gear, small kitchen appliances, cleaning supplies, seasonal clothes and quilts, suitcases and strollers.
When looking at apartment types, look for storage according to living activity lines, rather than just counting cabinets:
- Is there a place for wet umbrellas, coats and regular shoes when entering the house?
- After putting down the refrigerator in the kitchen, is there a continuous work surface and food storage?
- Can laundry, drying, mopping and cleaning agents be centralized in one housekeeping area;
- After deducting the depth of the master bedroom wardrobe, can the bedside still have normal access?
- Whether suitcases, bedding and rarely used items will encroach on the second bedroom.
If a compact two-bedroom apartment must rely on a large number of customized cabinets, the customization costs, lighting shading and future adjustment difficulty should be taken into account. More cabinets does not mean better living conditions; the clear width taken up by the cabinets is also the cost of space.
The fourth account: Choose according to the "five-year family timeline", not according to the mood when viewing the house on the weekend
Take a piece of paper and draw five columns. Write down the number of permanent residents, working methods, children or elderly people living together, pets and large furniture in the next five years. You'll quickly see which needs are long-term and which only happen occasionally.
One or two people living for a long time
If the number of permanent residents is stable in the next few years and work does not require independent closed rooms, you can prioritize the quality of public spaces between one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. The value of a room of about 65 sq m may lie in concentrating the area on the master bedroom and guest dining room; the key is how to solve the work corner, storage and guests staying overnight.
Two people live together, but one person works from home for a long time
Don’t just look at “can you squeeze in a desk?” Consider conference calls, overtime lighting, and file storage. A compact two-bedroom apartment of about 67 sq m has the opportunity to form an independent work area, but you must confirm the net size behind the table, chairs, and cabinets in the second bedroom, as well as the location of the air conditioner and sockets.
A family of three, planning to live there for more than five years
A small two-bedroom apartment can cover a child's childhood, but it may not cover their sleep, study, storage and parent's office after school. At this time, three bedrooms of about 88 sq m should be included in the total price comparison with the monthly payment. Do not just compare "one bedroom or two bedrooms" at the viewing site. For three-bedroom apartments, it also depends on whether each room is actually available and whether the bathroom can meet the morning and evening peak hours, rather than just counting the doors.
Improvement or long-term living with multiple people
If parents and children live together for a long time, the focus will shift from "one more room" to the number of bathrooms, dynamic and static partitions, where the elders move at night, and storage. The Cheuk Nang Riverside official website also displays an apartment with an area of about 138 sq m, which can be used as a comparison for improving the scale; this is not to ask small apartment buyers to increase their budget, but to help judge whether their needs have exceeded the reasonable carrying range of the small apartment.
The fifth account: In addition to the total price, list the money that may be incurred within three years.
Under the same total price, smaller units may not always have lower holding costs. At least write the following items separately: down payment, loan and interest calculations, taxes, parking spaces or parking expenses, property fees, customized storage, home appliances and furniture, and the cost of readjustment due to insufficient room functionality.
Interest rates, down payments, taxes, and home prices all change, and any monthly payment example must be noted with the date of calculation and assumptions. This article does not provide specific price judgments; when viewing a house, you should ask for written price information with date and corresponding to the specific room number, and then calculate according to your own financial arrangements.
Apply matching results to Cheuk Nang Riverside
If one or two people live permanently, first look at the approximately 65 sq mA1 and approximately 67 sq mA2 displayed on the official website side by side. The focus is not on one more room, but whether the second room is worth exchanging for public space; if it is a family of three, then put the approximately 88 sq m unit into the same matching card; if multiple people live for a long time or have clear improvement needs, then see if the approximately 138 sq m solves the bathroom, storage and dynamic and static partition problems.
You can first check the four floor plans on the official website, and then directly indicate "the number of permanent residents, whether to work from home, and the furniture that must be retained" when making a reservation. The project reception should give the priority order of house viewing according to these conditions, and explain the differences in building, floor, orientation and size between the displayed apartment type and the specific house.
CanFirst check the Cheuk Nang Riverside official website to display the floor plan. When making an appointment, please indicate the number of permanent residents, whether you want to work from home, and the size of the furniture you are most concerned about, and the consultant can arrange the sequence of apartment viewings according to your needs.