5-room HDB flat

Recent 5-room flats have a floor area of about 110–115 m², which is 1,184–1,238 sq ft. Older flats of the same type are often larger, and sizes vary from block to block. The recorded floor area includes the internal walls, so the space you can furnish is a few square metres less. Your own flat’s area is on its HDB records.

• Master bedroom, with its own bathroom
• 2 common bedrooms
• Larger living and dining area, or a study
• Kitchen
• Common bathroom
• Household shelter
• Service yard

About 35.6 litres for two coats on the walls and ceilings of the bedrooms and the living and dining area, with a 2.6 m ceiling. Kitchens and bathrooms in HDB flats are tiled, so they are left out. Room by room, with typical sizes:

At 12 m² per litre per coat, less a door (1.89 m²) and a window (1.44 m²) wherever they are. Painters’ estimates are often higher: they may include the kitchen, the corridor and a sealer coat. For one room at its real size, use the paint calculator.

Tiling all 115 m² in 600 × 600 mm tiles, with 10% for cuts and breakages, takes about 352 tiles, or 88 boxes of four. That is the top of the flat’s size range, and the recorded area includes the walls, so it errs on the side of enough. Other sizes and wastage are in the tile calculator.

Estimates from typical sizes are a start. For your own 5-room flat, bring its floor plan into Setout: a photo, a PDF or a DXF. Set its scale from a dimension printed on it, trace or detect the walls, then furnish it and see it in 3D. The paint, flooring and mouldings are measured off that drawing, room by room, and priced at your rates in a quote you can send.