The Most Expensive Room in an Apartment

When people choose an apartment, they usually discuss the layout very carefully. Do they need a
separate walk-in wardrobe? Should the kitchen be combined with the living room? Is there
enough space for a home office? Almost invariably, another question arises: do they need a
separate guest bedroom?

At first glance, the answer seems obvious. Of course they do. For when parents come to visit,
when friends stay overnight, or when adult children want to spend a few days with you. Such a
room is seen as an expression of care, hospitality and foresight.

But sometimes it is useful to look at this question through the simple arithmetic of everyday life.
If guests come twice a year and stay for about a week each time, that amounts to roughly
fourteen days. For the rest of the year, the room remains part of the apartment you paid for when
you bought it. It has to be heated, cooled, cleaned, furnished and maintained, and you continue
paying for those square metres even though the room stands empty for most of the year.

Of course, there are families for whom an additional bedroom is genuinely necessary. But very
often it appears not because life without it would be impossible, but because it fits our familiar
idea of a comfortable and successful life.

Until quite recently, a good home was associated primarily with the number of square metres.
The larger the apartment, the more successful its owner appeared. A spacious living room, a
large terrace, a separate walk-in wardrobe and a guest bedroom were all seen as signs of high
status.

But these criteria are gradually beginning to change.

Today, more and more people understand that a home does not exist to impress others. Its main
purpose is to help its owner feel better every day.

How easily do you wake up in the morning? Do you have enough energy for work, family, sport
and travel? Do you sleep well? How long will you be able to preserve your health, mental clarity
and desire to live an active life?

True well-being is made up of precisely these things, which may seem almost imperceptible at
first glance.

That is why, when choosing an apartment, it makes sense to look not only at its size and layout,
but also at the kind of living environment it creates.

The size of a kitchen or bedroom can be assessed in a matter of seconds. It is easy to see on a
floor plan and compare with other apartments.

Air quality, silence, temperature, humidity and acoustic comfort are entirely different matters.
During a viewing, it is impossible to feel what the air in the bedroom will be like seven hours
after you close the windows. Nor can you understand how quiet it will be at night, or how
comfortable the apartment will feel in winter and summer.

That is why engineering solutions rarely make the same impression as a beautiful layout. They
cannot be presented dramatically in a rendering. Their value becomes apparent only after you
move in.

The French Institute for Sleep and Vigilance points out that the bedroom environment directly
affects sleep quality. We usually think about a good mattress, a comfortable pillow, blackout
curtains and silence outside the window, but much less often about the air we breathe for seven
or eight hours at a time.

Modern studies reach a similar conclusion. When the air in a bedroom is renewed more
effectively, people are more likely to rate their sleep as better, find it easier to wake up in the
morning and feel more alert throughout the day.

Many of the solutions that genuinely affect human health share one characteristic: they are
almost invisible. They cannot be shown to friends or photographed for social media. Yet they are
precisely the things that work for us every day.

At Zen Gardens, we followed exactly this logic. It was important for us to create a home that
would support the health of its residents every day, rather than merely make a good first
impression.

That is why every apartment is equipped with a modern supply-and-exhaust ventilation system,
with the option of installing anti-allergen filters. It creates a clean, balanced and healthy indoor
environment in every apartment.

The system provides continuous air exchange without the need to open the windows, while
maintaining an optimal oxygen level and comfortable indoor humidity. Engineering solutions of
this kind directly affect sleep quality, well-being and energy levels throughout the day.

People rarely think about these things when buying an apartment. But after several months of
living there, they are often what residents value most. Not because they think about the
ventilation system every day, but because they simply sleep better, wake up more easily and feel
comfortable at home.

So, when choosing an apartment, try asking yourself one more question.

Do you really need another room that will be used for only a few weeks each year? Or would it
be better to focus on the things that will help you sleep more deeply, protect your health, give
you more energy and remain active for longer every single day?