You’ve decided to start designing your own home. You have all of these visions and ideas for a floor plan, but you don’t know exactly how to get started. Figuring out what to include in your dream home’s floor plan can take hours, days, weeks, and even months of planning. There’s so much to consider that it can be extremely overwhelming at times.
Here is a guide that contains some information about ideas to include in the floor plan of your dream home. You don’t have to include all of them, but these ideas can help you to get started or even to spark your creativity to expand upon.
Before you begin designing anything, you should first become familiar with all that you’ll typically need to include within your floor plan. The floor plan will serve as a layout of all the rooms and what’s included within them. So you’ll want to first think about all of the rooms that you’d like in your dream home.
It’s vital that you consider the basic rooms first and then add the details. Think about where’s the best place to put each of the rooms before you start designing the details within each. Most floor plans will start out with the placement of the main communal areas, kitchens, bedrooms, and the restrooms. As you move along, you’ll then want to add in the interior features of these main rooms, like where you want the windows to be located as well as any fireplaces or more intricate interior designs.
After you’ve created a list of all of your rooms and where they should go, you’ll then want to think about how to best furnish each room. Where should the dressers and the bed go in the bedroom? How would you best layout the shower and toilet in your bathroom? All of this can be a lot for individuals and their families to consider on their own, and most families end up hiring a home designer to assist them.
You can even consider hiring home builders in your area that can help you to best design and build your home. For instance, if you live in South Carolina there are home builders in Bluffton, SC known for their high-quality and trustworthy work. But you should find the best home builders in your area to assist you throughout your designing and building process (1).
After you’ve considered all of the different types of rooms that you want in your home, you’ll want to think about where to place all of the different rooms. You’ll want to place them in the best locations in regards to their functionality since this will maximize their usability. Think about the traffic plans and leave high-traffic areas more open and less cluttered.
You should layout the rooms in regards to what they’re being used for, and you’ll want to consider how you and your family members will use each room. Most of all, think about noise levels and place the resting rooms further from the louder communal areas. Where will your family spend most of their time? You should leave a more open design for spaces that are more popular.
Lastly, consider how you’ll light your home. You should maximize the use of any natural light that you can whenever possible. Using natural light through more windows not only makes your home look better, but it also saves energy and saves you money. You also have the flexibility to place the windows where you want, allowing you to create lighter areas in rooms that have a more open design.
You can even consider skylights to help increase the overall mood and character of the place. When you’re installing lights, you should put brighter lights in areas with a higher degree of activity and softer lights in spaces that are meant for resting or relaxing (1).
Whether you have a home designer to assist you with your plans or you’re trying to design your plan alone or with your family, it’s important that you consider all of your options. Think about how you and your family will use each of the rooms and think about the future. Consider a layout that best maximizes the functionality of each space.
Given that there are so many different factors that you’ll have to consider, you may benefit the most when you have at least some advice from a home designer. But you’ll ultimately want to make sure that you’re happy with your home personally. After all, it is your dream house now and in the future.
Katie earned a BA in English from WWU and loves to write. She also adores hiking in redwood forests and photography. She feels happiest around a campfire surrounded by friends and family.