It’s time to talk about the floor plan. Only the most important step when choosing the way you want your home to function! When we started looking at homes for sale or building a home we started with a list of our biggest needs and wants; how many bedrooms, baths, large kitchen and great room, a dining room, outdoor living space. Listing all your needs and wants is a great place to start. Lining up of course with your budget and location.
We landed on a floor plan that we felt we really checked most of the boxes of our wants and needs lists!
Family Lifestyle and the “Season” of life we are in is extremely important. We aren’t quite empty nesters, but we will be in a few years. We still need a couple of bedrooms for college kids to come and go. It’s very important to us that our college age kids feel like they have a bedroom to come home and feel welcome to come home at anytime. The other important details for us are being able to host holidays and family gatherings for our extended family. A dining room was important to me, and a kitchen that allows for cooking and hosting holidays and entertaining. Outdoor living is also important to us, we wanted a covered patio and also a yard with additional seating and room for our very energetic golden retriever to have room to play. It was worth the wait for us! We did find a floor plan that we just loved and fit our needs. Here are the 4 tips I have to share with you and help guide you to creating your needs and wants list and select the ideal floor plan for you!
1. Open Floor Plan or Traditional Floor Plan
Open-plan layouts are popular for their spaciousness and flexibility. Whether you’re designing a new space or renovating an existing one, there are plenty of factors to consider, such as optimizing natural light, creating designated zones within the open space, and selecting furniture that complements the layout. All while keeping your lifestyle and daily living in mind. You will be living in this home, after all!
2. Family Lifestyle
When it comes to creating a home that accommodates the needs of every family member, a well-thought-out floor plan is essential. From providing ample space for play and relaxation to ensuring privacy and functionality, there are many factors to consider when designing a family lifestyle floor plan. One of the first decisions to make when designing a family lifestyle floor plan is whether to go with an open concept layout or opt for more defined spaces. Consider multi-functional spaces, built-in storage, and room to grow!
3. Primary Suite; Main or Upper Floor
A primary suite, also known as a master suite, typically encompasses a bedroom, bathroom, and sometimes additional amenities like a walk-in closet or sitting area. A lower level primary suite has become increasingly popular in homes. In fact, it is more common to see primary suites on the lower level of a home. It has a more secluded feel, less noise from older children (😉), easy access to the beautiful backyard and the flexibility to make it a forever home. An upper level suite is similar to a primary suite but is located on the upper level of the home, typically away from the main living areas: better views, more separation from the downstairs hustle and bustle, less noise from downstairs traffic… and more.
4. Additional Spaces- Gym, Media room and Indoor/Outdoor
Extra spaces- An at home Gym, a media room, home office, and outdoor living. These are all popular spaces these days, maybe one or all of them are important to you. Bringing the outdoors indoors has long been a feature in homes that homeowners seek in the design stage of their project. This can be achieved in my different ways, such as large glass sliding doors and windows to give the illusion of the outdoors being part of indoor living area. Adding functional seating and a space for cooking creates another area for entertaining, eating and relaxing.
Now days home offices are very important to have with so many people still working from home or working with a hybrid model. Another common space to include is an at home gym, or a designated media room. Not the same home theater we would see 10-20 years but a functional media room for entertaining and family use. List your priorities and work to find the floor plan that includes your top priority, and don’t forget to think of space with multiple uses. If you don’t have room for both a media room and an at home gym, can you designate an area of the room for gym equipment and also include seating and a large TV screen. There are ways to be creative to include dual functioning spaces.
Kindly,
