Building Your Dream Home: How to Choose the Perfect Floor Plan

Just about all of us have a certain kind of house that we dream of living in. Sometimes it’s one that has already been built like maybe a historic Victorian house or one that is 100 percent solar-powered. And then sometimes, it’s one that we actually want to build from scratch.

If you’re considering building your own house, as you probably already know, one of the first things that you need to consider is your floor plan. And in order to come up with one that you’ll be more than pleased with, there are a few things that we recommend that you think about first.

Think about your lifestyle. If you have a large-sized family who likes to cook and spend time outside, that’s going to require a bit of a different floor plan from a newlywed couple that orders in and prefers spending time on the couch listening to music and watching movies. The first may want a big kitchen and deck while the second may prefer the kind of room that accommodates surround sound. That’s why it’s so important to think about your lifestyle and the kind of floor plan that would complement it best.

Think about your energy bills. There are more and more people going with open space floor plans because it makes it easier for the temperature in the rooms of their house to be consistent. Now, we’re not saying that you have to go with an open space plan, but when you’re factoring how much it will save you on energy costs, it’s definitely something to put some thought into.

Think about your children (or future children). If you happen to have some little ones or you’re planning to in the near future, homes that have things like split-levels, balconies, lots of stairs, etc. can make it more challenging for your children to freely move about. So, if kids are a part of the family plan, make sure to select a floor plan that keeps them in mind.

Think about the property/neighborhood around you. If you were to go with a floor plan company like DrawingandPlanning.com to assist you with designing your dream house, something that they would probably advise you to do is to put as much thought into the property and neighborhood that you’re building your home in as the house itself. The reason being that while you can always change your floor plan in the future, you can’t change your surroundings. So, make sure that it is also a huge factor during the planning process.

Think about what you can afford. We definitely couldn’t do an article like this without mentioning your budget. The reality is that even if you select the perfect floor plan, if it’s more than what you can afford to pay, it’s not going to do you much good. So, sit down and figure out just how much money you’re able to put into your dream home and also talk it over with your prospective contractors to see if they can find certain things for cheaper. Once you have your budget in place, then you can feel better about your floor plan. And then you can get to building your dream home.