What Home Floor Plan is Right For Me?

When you begin exploring the digital world for a house plan, you can be inundated with several thousand results. So, potentially there are several hundred or thousands of plans that are seemingly fitting into your thoughts. Is there a singular way to zero down to a viable number of plans to take things forward? Yes, if you freeze the parameters you are looking for, it can get easier and speedier to find the perfect floor plan for you. Another method is to call in a professional like the hickory group and put forth your thoughts so that they can provide you with multiple floor plans for your consideration. To help you further, we have collated some useful thoughts that can impact your home floor plan. 

Attributes that are missing in your current home

One reason why most homeowners decide on building their own home is the flexibility it provides in designing a home that is just right for the family. Another motivation can come from the fact that you are experiencing growth pangs and your present home is simply not large enough. Lifestyle changes can also be another reason to prefer more open spaces compared to small rooms.  Similar to this, there can be a series of other reasons and deciphering things that you are missing in your current home is one way to narrow down the search by quickly setting aside plans that can potentially repeat mistakes from the past. For instance, if you see your present home as too small, that gives a good starting point to determine the square footage when you are scouring the plans. It gets a lot easier to discard too small and too large plans straight away because they do not fit into the square footage that you are looking for. 

Looking into the future

Although we cannot predict what happens in the future, we should have a bird’s eye view how our life would be like for the whole family. Maybe, you have just started raising a family and therefore, over the years, the needs of your children will grow. Factoring in their needs in the new home will ensure that their growing up phase does not give you challenges in terms of space. If future needs are also factored into your new home plans, you will love the effort for several years to come.  In some instances, it may be difficult to understand technical details and engineering language. Instead of getting stressed over this, it is always desirable to consult professionals like the Hickory group.

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Consider the lot 

The floor plan you choose should synchronize with the built lot and is, in fact, your starting point in the quest of the right floor plan. The orientation and size of the lot should be reflected in the plan you choose. Depending on the size of your house, setbacks may need to be provided. Similarly, if your plan also involves a great view, you may need to consider sunlight issues and window placement. Therefore, you should pick a plan which shows off the lot and the view to avoid any regret with your choice. 

Amenities and size

At some point across your planning process, you will need to choose the amenities and size. Both these attributes will demand a premium except when you are working with a limited budget and you will need to accord a priority to this.  When the size is important your focus may shift to a plan that has fewer amenities of the high-end character such as ceiling features or hobby rooms. But, if your focus is on amenities you should look at lesser square footage so that your tastes and finishes can be accommodated. 

Picture yourself in your new home

Visualizing your all-new home, with help solely from some line drawings, can be a challenge and one way to overcome this is taking the time and waking through the plan. Imagine how you will enter the home and move through every part of the home regularly. To err is human and even with the best professional help, at times silly mistakes can balloon into a major problem. But, when you walk through your chosen plan several times, it gets a lot easier to spot and fix these errors well in time. Getting your family members also to picture themselves in your new home is another measure to spot potential infirmities. 

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Functional spaces

In most homes, functional spaces tend to take the backseat to accommodate more exciting rooms that are equally or more important. Indeed, a new kitchen can be more exciting but your focus should not shift from certain workhorses in the floor plan. Storage rooms, bathrooms, and laundry rooms are spaces accessed every day and several times across the day. Therefore your floor plan should give enough space as well as a prime location for these facilities.

Custom plans

Builders and designers like the Hickory group can make alterations to any existing house plan, extensively, or in part. But, if your thoughts gravitate towards extensive changes like moving the walls, plumbing and electrical schematics etc, a custom plan may work better for you.  When you are unable to find what your mind is dictating in conventional catalogues, it may be desirable to have a custom plan right from scratch so that you end up getting your dream home, the way you envisioned. 

Conclusion

When you take to the digital world, there is no dearth of great plans from across the globe. But the key is to distinguish between a right plan and a good plan and ensuring that your choice synchronizes well with your own lifestyle. Involve your family members and picture yourself in each of the floor plans receiving your attention. This would make the task of freezing just one or two plans for further execution.

News Reporter