Floor Plans 101
This article contributed by Mrs. B who is owner building in Union County, Ohio
Are you dreaming about what your house will look like? Spending more time than you’d care to admit online looking at houses and floor plans? Waking up at 3 a.m. with yet another idea? Are you in the process of designing the perfect floor plan? One of the first steps in this whole building process is deciding what to build. There are hundreds of floor plans online that you can look at and the amount of hours some spend on this step of the building process may be unbelievable. Spending the time during this stage thinking about every detail can save you hours, if not days, of time and loads of money. Through this process I have learned a lot and want to share my top 8 things to do while designing, or choosing, a floor plan!
- Visit and tour homes
You may think, how is looking at current houses on the market going to help me build a house? Isn’t this a waste of time?
When we started working with a realtor to find property, one of her first suggestions was to tour houses on the market and model homes of different builders. I was hesitant, and to be completely honest thought she was just trying to push us to buy a house. I would have never thought to do this; but it was one of the most beneficial things we could have done with our time in those beginning stages of this whole process.
We collected floor plans, wrote comments on them about room sizes and ceiling heights (these two things are very hard to picture without actually seeing it), made several decisions early on that would have been hard to do otherwise. We tried to tour houses that were similar to what we wanted, and I had to tell myself A LOT to not feel bad about spending our time (or anyone else’s time) doing this!
I started a notebook right away that I took with us. I had a section for all the floor plans we collected, post it’s for making notes, notebook paper, and pencils/pens! Thankfully, our realtor brought a tape measure! Looking back, I am kicking myself for not taking any pictures, so this would be something I would highly recommend doing if you see something you love (of course, make sure it is okay to do so first!).
- Make a priority list (top 3 or 4 wants)
Take a few minutes to stop and think about what you really want in your house. Use the FREE printable right here to help you kickstart your journey!
We were set on a ranch with a full basement so that was already decided. Then, Mr. and I both made our lists. Mine included a walk-in pantry almost bigger than my actual kitchen, a front porch, and open living room, kitchen, and dining room feel. His included an office off the foyer, an open concept staircase leading to our basement off the foyer (thank you Pinterest!), and the open great room. We also hoped we could work in a built-in desk area (which we saw touring one of the houses), a book nook, and the laundry room connected to the master closet. Knowing what each other wanted made it a lot easier when it came to drawing the plans up.
- Think about the entrance you want guests to use
We both wanted a side loading garage and had initially planned on having a man door on the same side of the house. After a comment made by my father, we decided to put a door on the back side of the garage instead. We realized having a door right there would encourage guests to use it, walking through our garage and then mudroom instead of walking around to the front porch and using our front door. We went back and forth a lot on this but feel pretty confident in our decision. (We did make sure we planned enough room so in the future if we wanted to add a door on that side of the house we easily could).
- Consider where you will be entertaining and plan a bathroom accordingly
This came to me one night while we had guests over and our kids had to sleep in our bedroom so they weren’t woken up. In our current house, the guest bathroom is directly across from our daughter’s room. We immediately revisited our plans and realized we had planned the guest bathroom right next to our son’s room. We decided that we didn’t want to eliminate this bathroom, but instead add a bathroom in the garage. Most of our larger gatherings will be hosted primarily in the garage and having a bathroom right there is going to be very convenient. This will also come in handy when we are coming in the house dirty or outside playing and just need a quick potty-break!
- Think about the future
Right now, we have two young kids that we will be raising in our home, but I know that in the blink of an eye they will be grown! We are building with the thought that this is our forever home, so we decided on making sure the master suite is all handicapped accessible and a ramp can be easily added into the garage. We planned on wider walkways throughout the house as well! This is not something we ever want to have to use but Mr. and I both agreed that this was worth doing now. Considering both our present situation and our future when it comes to designing our floor plan has been something always on our minds.
Along with this we are planning to finish the basement completely at some point in the future, therefore we are roughing in the plumbing to have a bathroom downstairs while we are building. Doing so now will save A LOT of work when we finally get to that project!
- Plan how you’ll use closet and storage spaces
Think about what you currently have and consider all the pros and cons. Do you have adequate storage space for food? Where do all those small kitchen appliances get stored? What about cleaning supplies and the vacuum? Extra sheets, pillows and blankets? Where is the extra toilet paper housed? Winter gear? Seems silly but I wanted to make sure we had enough storage so our house could be as organized as possible, especially right now with kids. Currently, we do not have storage in our master bathroom, or a closet for extra pillows and blankets. I wanted to make sure when it comes to our house we are not short on closets and storage options.
- Refer to online resources to look up ideas
Before beginning with our architect, I spent hours online looking at premade floor plans, noting what I liked and what I didn’t like. I was hopeful I would find one and it be THE ONE but didn’t get that lucky. So, I began trying to marry all of the things we liked, our priorities, and what I had pictured in my mind together into one floor plan. Did it work out perfect the first time, absolutely not. Are we still tweaking it here and there, of course. Looking at different plans online will be a great starting point. We also have used different plans to solve some of the issues that have come up. For instance, I wasn’t completely sold on our master shower layout and devoted some time looking at master shower designs online until we finally found one that would work and was everything we were hoping for.
- Have patience
We have been in the process of designing our floor plan for months (years if you consider all the time I spent studying plans online)! It is NOT a quick process and as eager as I am to have the blueprints in hand, I know the time spent now getting every detail hammered out will be worth it (and save us money in the long run)!
Designing or choosing a floor plan is such an important part of the building process and getting this step done is going to be a huge accomplishment! Making changes now is MUCH easier than when there are actual footers poured and walls up! We are almost there, our final changes were adjusting the garage doors and adding the bathroom in the garage (okay, and maybe adding a sink and dishwasher in the pantry!). I am eager, nervous, and excited all in one to move on to the next phase of our build and to finally have our blueprints in hand!
~Mrs. B (Union county, Ohio)
P.S. If you would like to read more information on floor plans, and how Farmer’s Wife drew hers up, CLICK HERE.
and if you missed the free floorplan printable earlier, you can grab it right here:
Erin says
I completely agree with everything! Great advice! I am in the rushing to get house dried in before winter stage and planning planning and patience is the key when doing your own home. Thank you for all the advice and it is scary how much all you owner builders think alike. I literally was reading your article thinking did I write this?? Love all the ladies out there supporting and helping each other out….. and men!
farmerswife@therealfarmhouse.com says
Thanks for the comment Erin! Good luck with getting your house dried in.
Michelle "Kelly" Rowan says
Hi there!
I stumbled upon your site and, although we are in very different places in life, your insight is super helpful for me.
We used a firm to build our dream home many years ago. After raising our children there, we had the misfortune to need some specific medical care & after many years of commuting, we sold our forever home and moved to a small city. We purchased a 1948 never-renovated 1600 sqft home on a private lot in an older neighborhood and it’s a gigantic change from our 4,200 sqft home 8 wooded acres with a 3-car garage. Three years later, our lives are still stuck in 5 storage units. We need to renovate, unearth our lives, and begin our new chapter.
My husband has many medical issues but when he is well, he is quite capable. His former career was as an Estate Director for a 500 acre private estate and he was very hands-on. He also has solid background in construction build (not finish) and painting. I am a certified PMP (project manager).
Even with his medical needs, I think we can tackle some of the smaller reno work ourselves & I think — with his help — I can be the GC. In doing so, we can go at our own speed and take advantage of deals we find along the way. Specifically, my husband is a 100% Disable Vet so we qualify for some construction deals (windows, landscaping, appliances) that I don’t think another GC would accommodate. Since we are semi-retired and don’t necessarily have a finish date we need to meet, this makes sense to me.
Our stumbling block has already been encountered: layout. Do you have a software package that you can recommend so we can play with ideas BEFORE heading to an architect?
Also, do you have photos of your finished home? I know you moved in when it was not yet complete. We will live in our home through renovations. But what I don’t want is a finished product that feels like it isn’t seamless; something that feels like a patchwork quilt. I want it to be refined so I am eager to see if you were able to achieve that. Also, I don’t want to live in a perpetually unfinished home. 2 years max. So I’d love to know if you ran out of steam/$$ or if you were able to deliver your home to yourselves.