The layout of your home is probably one of the most significant choices you will ever make regarding your home. Regardless if you live in an apartment, a condominium or a house, the layout of the rooms and how they flow will largely depend on your lifestyle.  Whether you prefer single story or multiple stories, and all the bedrooms on the top floor – choosing a perfect plan can be stressful.  Here are 5 tips to help you decide on a plan right for your family.

1.) Choose a floor plan that suits your lifestyle: In a previous post we discussed the pros and cons of having an open floor plan.  There are factors you should consider regardless of openness. Factors such as: layout of rooms with consideration of family size and ages of children is essential. Most families who have young children like to have the private spaces of the house – bedrooms and bathrooms grouped in one area of the home.  While families with teenagers and young adults prefer to have bedrooms separated from each other.  If you’re house hunting, these factors will be important when choosing a home to move into. Assess your current floor plan and what the pros and cons are.  You may like it, or would prefer to try a different one.

2.) Do you entertain often or rarely? Many home floor plans are centered on entertaining and welcoming guests the minute they step through the front door. A wide foyer opening into an open floor plan living and dining room and meandering to the outdoors would be perfect for guests visiting. Although, if you and your family are more private and don’t like your full home on display every time the front door is opened, you may opt for a formal living room adjacent to the front door. This will allow guests a place to immediately sit and feel comfortable while leaving the rest of your house private.

3.)    Single story or multistory? Many families enjoy single story homes for the quietness of no overhead foot traffic noise.  Some single story homes, or ‘Ranch’ style homes tend to group public rooms in the center and bedrooms and baths are located on the “wings” of the floor plan.  Multistory homes give the added benefit of views to the outside instead of looking directly into a neighbor’s window. Multistory homes also give each family member their own space and room to have privacy over single story floor plans.

5.)    How much outdoor living do you wish to have? Your floor plan will most likely include an outdoor leisure area. Whether that is a porch, lanai, swimming pool or other amenities.  When choosing a floor plan, assess how much your family will use these outdoor leisure amenities. Similar to a large yard, it looks beautiful when you keep up with it, but can look terrible if you don’t.  Ensure you want the added responsibility of keeping up with the outdoor plan AND the indoors at the same time.

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