How to Design a Floor Plan
Getting a floor plan into a form that an architect or contractor can work from is not as difficult as it used to be, as many software programs are available to do the tricky figuring for you. The bigger challenge in designing a floor plan is the planning itself. Before drawing up a plan, you should take into consideration a great number of factors about how you live now and how you would like to live in the future. (Note that this article assumes that you will live in the home you are designing; if you are designing for someone else, the questions should be asked of him or her.) Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Consider how big the home should be. After many years of bigger-is-better designing, home planners have started shifting to a more manageable square footage, a trend likely influenced by the popularity of Sarah Susanka's "Not So Big House" series of books. Smaller homes are easier and less costly to maintain, and they are more comfortable to live in, Susanka writes. The key is designing a home that uses space more wisely so that less becomes more. Consider the home you currently live in; are there spaces you do not use? Aim for a square footage that more accurately reflects the space you actually use every day.
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Consider the location of the new house and any constraints that puts on your floor plan. Lot size or a busy street may limit your options, for example. Also consider any features that you want to take advantage of, such as a lovely view or a shade tree. As you look at the location, also consider the shape of the house; note that more square footage can be had with the same amount of materials by building a square instead of a rectangle. (Circles hold the most square footage, but they often require nonstandard building materials.)
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Consider how long you plan to live there, and life events that might happen during that time. You may have children, requiring more bedrooms, or your health may decline, which sometimes makes stairs a problem.
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Think about whether you'd like an open floor plan or a more segmented one. Until recent decades, rooms were most often segmented: The kitchen was separate from the dining room, which was separate from the living room, which was generally a long way from the family room---so the cook was often separated from the rest of the family during meal-prep time. Susanka describes that as families changed, so did designs; more open floor plans resulted, with the kitchen and dining and living areas in one great space. This worked well for some people, but raised other issues: The noise and mess of the kitchen sometimes interfered with family life.
Think about how your family interacts to decide how open you want your floor plan to be; also consider room dividers that might allow you to switch from an open plan to a closed one when desired.
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Consider passive solar recommendations. In the Northern Hemisphere, it makes sense to build homes with large south-facing windows, smaller windows on the west and east, and few or no windows on the north. This makes the best use of the sun for heating in the winter. A large overhang above the south windows shades the heat of the summer sun, when the sun is higher in the sky.
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Consider compass directions when determining where to place rooms in your home. In general, it makes sense to put bedrooms on the north side of the house, where light is less likely to hinder sleep, and to put rooms for activity (the living and dining rooms and kitchen) on the south side of the house, where they can benefit from daylight.
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Factor in sound. It would be wise to separate noisy areas from bedrooms with the placement of closets, for example.
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Consider putting rooms that require plumbing close together to reduce costs---the plumbing for two bathrooms can be in the same wall, for example.
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Consider ceiling heights. A variation in ceiling heights adds interest to the home, but they should be placed appropriately. A cathedral ceiling might be perfect for a grand entryway, but it can make a family room feel uncomfortably large. A lower ceiling can make a small room feel cozy, but consider whether any tall family members or visitors might feel claustrophobic in such a space.
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Start putting your ideas into two dimensions (some home-design software programs later help you put it into three). Once you have a list of the characteristics of your future home, it's time to experiment. Draw a square that gives you the approximate square footage you want and adjust from there. If you find as you progress that your design has backed you into a corner, don't be afraid to consider a whole new idea---better now than when the home is half built.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Sofia Costa Pinto/www.sxc.hu
