When you think of building your home, you want to ensure you use a good floor plan that brings out the design you want. Floor plans show you how much floor space you’ll have in your home before the building is in place.
Although most floor plans are developed before a house is constructed, they can give homeowners a good idea of how existing rooms will look after remodeling. To make sure everything is set in place, most people rely on professionals to design their floor plans.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. If you have a basic knowledge of what floor planning entails, you can easily create a professional-looking floor plan for your home without paying someone to do it for you.
To ensure that you design professional-looking floor plans, here are eight things you need to do:
1. Understand Floor Plan Elements
Floor plans have three key elements—namely, size lines, positioning, and scale. To design a professional-looking floor plan, you need to pay attention to each of these elements.
Size lines show the dimensions of a room, and they often include door or window width. Another element that you need to pay attention to as you design your floor plan is the scale. This is the degree that the room fits on your computer screen or paper when you’re developing the plan.
Lastly, pay attention to the positioning too, which is about ensuring that the rooms are well connected.
2. Consider The Layout Of Individual Rooms
One effective way to design a professional-looking floor plan is to consider the layout of each room. A suitable format aligns well with the flow of the other rooms in a house. When thinking about room layout, make sure you allocate ample space for doors, windows, stairs, and other areas. Doing this ensures that they fit well in the room without causing each room to appear overcrowded.
In addition to this, pay attention to the way the different rooms connect. For instance, if you’ve included a family room in your plan, you may want to include a play area and a connecting study or entertainment room.
3. Embrace Practicality
Although many people admire the innovation exhibited by modern home designs, some still prefer conventional floor plans that allow for privacy. They prefer floor plans that separate the way people interact in the home to maintain order. Ideas like having a closet at the front entrance may appear traditional, but people might prefer it to provide guests a place to store jackets or slip-on shoes.
4. Assign Space For Windows And Doors
A professional floor plan design should show where the doors and windows would be located. This means you’ll need to determine the kind of rooms you’ll have in your home and the location of windows and doors in each room. If you’ll have a master bedroom, this means you’ll need to include the main entrance and a bathroom door in the plan.
5. Provide Adequate Space
When designing floor plans, you need to make sure that each room has sufficient space for activities that you or your family might want to undertake in that room. Creating a floor plan with tiny rooms means space problems for users once the building is complete.
Ideally, rooms should have sufficient space to accommodate equipment, appliances, and furniture pieces like tables, cabinets, and chairs. If you’re creating a floor plan for a home with limited space, give it a professional touch by maintaining an open floor plan.
6. Allow For Natural Light Entry
Professional floor plans are designed to allow for the entry of natural light into every room within the home. Ideally, the design of the rooms should allow light to come through the windows and doors. This makes it easy to navigate the space and allows you to save money on energy costs.
Besides natural light, a good floor plan should showcase your property’s natural assets. For instance, if you have a beautiful view of a mountain or a valley, your floor plan should highlight them through the strategic placement of windows or doors that should provide you with a great view of these vistas.
7. Pay Attention To Furniture Placement
Rooms should be designed with furniture arrangement in mind so it’s easy for users to place their pieces properly. To create floor plans that have a professional look, you need to make sure you have a good idea of furniture arrangement to avoid moving them around to view different room sections. Bear in mind each piece’s height, shape, and size, as these will affect airflow and visual aspects of the room.
8. Consider Safety Of Home Users
When designing floor plans, you must prioritize the safety of the people who’ll utilize the space you’re planning. Also, ensure that your design has areas that enable adults to watch over their young ones to reduce injury risks.
Final Thoughts
When designing a floor plan, you’ll have to make numerous decisions. You’ll start by prioritizing your family’s needs or the individuals who use the space you plan. To ensure your floor plan looks professional, pay attention to its functionality and attractiveness. Visualize your area and how you want to use it, including the furniture arrangement in every room.
