8 Key Questions To Ask Before Choosing Your New Home Floor Plan

March 07, 2022

Just searching for a home floor plan online will yield thousands of results.

And there is probably more than just one plan that would work for you and your family. 

So how do you set through all the results and find a home floor plan that suits you and your family.

How can you find the right one?

Do you exactly know what you want in your home?

Have you a good idea of what will suit your family now and into the future?

So instead of aimlessly clicking through plan after plan or paging through your builder’s catalog, you need to define what you want and use those parameters to lead you to the perfect plan. 

So where do you start?

What do you look for in the different house plans?

How do you select a house plan right for you?

Asking yourself these questions can help you decide exactly what you want.

When you look at each house plan you should imagine your family life in each floor plan.

Let’s look at the questIons you should ask yourself.

#1 What am I missing in my current home?

One of the main reasons homeowners choose to build their own homes is to design a place that’s just right. 

Maybe you’re experiencing growing pains and your current home simply isn’t large enough. 

Maybe your lifestyle has changed and you need open spaces instead of smaller rooms. Or maybe the style of your current place isn’t to your tastes. 

Deciding what you’re missing in your current home allows you to narrow your search by disqualifying plans that would repeat the mistakes of the past.

If you know that your current home feels too small, you have a great starting point for square footage requirements as you look through plans.

#2 What will life look like in five to 10 years?

You can’t predict the future, but you can imagine what life will look like for your family over the next decade. 

If you plan to stay in your new home for a while, think beyond today and plan for tomorrow. 

How will your family change and grow over the next 10 years? 

How will that affect your dream home plans? 

Planning for the future ensures you love your home for years to come.

Your lot will dictate the size and orientation of your home. 

#3 What’s my lot like?

Your building lot should provide the foundation for your floor plan – literally. 

The size and orientation of your lot should have a bearing on which type of plan you choose. 

You may have setback requirements on how large the house can be.

If you have a great view, you should also consider window placement and sunlight issues. 

Choose a plan that shows off your lot and its view and you won’t regret your choice.

#4 Do I care more about size or amenities?

At some point in the planning process, you’re going to need to make a choice: size or amenities? 

You’ll pay a premium for both, and unless you have an unlimited budget, you’ll need to decide on your priority. 

If size matters to you, you might be content to choose a plan with fewer high-end amenities like hobby rooms or ceiling features.

If you’d rather have the amenities, you can look for less square footage to accommodate for your finishes and tastes.

#5 Can you picture your family in your favorite plan? 

Can I picture myself there?

It can be hard to really picture the way a home flows from a few line drawings alone. 

Take the time to really “walk through” a plan by imagining how you’d enter the home and move throughout the house on a regular basis. 

Suddenly, a seemingly well-planned bathroom might be in an awkward spot or you might notice that the kitchen is too small for the way you cook. 

Can you picture yourself in the finished home? If not, you might need to reassess.

#6  Where are the functional spaces?

Some rooms in your home usually take a backseat to some of the more exciting rooms, but they’re just as important. 

Sure, you’re more excited about a new kitchen, but don’t let a fancy prep space sway you from looking at some of the workhorses of a plan. 

Mudrooms, storage rooms, laundry rooms and bathrooms are the rooms that you access day in and day out, so make sure the plan gives them enough space and prime locations.

#7 Creating Flow and Space 

When it comes to successfully designing your home, space planning is the name of the game. 

Consider your space needs by asking questions like the following: 

How much space do you need in your kitchen? 

Do you want your kitchen to be openly connected to the dining room? 

How much public space do you want in your home, and how much should be walled off?

When designing the layout of your home, try to imagine yourself moving through it. 

When you carry in groceries from the garage, what is the path to the kitchen? 

Or when you have to do a few loads of laundry, how far away will you have to walk to get to the kitchen? 

It is far too easy to forget to consider paths of travel, but having direct pathways and visual connections from space to space will majorly increase the comfort level in your home.

#8 Do I need a custom plan instead?

Designers and builders can almost always alter an existing plan – at least part of it, anyway.

If you need to make extensive changes that require moving walls and changing electrical and plumbing schematics, you might need a custom approach.

If you simply can’t seem to find what you’re looking for in catalogs or on your builder’s website, it might be worth the cost to design a plan from scratch and know that you got exactly what you wanted.

Picking a floor plan can definitely feel like too much of a good thing. Let’s face it: There are plenty of great plans available. 

But the difference between a good plan and the right plan is finding the one that works for your lifestyle. 

Picture your family in each floor plan and you’ll be able to narrow your results and find the one for you.

Making a floor plan involves a lot of decision making, and it all begins with prioritizing what your needs are as an individual and as a family. 

Are you an entertainer expecting frequent large groups or is your immediate family more than numerous enough to fill all the space you have? 

Keeping your floor plan on budget, functional and attractive should be the order in which you consider what is right for your home. 

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