Floor Plans for a Home Renovation

If you are looking to carry out a home renovation or remodelling project, there are many different things to consider when designing the floor plan and layout of your house. Here are some of the different factors to take into consideration.

Renovating your home

The floor plan is one of the basics of carrying out a home renovation, as well as if you’re considering an extension or other alterations to the structure of your house. The right floor plan will allow you to maximise the available space in your home, and make sure that no space is wasted. Depending on your project, you may need plans of just one room, a whole floor, or a whole property. A well-designed floor plan can improve the flow between different parts of a space or rooms of a house, making it more practical for your daily life. Plans can also be used to arrange furniture in a room, plan out wiring networks and other details of the space. A floor plan is also an important tool for you when you may eventually decide to sell or rent out the property, as it will allow you to accurately display the interior to potential customers or tenants. 

Designing your home's layout

When designing a floor plan, there are a number of different considerations to bear in mind. The goal of your floor plan is to create a space with numerous positive characteristics – a space that will be practical, enjoyable, functional and adaptable. Try to make sure that your design leaves scope for the purposes of the rooms in the property to evolve over time. Although some rooms such as the kitchen or bathroom will always have the same function, rooms such as bedrooms, living rooms or home offices should be placed in relation to the other rooms to be interchangeable in function as far as possible. This means that as your family evolves and grows, the house too is able to evolve. For example, your needs for a space could change in the case of turning a now-adult child’s old bedroom into a home office or games room. 

Try to keep bedrooms as far away as possible from living or entertaining spaces, as the noise from the latter could potentially disturb those who are trying to sleep. An open-plan kitchen has become a popular choice for home layouts today. Open plan kitchens offer a number of advantages, such as allowing you to carry on a conversation with your guests while cooking for them, or to watch over your children while you’re in the kitchen. If you are designing a room or corridor, it’s important that the size of the space is realistic. Think of how many people are liable to be in the space at any given time, as well as the sizes of any items of furniture you would like to place there (or may have to move through).

Improving Circulation 

Another factor to consider is that some types of room will naturally have people moving about in them more than others, which requires more space: a home gym built in a room the size of an average bathroom would be very hot and uncomfortable, for example. The layout should also optimise flow, ensuring that people will be able to circulate through the space in an efficient way. For example, if you do a lot of entertaining then it is important that your floor plan design allows people to flow freely between the kitchen, dining and living areas. 

Finally, the design of your home should find a balance between architectural elegance and practical considerations: how difficult and expensive would it be to implement the design? Is it child friendly? Will it be practical to pass through a certain room to access another? Think about how much your open plan space will cost to heat, or the potential practical problems with having floor-to-ceiling windows (cleaning, privacy, glare etc.).

Floor Plans for Selling a Property

If you’re selling your property, offering a floor plan makes the property significantly more attractive to potential buyers. Some purchasers even consider these plans to be essential when looking at a property, and as many as 20% of potential buyers said that they would not consider a property whose listing did not feature a floor plan. Therefore, having plans drawn up as part of your renovation works will not only make the renovation itself more straightforward, but will also have value if your aim is to sell the property on for a profit afterwards. If you are looking to secure external financing for your renovation project, you may find that your bank or financing organism will want to see plans of what you intend for the project.

Whether you’re planning a complete remodel of your house or just renovating your kitchen, the floor plans are an important part of creating your dream house. The best way to make sure your home’s spatial design is adapted to your lifestyle and needs is to discuss your goals for the space with an expert. An architect will be able to synthesise your goals with you and come up with the best design to make efficient use of your available space in your house. Having an architect rethink your home’s layout is also a good way to add value to your property, and make sure your project will be a solid investment when you eventually sell. 

Need floor plans for your renovation project? Get in touch with an architect near you at find-my-architect.com to start bringing your dream house to life!