Planning Your Dream Home

The common thread in space-and-design elements is needs and budget. Needs address family comfort. Budget, on the other hand, is what is comfortable for the pocketbook.

Poring through pages and pages of home plans can be a daunting chore, especially when you're not exactly sure about what you're looking for.

Most people probably have an idea of the number of bedrooms and bathrooms that they'd like in their dream home. And, more often than not, they have a strong sense of the size and style of their ideal domicile. The common thread in these space-and-design elements is needs and budget.

Needs address family comfort. Budget, on the other hand, is what is comfortable for the pocketbook. In many cases, they clash. A home plan that satisfactorily meets your needs and budget is what we call a "winner."

How do you know when your home plan is a winner? We have prepared the following primer to make shopping for a home plan less confusing and more rewarding:

Traffic getting from one space to another within your home is factor number one. Some floor plans are worse than a major urban interchange. Poor traffic patterns make for more steps, diminish privacy and even can be unsafe. For example, traveling through the furnished part of a living room or dining room to get to another room in the house is generally less desirable than getting there another way. Special attention should be given to how spaces in the home can be traversed with minimal impact on adjacent spaces. Well-thought-out design and ample hallways are a good starting point.

The ability to furnish a space comfortably is another factor that makes for a winning home plan. Often, folks get carried away with other elements of the plan such as the aesthetics and amenities and lose sight of the all-important question: where are you going to put the sofa?

Making a room larger does not guarantee that is will be any more furnishable; planning for more wall space will, however. A section of wall just a few inches too short can make impossible the placement of a piece of furniture, such as an entertainment unit, by that wall and can thus alter the overall plan for that room. Too many windows, windows too low to the floor and an abundance of doors complicate furniture placement. We suggest you scale furniture templates out of construction paper and use them to assist you in planning what will go where.

While windows make furnishing a house more challenging, when it comes to making the most out of the view and providing natural light, there can't be enough of them. View and natural light have a profoundly favorable impact on the appeal and value of a home. A dark home can be dismal and uninviting, and, hence, much less valuable.

Energy codes in many areas will dictate the amount of total allowable glazing. Therefore, choose window locations wisely. Be cautious not to have too much glazing along a wall which is prone to severe weather. Place more windows at areas where the best views exist, and cut back or eliminate altogether windows where the view is lacking in appeal. Energy upgrades in the construction of your home often will allow for more windows than standard energy codes permit. This can make you home plan a real winner.

Finally, the most obvious aspect of a winning home plan amenities. Also called features or creature comforts, some amenities really don't influence the floor plan. Things such as door style, fixtures finish, and appliance color are examples. Conversely, the size and number of closets, the length of a bath vanity, the size of a tub or shower and a bay window seat all have significant impact on the home plan.

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