If you’re planning to build a new home, you’ll soon become incredibly familiar with various floor plan options. But how can you determine what you need in a floor plan? What will suit your family best - now and in the future? What will be the most efficient layout and make you feel the most comfortable at home?

Keep these factors in mind when making your floor plan decision.

How Do You Live Now?

You can take cues from how you currently live. Think about your current home. Is it too big? Too small? Do you need more rooms? Have you always wished that one wall was pushed back just a foot? Make notes of all the things you love and hate in your current home (and even in past homes) to determine what you value.

Do you love to entertain, but can’t fit enough people in your kitchen? Do you want more kids, but feel as if you’re already bursting at the seams? Or have all of your children left the nest, leaving you with unused bedrooms? Do you work from home? Keep all of these in mind as you look at floor plans, and make sure a floor plan accommodates your unique living situation.

How Many Floors?

How do you feel about stairs? If you’re in good health and don’t mind stairs, you may look for a two story floor plan. Two story floor plans with a downstairs master and all secondary bedrooms upstairs are very popular these days with younger families. If your household includes an aging relative, having a master and at least one secondary bedroom on the main level might be the better floor plan for you. If, on the other hand, you just don’t want to deal with stairs altogether, a single level floor plan would be the best layout for you.  

How Many Bedrooms?

How many people are currently in your family? Are you hoping to add more children? Are you going to open up your home to aging parents? Do you want a guest room? The number of bedrooms you need largely determines the options you have in floor plans.

What About Bathrooms?

What type of bathrooms do you want, and how many do you need? Would you like to have a large, luxurious bathroom in the master bedroom? Do you want to have a separate bathroom for each of your kids? What about a bathroom for guests on the main floor? Do they all need to be full bathrooms, or can some be a half bath?

What’s Your Design Style?

Sure, your design style could change, but chances are you feel more comfortable in some floor plans than others. If you’re more modern or contemporary, you will likely feel more at home in a house with an open floor plan. If you’re more traditional, having at least a little separation between rooms might be more desirable to you.

Follow Your Feelings

If you can walk through model homes before settling on a floor plan, do it -- and do it often. Some factors in a floor plan can’t be written on a checklist; some can only be felt. You know when you like the feeling of a room.

Walk through a floor plan you like, and pay attention to how you feel. If it feels right, it likely is. Find a home builder who can offer you a floor plan that makes you happy.

Speak With a Professional

A good experienced home builder can help you determine what floor plans will best suit your needs and preferences while taking other factors into consideration. If you’re planning to build a new home in the Houston, Texas area and want to determine what floor plan might be best for you, please contact Princeton Classic Homes to explore your best floor plan options!