Designing your new home is no minor matter. What begins as fun on Pinterest, soon turns to budgeting spreadsheets, planning permits and trawling online reviews to find a builder. It’s easy to get caught up for weeks on details such as taps, joinery and the position of switches. Whether you’re DIY-ing or opting for a design and build company, or something in between, there is one key thing that will matter – the floor plan.
While you can change interiors and update furnishings over the years, moving supporting walls, plumbing and doorways can be a lengthy and costly exercise, so it pays to get it right from the start. So, what do you need to know? Read below for our floorplan tips for any builder.
Your Sydney, Perth or Melbourne home design should be fit for purpose. In a coastal area? You’ll want to make the most of ocean breezes to ventilate your home. Snug in a cool location? Ensure that your home can maintain and work with thermal mass to ensure a pleasant temperature in extreme conditions. Therefore, your floor plan may need to incorporate holistic heating or cooling solutions.
Pellet stoves can be an efficient way to heat your home, while keeping running costs down. North-facing bedrooms can help reduce the need for artificial temperature control. Considerations like these need to be decided at the time of drawing up the plans, instead of chucking a few split systems in at the end.
Living areas are also key spaces to get right as a large proportion of your leisure time is spent in them. Too small and you won’t be able to host people comfortably, and too close to areas such as a study, will disrupt people at work. For these reasons, the open living plan is slowly evolving from one giant living, dining and cooking space, to an area that’s divided into different zones.
You may still want the kitchen at the heart of the house, but many people find use for a quieter nook that allows for semi-private conversations or phone calls. The television recreational space may also benefit from having distance from the dining area if you’re not a TV-while-eating-dinner kind of person. For busy households that accumulate clutter, don’t forget to include a small area to stash things such as paperwork, keys and other vital items. This can assist in keeping mess at bay.
Other novel spaces that are gaining popularity in modern floorplans, are basically luxe versions of the kitchen and laundry. The butler’s pantry is increasingly replacing the walk-in pantry, because you can hide your drinks fridge, second sink, bench space and the ‘good’ plates in here along with pantry items.
A wet room is another fantastic area to incorporate if you have the space. Bigger than a laundry, here you can store linens, have extra bench space and even additional storage for potentially mucky items like sports equipment. Put this off your garage or backyard and for the most convenience and also near the bathroom.
