If you’re considering building a new home, there’s a lot to think about. You’ve got to worry about finance, finding a block of land, choosing your building company and much more. Once that’s all done, you’ve then got to choose from a range of housing floor plans. Alternatively, you might enlist an architect to design a custom home. Either way, you’ll need to understand what to look for in housing floor plans.
Floor plans can be complicated, but that’s ok because they serve as the blueprint for building your new home. Everything should be covered, from lighting to internal doors and storage. Once the plans are signed off, your builders will get to work and it’s not always easy to make last-minute changes. So, here are some of the things you should consider when looking at your new housing floor plans.
Access
Housing plans can be confusing to look at if you’re not familiar with them. That’s exactly why it’s so easy to miss out on better access opportunities. Most homes have a front and back door, but you also need to consider other access points, such as where you want to be able to access a deck. You may also want covered internal access, such as from the garage directly into the home. This is a big win for those who hate carrying loads of groceries from the car in the rain.
Ultimately, the access points need to suit your lifestyle now and in the future. So, if you’re not as young as you used to be, easy, level access is always best. The same could be said for families with young children, so take some time to think about where exactly you’d like to be able to enter and exit your home.
Covered outdoor spaces
It’s easy to focus a lot on what’s inside the walls of your new home, but you don’t want to forget about the outdoors. Outdoor entertaining areas such as patios, decks and verandahs are a big part of the home, especially if you love the outdoors and enjoy entertaining guests. If you want to enjoy some nice, covered outdoor spaces, it’s best to plan for them while building.
Include your outdoor space on the house plans, because this also gives you options for access. You may like a large covered deck with access from the living room as well as from a bedroom. While any outdoor space is good, it’s worth planning to have it covered with a roof and also include some type of wall or guard rail. However you design your outdoor spaces, make sure you can clearly see everything on your floor plans.
Consider heating and cooling
When we talk about heating and cooling, we don’t necessarily mean the type of system you’re going to install. For the record, if you want the easiest and most effective way to heat and cool your home, ducted air conditioning is the smart choice, and it’s much easier to install while the home is being built rather than fitting it in later. However, these systems don’t necessarily affect the layout of your home.
What you should consider, though, is how easy or difficult your home will be to keep at a comfortable temperature. For example, if the areas you use most are the kitchen, living room and master bedroom, try to keep these in the same area of the home. Being able to shut off unused sections of the house in winter is a great way to keep energy bills down.
Built-in wardrobes
It seems crazy today, but so many older homes don’t have built-in wardrobes in all of the bedrooms. Typically, when trying to save space or money, the first thing to disappear from housing plans used to be cupboard space. Anybody who has ever rented property with no built-ins understands this frustration.
So, while most modern homes include built-in wardrobes, this is something that you really need to check in advance. You could add wardrobes later but that means eating into other usable space, so it’s best to ensure that all of your built-in storage areas are planned from the start.
Looking for the best housing plans in NZ?
Stonewood Homes offers an enormous range of beautiful house designs to suit any budget and lifestyle. The great thing about building from one of our pre-designed homes is that the planning work has already been done. You may want some minor adjustments to the floor plan, and you can of course choose any inclusions you want. But you can certainly save time and money by choosing one of our stunning home designs.
Our team of experts is always available to discuss your needs. At Stonewood Homes, we’re passionate about building high-quality, beautiful homes for New Zealanders. Contact us today to discuss your dream home!
