How to Choose the Best Home Plan

You don’t have to settle for ordinary home plans.  Your home should be customized to fit your personal needs.  The floor plan or layout of the room is a key factor for shaping how you live in your home and how happy you are living there.  We enjoy guiding new homeowners through the process of building their dream home and want to share some of the factors that will help you create the perfect home plan.
Lifestyles
This is an all encompassing category that will help you express the general attitude of your home.  It is all about who you are and what your typical day looks like.  In general, think in terms of your desire for a structured or relaxed atmosphere. Consider where you are in your life and the possibilities for the future.  Does this home need to accommodate a single or married person, youthful or mature couple, growing family or empty-nester?  These are all indicators to help you decide on the compatibility of your home to your lifestyle.

Size
A home of any size can be fabulous, so asking yourself how much space you use.  Take inventory of your current living conditions and plan ahead for the amount of space your will need to be comfortable in the future.
Questions to ask yourself:

• Is the space you have actually where you need it?
• What spaces are unused and where can you use more square footage?
• Do you need more storage or more living space?
• Will you family be growing?
• How long do you plan to stay in this home?
• Is this a weekend retreat or your main residence?
• Will you need additional living space in the future to possibly care for elderly parents or grandchildren?

Activities
It is important to know how do you spend your day and accommodate all of your normal activities.  A family with children may have the central focus of a sunny eat-in kitchen while a retired couple may spend a good part of the day in a cozy den with a fireplace.? Questions to ask:

• Which room is used most often during the most active hours of the day?
• Do you live a formal or informal lifestyle?
• Do you entertain often? Will you need space for overnight guests?
• How many people and pets are living in a home and how active are they?
• What are the important home activities to make space for, like cooking, working-at-home, relaxing?

Adjacency, Traffic Flow & Versatility
This is as important as the size of the rooms. Be aware of how your day progresses, and which rooms need to be near or next to other rooms?  This is referred to as “adjacency” and having your spaces organized with convenient locations will save you time and energy in your day-to-day activities.  The idea of an open vs. closed floor plan will start to form as you decide on the best relationships for your spaces.  Entry points, traffic flow and storage spaces are all key considerations. The location of the storage space must be convenient to its use, serving pieces near the kitchen, coats near the entry, toys near the play space.
Energy Efficiency
As a builder we are using the most advanced materials and systems.  In addition to this, floor plan design becomes an important part of the equation.  The most active areas during the day should take advantage of natural lighting. This along with the careful placement of windows is referred to as “Daylighting”.  Generous overhangs and abundant windows are just the start to floor plan design that will work with the mechanical systems to enhance the efficiency of your home.
Noise Control
Open spaces are great for the flow of activity, but noise will easily bounce through the room.  If you need quiet zones, build in niche areas with walls or lower ceiling heights to help control the sound.  Add to this the careful selection of materials for sound absorption and the combined effect will give you the alternatives you need for balance.
Private Spaces
How much privacy do you need and where do you need it?  Even an open floor plan needs areas of privacy or intimacy. Analyze your needs in terms of the amount of quiet time you would like in your day and be sure your floor plan provides the space for you to retreat, study or work-at-home.  In addition to this, be sure to consider the views into and out of each room to ensure that you have privacy from neighbors and street traffic.
Indoor Outdoor Living
Your access to the outdoors will be determined by the convenient location of exit points to the leisure areas on you property. This is a major consideration in the placement of your home on the lot.  If you can see your property and the outdoor living spaces from indoors, you are more likely to go out and enjoy them.  Create a natural flow between indoor and outdoor spaces with plentiful doors that open wide for activities like cooking, entertaining or playtime.
Multi-Generation Friendly, Aging In Place & Accessibility
Building our homes so they are accessible through the normal ups and downs of life is more important than ever.  It’s not just about aging; the occasional injury or health condition can influence your appreciation of design factors like living on one level or easy to reach cabinets and appliances.  Additionally, blended families are becoming more common and empty-nesters are not necessarily downsizing. Our longer and healthier life styles make it wise to add accessible features that will allow us to live independently in the homes we love.
Expert guidance is available to you. As a highly reputable and experienced builder, we encourage you to seek the help you need in making key floor plan decisions as you prepare to build a new home or remodel. We are available to answer any questions you may have and please visit us if you are in the Lake Geneva area!
Lowell Management
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
262 245 9030