This week we’re discussing our fabulous floor plans! When designing our moodboard and drafts, incorporating thoughtful design was key. Beyond sketching a place that depicts my love affair with southern style and comfort, the goal in this new home is to create a space where our little family can create roots and grow. Cardinal rule number one: Family needs come before exterior and decor decisions, always. After all, our children have a lot of growing up to do in this house!
Design
When it came to design ideas, my husband Kyle and I brainstormed together to make a list of needs and wants. After considering our current space, we know what we can live without and are able to keep in mind what needs will change. It’s so hard to think about the future and to balance dream designs with reality, but our top priority is to create spaces that can accommodate our children as they grow. This factored into us opting for separate rooms for the kids, encouraging their own individual spaces and freedoms.
While it’s important to be realistic about layout, don’t forget to incorporate some things to give you that fairytale feeling you’ve always wanted in a home. Since his childhood, Kyle has always pictured a three car garage with a drive-thru in his forever home because of his long-standing obsession with cars. I wanted–needed, really–a big closet to accommodate my ever-growing wardrobe to fuel my fashionista tendencies. Our kids really wanted a tunnel under the house and bunk beds. We’ll stick with the bunk beds for now, but file the tunnel idea for later just in case.
Layout
An open floor plan was essential for us when drawing up the blueprints. Blocking off spaces made each room feel smaller, whereas the open concept allows our family to be together even when someone is in another room. We even chose the square foot for each new room, pulling out measuring tape in our current house to note which spaces felt too small, eventually relaying this information to our architect to help him know what to expect as far as room sizes.
We are designing the kitchen and the living room first, building out from there since they are our most used spaces. Our plans look so large solely because of the garage taking up the left side of the house, but, as fate would have it, it wasn’t as costly because the space doesn’t need heating or air. The Lord was really looking out for us with that little detail! We are also incorporating a pool as an easy invitation for friends to visit and an exciting activity for us and the kids to do together.
Layout Design Tips:
1. Land plays a factor into what you can build–how wide it can be, if it can have a basement or not depending on the leveling of the land, etc.
2. Building out is more expensive than building up
3. Drawing floor plans is not something that can be done overnight. Spend quality time on them to make sure you’re getting what you really need and want
It’s All in the Architect
Your capital asset during a custom build will forever be your architect. We adore our architect, Sherman Wilson; he has let me constantly change plans when new inspiration comes knocking. We have made about fifteen to twenty revisions over the past several months, however, it has made us
all come together as a solid team, sure of what we want.
My favorite last minute change is the kitchen! We initially crafted a basic kitchen design and, after a quick trip to the appliance store, realized we needed more space. Sherman redid the entire drawing to make room for the appliances we wanted and included the most beautiful open windows overlooking the pool, pull up bar with custom seating included. I have a feeling that I’ll be sipping coffee here, giggling as my kids play outside and soaking up every minute of it.
Floor plans take time and it takes a good team. It takes a village, am I right? We designed our home to be a comfortable oasis to have friends over or even just to enjoy with our little family, which, looking back, influenced so many of our decisions. We have turned into homebodies after years of having chaotic social lives; 3 kids and responsibilities make us thankful to be building the perfect home as a nice place to retreat.
Do you guys have any layout tips when building a custom home?
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