Start by asking yourself some of the following questions and make some notes about your idea's to refer to when you are out with a Realtor or spend some time looking for a new place to live.
Which rooms do you spend the most time in while you are at home?
Kitchens and family rooms are often the most 'lived in' because you do your cooking, have meals, watch television or play games in these spaces.
What do you do in each room - how do you spend your time there?
Experts say bedrooms should just be for sleeping, but many bedrooms are retreats for reading, work, study, quiet time or a hobby.
Which rooms should be close to each other?
For example - if you have infants or young children you probably want the master bedroom to be within hearing distance of the other bedrooms. A traditional ranch style home or a two-story with the master bedroom upstairs is probably the best floor plan for this situation.
How many rooms do you need?
Remember that the bigger the home the more it costs to heat and cool, the more maintenance, cleaning and upkeep it requires.
Do you like to entertain and need more room for guests indoors and out?
A larger house in a new location is not always the right answer. You might need a home with a different floor plan, like an "open" floor plan or great room style home.
Will your family be getting larger or smaller in the next few years?
If it does, what would be the best room layout to accommodate that change?
One of the floor plans popular in many new construction homes right now is the Split Floor Plan. This layout has the master bedroom on one side of the house while the other smaller bedrooms are on the opposite end. This home floor plan has advantages for families with older children or for someone with a live in relative.
Older existing homes are typically two-story traditional homes or ranch homes. Certain homes styles and standard floor plans have been built-in mass across the country for many years and you will find many of them to choose from.
If you move to a completely different area of the country it may be difficult to find a home with the type of floor plan you prefer or that you may have lived in while growing up. A good example of this would be moving from the New England area to Arizona. Be prepared to spend a longer time looking for just the right home or research smaller, custom homebuilders in the area.
Another new trend in floor plans are ones which incorporate universal design components and outdoor rooms. Styles and features evolve constantly! Think about some of the original historic designs from one room cabins to hacienda's. Some of their features are still obvious today in small, efficient space utilization condominiums and large courtyard homes.
We will be exploring the 'livability aspects' of different floor plans in future articles and providing livability reviews of model home examples from homebuilders around the United States.