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The layout of your home is probably one ofthemost significant choices you will ever make regarding yourhome.Regardless if you live in an apartment, a condominium or ahouse,the layout of the rooms and how they flow will largely dependonyour lifestyle. Whether you prefer single story ormultiplestories, and all the bedrooms on the top floor – choosing aperfectplan can be stressful. Here are 5 tips to help you decide ona planright for your family.

1.) Choose a floor plan that suits your lifestyle.
In a previous post we discussed the pros and cons of having anopenfloor plan. There are factors you should consider regardlessofopenness. Factors such as: layout of rooms with considerationoffamily size and ages of children is essential. Most familieswhohave young children like to have the private spaces of the house–bedrooms and bathrooms grouped in one area of the home.Whilefamilies with teenagers and young adults prefer to havebedroomsseparated from each other. If you’re house hunting, thesefactorswill be important when choosing a home to move into. Assessyourcurrent floor plan and what the pros and cons are. You may likeit,or would prefer to try a different one.

2.) Do you entertain often or rarely?
Many home floor plans are centered on entertaining andwelcomingguests the minute they step through the front door. A widefoyeropening into an open floor plan living and dining roomandmeandering to the outdoors would be perfect for guestsvisiting.Although, if you and your family are more private anddon’t likeyour full home on display every time the front door isopened, youmay opt for a formal living room adjacent to the frontdoor. Thiswill allow guests a place to immediately sit and feelcomfortablewhile leaving the rest of your house private.

3.) Single story or multistory?
Many families enjoy single story homes for the quietness ofnooverhead foot traffic noise. Some single story homes, or‘Ranch’style homes tend to group public rooms in the center andbedroomsand baths are located on the “wings” of the floor plan.Multistoryhomes give the added benefit of views to the outsideinstead oflooking directly into a neighbor’s window. Multistoryhomes alsogive each family member their own space and room to haveprivacyover single story floor plans.

4.) Do certain functions of your home needspecialaccessibility?
Whether you have a live-in family member that needs extra spacetomaneuver or children who need extra wide hallways to runaround,consider this factor when choosing a floor plan. Older homestendto have narrower hallways, doorways and often door headheights.Remember renovating or altering non load bearing walllocations inthe future is an option. Consider this if you fall inlove with afloor plan but your family needs change over theyears.