New home builders can help you personalize your floor plan and give you the property of your dreams.
When you’re thinking about having a home built, there are an overwhelming amount of details to consider. How many bedrooms and bathrooms do you want? What style is your favorite? Do you spring for the marble countertops? What type of flooring will last for decades? Do you want a classic or modern backsplash?
It’s easy to place all of your focus on your house’s decorative elements and finishes, but while designing your home, it’s important to remember the bones of your property: the floor plan. There are many cool things to add to your home that will contribute to its overall functionality and allow your personal style to shine.
But what sorts of things do you want to include in your floor plan? We’re here to offer some ideas and get the ball rolling while you’re designing a floor plan. These design choices will make a big impact on your home’s long-term livability and functionality.
Continue reading below to learn more.
14 Ways to Personalize Your Floor Plan
If you’ve already built a home, you understand there are many things to consider. Here are 14 things to consider when designing a floor plan that will make you love your new home:
- Fireplaces throughout — Cultivating a cozy and homey environment begins with the fireplace. The fireplace is the perfect focal point for any room and an ideal spot to make memories with those you love most.
For years, the fireplace was reserved for the main room in the home. While we still love and encourage that idea (where else would you hang your stocking each December!?), we also believe that fireplaces have a place throughout the rest of your home.
Does your home feature an office, living room, or library? A fireplace is the perfect finishing touch for those rooms by adding character and warmth to the space. The owner’s suite is another ideal spot for a fireplace.
A fireplace is a great way to add your personal aesthetic to your home, as they are highly customizable. You get to choose the style of and the materials used for the mantel, as well as the fireplace surround. You get to choose if you have a hearth, what the overmantel looks like, whether you have logs, balls, or glass pieces. The ways to customize and personalize are virtually endless! - Enlarged garage — Most homeowners cannot argue with the need for more space, and putting additional square footage in an unlivable area, like the garage, might seem silly. However, most property owners find the opposite to be true. Bigger doesn’t always mean better, but more space will always be something to smile about when it comes to the garage.
The kitchen always gets the praise for being the heart of the home. But let’s remember the unsung hero of any property: the garage. A garage is not only a parking place for your vehicles; it also gives you a place to store your yard equipment, tools, and more. It’s the ideal place to keep your bikes, scooters, and gear for your hobbies and extracurricular activities.
Making your garage bigger allows homeowners the necessary storage for their families without taking up valuable interior storage space. Garages can also work well as a space for your hobbies. Like to work out? Make a gym. Enjoy woodworking? Make a workshop. The options are seemingly endless with an enlarged garage. - Floor-to-ceiling windows — Many benefits come with daily exposure to natural light, such as mood improvement and better physical health. However, research shows that, on average, Americans spend approximately 90% of their time inside.
This means we need to bring sunlight into our homes. Since good natural light is on the must-have list for many people building a new home anyway, the best way to get that sunshine in is with floor-to-ceiling windows.
Not only can you enjoy better health with floor-to-ceiling windows, but there are many other benefits you can experience with this upgrade:
- Make the most of your view
- Seamless flow of interior and exterior spaces
- Maximize your home’s energy efficiency
- Enlarge the appearance of your space
- Improve curb appeal
- Owner’s suite closet washer and dryer — The laundry room is an area everyone needs access to in the home. But if you have the budget and space for a secondary laundry room, a super convenient spot is in the primary bedroom closet.
This upgrade especially rings true and helpful when the primary bedroom is on a separate floor from the rest of the bedrooms. Having two laundry spaces may seem unnecessary, but you’ll likely find you wish you had done it when you’re lugging around laundry baskets full of clothes to get to your laundry room.
At the very least, if you don’t want to add a second set of washers and dryers, consider a floor plan that allows you to have your owner’s suite connected to your laundry room. For example, you have your main primary bedroom door that leads to the room, which then goes into your primary bathroom, then the walk-in closet, and lastly into the laundry room, which has its own door into the hallway. - Open floor plan — Home trends come and go, but something that remains constant is the love of an open floor plan. Open floor plans are a common must-have for people building their homes. An open floor plan refers to two or more spaces, such as the family room and dining room, joined together to create a much larger space. In floor plans of the past, these rooms are divided by walls or doors, resulting in these spaces feeling small and closed off.
The modern home is all about communal living spaces, and thus, the open floor plan was created. An aesthetically open floor plan creates a clear yet smooth flow from room to room that property owners love because of the additional space they are given in each room. They also love this style of footprint because:
- Entertaining is more enjoyable
- Improves property value
- Enhanced light
- The space appears larger
- It’s an updated and modern feel
- and more.
- A deeper basement — Whether you’re completing your basement right away or you have plans to finish it down the line, you may want to consider investing in a deeper pour. An additional foot of height in the basement will make all the difference and make it feel like any other floor in your house.
A basement with tall ceilings, thus larger windows, will help the space feel bigger and an area everyone will want to frequent. This upgrade is certainly an investment, but if you hope to get a lot of use out of your basement or you’re especially tall, a deeper basement is something to seriously consider. - Multiple outdoor spaces — When drawing up your home’s footprint, it’s also important to consider the exterior spaces surrounding your home. Homeowners use the outdoor gathering areas of their property for a wide range of functions in everyday life.
The hardscaping and landscaping of your exteriors should be just as functional as the inside of your home. You can use these parts of your home to enjoy nature, unwind, and entertain your loved ones in a fashionable, cozy living and recreational space. A grassy area to run and play, a swing set for the kids, a trampoline, a garden, a fire pit, and furniture (outdoor dining table, couches, and coffee tables) are key for a functional and tempting retreat.
Spending time in your multiple outdoor living spaces comes with many benefits, such as:
- Stress relief
- Extension of your home
- Improved health, mood, and sleep
- Boost creativity
- Encourage family togetherness
- Build the ultimate pantry — Pantries are an essential and functional component of every home. However, they aren’t always the most aesthetically pleasing. That’s where a hidden pantry style door comes in. Similarly to disguising your refrigerator with panels that look like cabinets, you can add a hidden door to your pantry that looks like the rest of your cabinet doors.
Whether you’re a baker, party thrower, or have a big family, sometimes one kitchen isn’t enough. This is why some homeowners opt to make their pantry a secondary kitchen, fit with a second fridge, second dishwasher (more on that below), second oven and microwave, and more. While a second kitchen might not seem like something affordable custom homes would have, it’s actually totally doable!
If a “second kitchen” seems to be more than you need, that’s totally understandable. However, having a hidden place for your countertop appliances (blender, mixer, toaster, coffee maker, etc.) that you use daily but only want out sometimes is ideal. If not a second kitchen, consider a countertop where you can store these items for everyday use.
Lastly, every “ultimate pantry” needs a Costco door. If you aren’t familiar with the term, a Costco door is a door that directly connects your garage to your pantry. It’s actually a brilliant idea and saves homeowners a lot of time while unloading their groceries. A Costco door is essentially a grocery door—simply open the door in the garage and slide items inside right into your pantry.
- Radiant floor heating — Every bathroom needs radiant floor heating. Yes, even affordable custom homes can have this luxury. Radiant flooring is a huge upgrade that significantly increases home value. Because in-floor heating systems require the floors to be ripped up before they are installed, this is something you won’t want to save for later. Your heated floors are an energy-efficient way to add warmth, luxury, and comfort to your bathroom.
While you’re on the journey to making your primary bathroom a spa-like retreat, consider adding a towel warmer. Towel warmers come in a range of styles and sizes, allowing you to let your personal aesthetic shine. If you want a hardwired option with hidden wiring, have your electrician add an electoral box during your new build. - Storage closets throughout — No homeowner ever complained about having too much storage space. Between extra towels and bedding, craft supplies, holiday decor, medicine and first aid supplies, camping equipment and gear for other hobbies, cleaning supplies, off-season clothes, and so much more, there’s a lot to store.
Coat closets next to or near all of your entries, especially the front door and garage door, are ideal. Linen closets next to the bedrooms, including a separate closet for the owner’s suite bedroom, are especially helpful for storing additional items. Another ideal linen closet location is in the owner’s suite bathroom and secondary bathrooms to store your back supply of toilet paper, towels, beauty items, and more.
Another great place to put a storage closet is inside your garage. Having a separate place to store tools and yard equipment can keep your space organized and clear. - Efficient home orientation on your land — Many homeowners don’t realize that the direction your house faces has a direct impact on your energy bill. Even more homeowners don’t take into account just how important a home’s orientation and window placement is. Keep this in the forefront of your mind as you draw up your floor plans and watch the savings stack up once your home is complete.
Houses oriented toward the sun need significantly less energy for cooling and heating. Frequently used areas in the home, such as the family room and kitchen, and outdoor spaces, like patios and decks, will benefit from being on the southern side of the house. This placement allows you to maximize the sun’s rays in the winter and minimize heat during the intense summer temperatures.
Additionally, placing your windows on the northern and eastern sides of your house can vastly improve natural light and ventilation throughout. - Double dishwashers — If you have a large family or love to have gatherings and parties, having two dishwashers can be especially helpful. Some homeowners opt to have a dishwasher on either side of their main sink, while others choose to have one in the main part of their kitchen and another in their pantry.
Having two dishwashers helps save you countless hours of time and a surprising amount of energy that would otherwise be spent waiting around for the first dishwasher cycle to complete or manually wash your dishes. Either way, if you have a big family or a party to attend, you likely don’t want to do either. Double dishwashers get the job done for you so you can spend your valuable time with those you love most. - Additional living space for the kids — If you have kids, you know better than anyone how quickly their toys, clothes, and other personal belongings become a mess. The minute it’s all put away, a bomb seems to explode, and everything is everywhere as if tidiness never happened.
Carve out an extra living space for your children upstairs or in the basement so the mess is out of sight and out of mind. Kids love to have their own place to hang out, play, and watch TV in a playroom or recreation room (whatever you decide to call it). Doing this allows adults to have their own entertainment space in the main area of the house while the kids have their own dedicated spot.
- Choosing a trusted new home builder — Not all new home builders are created equally. You are about to invest a huge amount of your hard-earned money into a new property, and choosing the right builder that can help you achieve the floor plan of your dreams makes all the difference.
When searching for the right builder, you want someone who offers the four Cs: competence, commitment, confidence, and communication. Your builder should be trusted to have the competence and confidence to carry out your build to your high standards. Additionally, they need to be committed to the job and be able and willing to communicate with you throughout the entire journey.
If you still need to figure it out and are in the Northern Utah area, look no further than Patterson Homes.
Patterson Homes: New Home Builders You Can Trust
Are you looking for new home builders that allow you to personalize your floor plan? Patterson Homes is here for you.
As Northern Utah’s trusted custom new home builders, we are dedicated to turning your vision into an exquisite reality. We build affordable custom homes that you are sure to love. The properties we build are functional, beautiful, and made using high-quality materials. Each home is built with love, care, and your family in mind.
When you choose Patterson Homes, you choose attention to detail, unparalleled craftsmanship, and a personalized approach to designing a floor plan that ensures that every aspect of your home is just as you imagined. Building a home is an exciting part of life, and Patterson Homes is the perfect partner for this journey.
Contact Patterson Homes today to begin designing a floor plan that flawlessly reflects your lifestyle, needs, and personality. We look forward to building something extraordinary with you in one of our eight communities, including Lehi, Eagle Mountain, Payson, and American Fork.
