Designing The Perfect Family Home

The first thing that comes to mind when we hear “Home” is rest. Then you begin to think of comfort, quiet and happiness. That’s what we usually expect from anywhere we call our home. Unfortunately, many people’s expectation doesn’t always come to pass because they fail to create suitable and functional home designs for their family. No matter the tips and strategies available for you in this journey, the aim is to design your home based on your lifestyle.

Every family differs, and as such, what works for the family of Mr A may not work for Mr B’s family. Therefore, when we talk about designing the perfect family home, it means a house design that is customized for your family. Also, it will be a flexible house design that will suit your requirements even as the years go by. Always bear in mind that what you need today at home may not be the same in the future. That’s why you must design a home that will adapt to your family no matter the changes in the future.

So, how do you achieve that! Let’s consider some strategies that never fails.

1. Determine the needs of every member

You can’t get this perfect house design without understanding the needs of every family member. When you know what the children require in space, it will help you to work right. Once you focus on giving everyone what they want, the design falls naturally in line. This point may not matter a lot to a family with little kids. But since they can’t make demands yet, we suggest you design your home based on their personality. Do your children love to play a lot? Are they always too eager for the outdoors? Do they still intrude or encroach into your own space? You can answer these questions and quickly design a home to match their different characteristics.

On the other hand, if your troop are all grownups, the best strategy is to maybe ask them what they want in the home. You can ask their opinion about reading space, entertainment hub, relaxation time, etc. Your children or wife can help you a lot to design that perfect home for your family member.

2. Get the home design layout right

Once you determine what your family needs through observation and investigation, you should make sure that the layout suits them. You only need to concentrate on two things in a good layout. One of them is connectivity, and the other is visibility.

A family with young children must design their home in a way to monitor the kids from anywhere. Let’s say that you are cooking or washing while they play, how are you going to protect them if you can’t see them? This means that the layout must enable you to see your kids from every part of the house. Also, it must be such that you can watch your kids from some parts of the house.

But how do you achieve this? We suggest that you use an open-plan strategy for your house floor plan. Let your kitchen, family living room and the dining room be arranged in one spacious and open setting. You can enjoy all the privacy you want in other rooms if you design them to be more quiet and private.

The reason for targeting these three areas for open-plan layout is because you spend more time in them than in other rooms. Just make sure that there are, adequate natural light, accessibility to your garden, and enough storage for games and toys. Once you achieve these things, your young family will have the best relaxed and informal home ever.

3. Let there be space for everyone and everything

There are essential spaces that you must include in your home. The first space in the house designs is storage space. Whether you have kids or not, there must be enclosures where stuff must be packed and protected. It’s even more compulsory when you have kids around. You will need both dedicated storage space for kids stuff and adult things. A utility room or boot room will work perfectly to contain everything that may ordinarily lie around the house. Since no family can exist without laundry time, we advise that you create an outside door from your utility room to facilitate easy entry and exit. The family can do laundry there, dump dirty boots, coats and other things inside. But in designing the utility room, create storage space for each member of your family such as cupboards. With that, they will pack their items without disturbing others.

Another Important space to consider in house plans is adult space. Parents sometimes have an immediate urge to escape from all the ruckus or relax a little when everyone is asleep. We suggest a comfy lounge in a more private part of the house. If you want to enjoy this lounge better, limit the entrance of natural light and use a wood-burning stove. You can also create a relaxing and homely atmosphere by using any of the following:

• Heavily beamed ceiling
• Brick fireplace
• Natural stone wall
• Timber flooring
• Dark colors

Also, you can mix these materials to achieve both the traditional and contemporary outlook depending on your preference.

The third space that people include in beautiful house plans is the playroom and study room. If you are a studious parent, a study room is very compulsory. The kids who also go to school need their space for homework and reading. So, a family home without a study for its occupants is not complete.

A playroom shouldn’t be missing in the house floor plans as well. If the children are still very young, we advise that the playroom be placed nearer to the living area for close monitoring.

4. Design the bedrooms and bathrooms right

The most important members of the family are the children. When they’re young, you must protect them both morning and night. That’s why their bedrooms must be close to yours. It is better to place the master bedroom in a position where you can quickly enter the kid’s room anytime. But if your children are in their teenage years, better keep them a little farther from yours. Chaos, noise and nosy friends characterize teenage years.

While designing the kid’s bedroom, you can use bunk beds to create a space for each of them unless there is only one child. Also, provide storage spaces by attaching drawers to their bunk beds for their stuff. Please don’t forget to add a desk where they can sit to read or draw.

Also, while designing your family home, it is better to add more bathrooms than what is available in rentals. Let the master bedroom have one bathroom while the other rooms have theirs as well. Other rooms may not have an en suite bathrooms but two rooms sharing one bathroom is not a bad deal at all if the kids are still little. But, if you have teenagers, why not give them more privacy by adding one bathroom in every room? We suggest you design your house that way whether the kids are small or grown. That way, you can avoid renovations or expansions in the future.

There are a few things we want to point out to help you in designing your bathroom,

• The floor must be slip-resistant and able to withstand water puddles
• Add both a bathtub and shower to cater for every member of the family
• Create enough storage spaces for stuff
• Integrate underfloor heating to dry sprays and splashes of water.

Once you get these points right, your family will have more fun in their bedrooms and bathrooms.

5. Add one activity room

House designs are not complete without an activity room. This is where the family can unwind and catch up with each other’s experience while enjoying one fun activity or the other. A family that plays or does many things together always stay united. Don’t ignore the importance of spending meaningful time with the whole members of your family.

Many families convert their basement or loft to an activity room during the renovation. If you’re building from the foundation right now, why not add it to the architectural design? You could equip this room with table tennis, home cinema or other indoor games. Also, ensure that the sound insulation in the room is at the top level to offer topmost functionality.

Don’t forget to add some furniture but not too many since the room is not open for visitors unless on rare occasion. So, all you need is where the family members can sit during the fun activities.

6. Outdoor Protection and Privacy

Home plans don’t end indoors only. This is a house where your whole family will live amongst neighbors both far and near. So, you must think about the outdoors when it comes to protection and privacy. How are you going to monitor, control and regulate the way people enter and leave your house? That’s the essence of this point.

So, in designing the house, consider the following:

• Front door protection

We advise that your front door be a little hidden from the streets. It may not be too safe to enable free access to your front door. Some people use bars of iron to construct a blockage between the front yard and the main door. At least that way, there will be a little protection for your children.

• Add an entryway

This is very important because it can protect your family from the prying eyes of the neighbors or strangers. It is not good for someone to see every room from the main door. An entryway will prevent such intrusion while you decide your next move

• Locate the windows right

It is better to place windows on strategic locations too. Make sure that you can see the end of your garden or the main street from the windows in your house. These are the places where intruders may breach to come into your home uninvited. So, create surveillance spots for your family via the windows.

• Invest in awnings and pergolas

The main reason to add these is to keep the neighbors at bay. They will cut off their views of the house interiors or garden. It is better to be safe than sorry. So, protect your family from unnecessary exposure.

7. Don’t forget a spacious yard

Have you ever seen a family home built without a backyard? So, make sure that your family has a large backyard for some activities. There are many things for you and the kids to do in the backyard. You can enjoy a Saturday night with a barbecue, or you can even organize gatherings and parties in the backyard.

One thing you can do to make it beautiful and functional is to add a fire pit. With this, you can always enjoy a party with family and friends more often.

8. Forget what the agent will say

Many people design their homes to suit the demands of society or the real estate market. We understand that you may decide to sell the house in future and your agent may be advising you on what sells. Please, now that your family are going to live in it, focus on them and design your home.

Many home builders today make the mistake of building for the next purchasers instead of designing for their family. But we’ve discovered that a well-designed family house sells no matter how long it stays.

So, instead of designing for the markets, focus on your family and create a comfortable home for them. All you need is to get it right and watch how the next family will appreciate your efforts.

Conclusion

Every well-designed family home must be comfortable, functional, spacious and beautiful. It all starts from focusing on the needs of your family members and ends with building the perfect home for all of them. Always remember the importance of ventilation, protection and privacy.

Also, make sure that you don’t follow the trend but concentrate on your goals. We understand that you may likely build another house in the future, but we want you to achieve the best with this first one.

Another thing to take home is that you can follow these pointers to redesign your existing family house. Some expert builders can make your old house more accommodating and comfortable. It may not cost much but will offer many advantages. So, go ahead and achieve the same dream home in your old house.