13 things to consider when designing your house

A house becomes a home when it fully reflects the owners’ style and preferences. Architects and interior designers alike often hit a snag when doing so for large families with members from different age groups. Parents and children have diverse needs when it comes to shared spaces and privacy. They have a unique personal style that needs to be incorporated into the design plans.

Design your house with your family in mind

Unless you want to pay for some extensive renovations, later on, make sure you analyze the way you and your family live and ensure this is reflected in the design of the home.

For instance, your kids are probably going to want to play outside, so locate your outdoor play area next to the kitchen where you can see them. You might prefer no stairs or fence around the property.

Consider your budget in before hand

Home design is not a fixed exercise. While architects would like to be able to predict how much the design of your home will be in one meeting, the reality is every owner and their ambitions are different.

Before meeting with an architect have a rough estimate of a budget in mind. Speak out your budget when interviewing architects before you begin your home design. This will help your architect explain what design effort they will put in place.

Multi-functional Rooms

Multifunctional rooms are important and essential in homes with growing kids. The room has to be able to seamlessly transform according to the needs of the residing family without constantly doing renovations every few years.

Design has progressed to be able to convert a seemingly simple center table to a six seater dining table.

Another added benefit to flex rooms is concealed storage spaces. 

Make sure your living spaces face the right direction

A very common mistake is facing your most commonly-used living spaces in the wrong direction. This is likely to result in the house being overly hot during sunny season and too cold in the chilly months.

If you want the best of both, orientate your bedrooms and living areas to facein manner that will provide sun penetration to as many rooms as possible.

Open Living Spaces in designing a new house

Rather than choosing well-defined areas in a house, the idea of open living spaces is being well received. It helps for easy transitions and is especially preferred by parents with children as it enables easy supervision.

Each individual area is visually connected to make the house appear larger and the spaces are defined by the furniture and decor reflecting its intended purpose. These spaces connect to each other without obstructions creating a minimalistic interior design.

Designing a new house floor plans

When evaluating floor plans try to visualize how you will furnish the house and how you plan on using different rooms in your daily life. Get a tape measure and measure rooms in your current house to get an idea of how big a 12’x15′ room really is.

Many times people have a hard time visualizing the size of a room and later when the house is done they are not happy with the size. It is wise to spend time on the evaluation.

Centralized Kitchens

Kitchens are an integral part of any household especially in a house with kids. Having a central kitchen makes day to day functioning and multitasking much simpler as it is a common meeting area for all the family members. It needs to accommodate multiple needs at any given point in time.

Something as simple as a chalkboard on one side of the kitchen keeps the kids busy freeing parents to concentrate on multiple tasks. 

Study Zone

Every house needs a quiet zone, for the thoughts to flow. A study nook is the most suitable for families with children, the study nook works for homework and timeouts.

What’s better is the ability of this room to later be converted into a personal library or home office once the kids are all grown up. Or even a hobby room. The possibilities are limitless!

Designing a new house with multipurpose outdoor spaces

Irrespective of the size of the available yard area, there are multiple ways to make it more inviting and entertaining for children through their growth years.

When they are younger a simple playpen makes for a safe environment for the kids to interact with the outside world, as they grow older, it can be substituted with a small swing set or a makeshift basketball court etc.

Single Story Vs. Multiple Stories

Whether or not your new house has only one level or more is a personal decision. Some people enjoy having a single level living with no stairs to climb up and down.

Other people prefer the more traditional colonial home styles with bedrooms on the second floor.

Some sites are quite small and someone looking for decent square footage may only be able to build a multi-story house.

If you think you may retire and live in your house as you get older the single level house may appeal to you.

Connected Rooms

Houses with multiple connected rooms are highly preferred by large families. The connected spaces make supervision easy. It also provides added privacy, giving parents the much-needed rest and relaxation required after a long day, meanwhile promoting independence among the children.

Also, the rooms can be interchanged according to the changing needs of the family as its members grow older.

General rules for designing a new house

Natural light can reach up to a direct length of 25 feet or 8 meters, so plan interior spaces for daylight accordingly. Windows and ventilation openings should not be less than 1/10 the of the floor area of a space. So give openings accordingly.

Be realistic and flexible in designing a new house

Begin by asking yourself, “What will take place in this particular room?” For instance, say you want a home office, but it will mostly be used during work hours. Say you also want a guest bedroom, but you don’t actually have guests very often.

Consider designing a home office that has a built-in Murphy bed, which can also function as a guest bedroom when needed. This allows you to maximize the room’s functionality and you won’t end up with a dedicated guest bedroom that sits unused for most of the time.

As families grow, parents have the supremely important task of raising good citizens, and having a home that allows the family to stay connected can make that task that much easier.