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You are imagining the space you will one day live in, your new home. You have a good idea of the lot you want to build on, you have secured your financing, and you are just itching to open the front door and start working on the build itself. In your mind, you turn the knob and what you see next will depend greatly on your floor plan. In fact, before you even get to swing that door open, your floor plan will determine where the door, windows, and walkway are placed. Our team at Gerard Construction will walk you through every square foot of making a floor plan that works and makes sense for you.

The floor plan will be the map to your house and includes everything from room layouts, electrical and plumbing access, and other details that will help us in constructing your home. However, before that foundation is poured, there is a lot to think about.

1. Current needs and future needs. Just like when thinking about land acquisition, you need to have an idea of what you need from your home now and what you want to grow into. Too often we see families frustrated because they didn’t think far enough ahead as to what their needs might be. Sit down and think about long term planning and how your home will fit into that.
2. Imagine your day. By taking time to visualize what your routine will be like from the moment you wake up until the moment you go to sleep will help you list needs and wants from your dream home. Your home is a significant part of your day and can help you and your life function better. Imagine where you want to get ready in the morning, where you want to entertain, where you want family or guests to sleep, and where you want to store things for easy accessibility and long-term storage. Don’t forget to think about big holidays and important traditions in your family that may factor in as well. 
3. Tour some homes. Maybe these are pre-built homes or maybe they are homes of people you know. By visualizing size and scale and walking through different layouts, you will get a better sense of what you want and, just as importantly, what you don’t want. Take notes and, with permission, pictures of things you want to consider. Pinterest is another great tool for touring around.
4. Fine-tuning the details. Start honing in on what you have to have in a floor plan and what you want to know more about. The number of bedrooms, stories, bathrooms, and access points are good to know. Thinking about the overall location of living spaces, kitchen, and auxiliary spaces should be considered ahead of time as well. 
5. Come see us. Not only do we have extensive experience building homes and walking through the entire process, but we also have an on-staff architect that will assist you in creating your floor plan. This process can be as hands-on as you want it to be. While there will be some limitations, leaning on architectural knowledge will help you create your dream home on paper. 
6. Consider the questions. If you haven’t already, our architect will help walk you through a number of questions to consider in this process. Everything from where you want sun to filter from, ceiling heights and styles, views from your windows and patios, and more will be part of our discussion. If you need to take time to think through this process, we can help with that.

Once these floor plans are on paper, it will be up to our construction team to make those dreams a reality. We enjoy connecting with our clients to tweak and adjust so their floor plans are exactly what they want, then we put those plans to work. To learn more about our architectural services or to begin the entire home building process, contact us today.