When you’re looking for a home, think about these common floor plan mistakes and tips before choosing your next home. You could be designing your own home with a professional, buying a model home or house-hunting with a realtor. Only you know how your family functions on a daily basis.

Assess Your Needs

If you do laundry every single day because you have small children, having the washer and dryer in the basement might not fit into your routine. When you need an office with a door away from the family, an open floor plan might not work for you. Think about the needs of your family before looking at homes or choosing a floor plan with an architect.

Model Home Upgrades

In a model home, you have to keep in mind that the upgrades are not standard. The base price of the home might not include all the beautiful flooring, granite countertops and stunning finishes. Make sure you find out which parts are upgrades, and how much they’ll cost. Focus on the layout of the rooms and whether it will work for your family.

Room Sizingtip when building a custom home

Before choosing the length and width of a room in your floor plan, understand the size of the room you need. If you have oversized furniture, you should measure it to ensure that you’ll have enough space in your new rooms. Think about whether you’ll entertain lots of guests over the holidays. If you’d like to have space for entertaining, you’ll need to make sure it’s added to the floor plan. When touring a home, picture yourself living there with all your furniture. Will guests be able to stand in small groups, or will a large dining table fit into the space to feed them?

Kid Safety

While touring a beautiful home with glass enclosed showers, fireplaces and a pool, consider how you’ll need to make these areas safe for children. The pool should be enclosed, stairs should have railings and loft spaces should have safety railings. Before buying a home because of its beautiful features, make sure it can be made safe for children.

Bring the Family

If you’re searching for a home by yourself, don’t make a decision without bringing along the family. They might have negative reactions to the items you love. They also may point out problems you didn’t realize when walking through the space. The whole family should love the home if they are going to be living there too.