Making plans to build a new home can be one of the most exciting times in a family’s life. It’s a time for imaginations to get carried away, for Pinterest boards to hum with activity, and for every family member to get their say in what should – and shouldn’t – go into their new spaces.

But planning a new home can also be a stressful time. Get things wrong and the implications can be significant (and expensive to correct). It’s important to plan carefully to make sure you get a finished result your whole family will be happy to call home for many years to come.

We’ve listed some of our very best tips and tactics you should consider when deciding what floorplan will be best for your new home.

Think about how your family uses your current home and what you like and don’t like.

What are your favourite spaces in your current home, and what rooms do you rarely use? If you don’t ever use particular areas of your current home, you may be better off leaving them off your new floorplan and putting the space towards something else instead. It’s worth sitting down as a family and discussing what you love most about your current home and what you’ll be happy to leave behind. This process will give you a good blueprint to help choose a floorplan that will work for the whole family.

What’s the right size home for your family?

It sounds a little obvious, but different size homes work for different families. It’s not just the number of people in your home, but how you prefer to live in your spaces together. If you find yourself choosing to end the days all piled on top of each other in front of the TV, you may not need a huge home. If you all have different hobbies and interests you like to spend time on, the more space the better! Think about the future too. There’s nothing worse than completing your dream home only to find you’ve outgrown it in three years as your kids hit their teens.

Choose something that matches your personal style, not the latest fashion.

It can be easy to get dazzled by the beautiful options on offer when you’re planning a new home. Starting afresh by wiping the slate clean and building a home that’s completely different from anything you’ve ever chosen before can be tempting. While there’s not always a problem with this approach, often the kind of style you’ve always liked should act as a template for your new home. If you prefer earthy textures and tones, a sudden move to stark white minimalism may be tempting in the short term but could be something you’ll regret.

Consider what kind of home will complement your block and surroundings.

Look at your new neighbourhood and find inspiration in the homes around you. Think about your block and where the sun rises and falls every day. How will you use the outdoor space through the day, and where do you want the outdoor entertaining area to be? Do you need to include sections of solid fencing for additional privacy from your neighbours’ homes? Thinking about how your chosen floorplan will fit into its landscape is an important part of the process of finding a design that’s perfect for you.

Think about your furniture and how it will work in your new home.

Replacing old furniture can add significant expense to a build and is often overlooked in the budgeting process, so it’s worth having a good think about what furniture will and won’t be coming with you to your new home. For the pieces you’d don’t want to part with, consider where you’ll be placing them and make sure they’ll fit in the floorplan.

Note: We can draw your existing furniture into your new floorplan to show you exactly how they’ll fit. All you need to do is bring along your measurements, and we’ll do the rest!

Consider what your home will cost to cool.

It’s important to factor in the cost of cooling your home. Having zones that can be closed off can help with this, as can carefully considering the placement of your air conditioners. Remember that split system air conditioners have large units that must be placed externally too.

It’s also important to remember that darker colours might look great, but they will make your home harder to cool and therefore harder to meet the mandatory minimum 5-star energy rating issued by the Government. To keep your home cool (and save on cooling costs) we generally recommend that dark colours be used as accents instead of dominant finishes.

Design for the layout, not the finishes.

It’s so easy to get distracted by the beautiful finishes and fixtures on offer rather than your home’s new layout. But in twenty year’s time, it’ll be the layout of your home and how it has enhanced your family’s life there that will have proven the most important factor. Don’t skimp on spaces you know you’ll use daily. Don’t waste space on rooms you know you won’t really use. Fashions change and fittings date; but beautiful, well-lit, harmonious indoor spaces are timeless.

Other Tips

Here are a few other points to consider:

• Storage requirements. Have you got somewhere to put the items you don’t use day-to- day such as extra linen, towels and blankets, kitchen appliances, or suitcases? Do you have space to store larger items like spare fridges or chest freezers, boats, trailers, quad bikes or jet-skis, or other bulky items?
• Accessibility issues. Do you need to provide easy walking or vehicle access to particular areas of your new home? Do you need to park a vehicle securely inside your property?
• Convenience factors. Should you put a toilet and shower near your outdoor entertaining area? Does your main bedroom have an ensuite? Does your main bedroom have a walk-in wardrobe? Does your kitchen have a butler’s pantry?
• Entertaining guests. Are your entertaining areas designed for both aesthetics (looks)
  and convenience?

We specialise in helping First Home Owners, Growing Families, Investors, and Downsizers/Retirees design the home of their dreams. Can we help you too? Feel free to or and explore if we may be the new home builder you’re looking for.