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Alex is the founder of 9Kilo Moving, which he started to help people easily find and choose the right moving company to make their move as stress-free and seamless as possible. He has spent over 20 years working in the moving industry, so he knows every aspect of the business and uses his knowledge to write about the industry and give moving advice. More on about us page

Benefits of Creating a Floor Plan Before You Move

Moving to a new home is like beginning a new chapter in your life. As stressful and overwhelming moving can be, the thought of starting a new life in a new home can be really exciting. Whether your new home is an apartment or a house, that’s one place where you can get cozy and where you’ll spend the most of your time. So why not make it more charming and comforting with the help of an artistic floor plan?

As mentioned earlier, moving can be very stressful as you have to pack and move all your belongings to your new home. The last thing you’d want to do is worry about creating a floor plan after you’ve already moved. That’s why a well-planned floor plan before your move will give you all the time you need to give a delightful vibe to your new home. Let’s look at some of the benefits of creating a floor plan before you move to your new house.

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What Exactly Is A Floor Plan?

If you’ve ever blankly stared at a floor plan trying your best to understand it but still looking confused, we’ll solve the mystery for you. A floor plan will give you an insight of the basic structure of your home. For example, the size of each of your bedrooms, bathroom, living room, etc. will be in the form of a 2D or 3D drawing on your floor plan. So, with the help of your floor plan, you and your architect can just map out how you want to design your home and what all things can be kept in each area.

Now that you know what a floor plan is, let’s try to understand why it’s important to create it before you move into your new home:

Helps To Conjure Up Spaces And Gaps

When you’re moving to your new home, you’ll probably need to buy a few things. You’re not going to use all your old artifacts and showpieces to decorate your new home, right? And if there’s a sale on Amazon or your favorite store, who wouldn’t like shopping? It’s good to think about all these things if you’re moving to a new house. But consider this, you’ve bought all the necessary things like a new couch and it’s not fitting through the doors of your new home. Have you thought about what you’ll do in such a situation?

That’s why you need to first have a floor plan to know what all things you can buy for your new home. Also, you’ll know what all things you want to pack and bring to your new home. One of the main advantages of a floor plan is that you can conjure up spaces and gaps to understand how many things can be accommodated in your house. A floor plan is nothing but a blueprint of how your house will actually look like, along with specific dimensions and measurements. That way you will easily be able to visualize how spacious your home is and you and your architect can design to fit in your things accordingly.

Know How Much Furniture To Move

Now, deciding what furniture to move to your new home can be really challenging. First of all, you need to see whether your new home has enough room to fit in all of your furniture. That’s when a floor plan comes in handy; you get to know just how much furniture is worth moving to your new home. One of the best ways to identify that is by taking the actual measurements of your house.

You may be well aware that moving furniture is not an easy task, and to add to that it’s not cheap either. Spending a few extra bucks to move all your furniture, only to realize that it just doesn’t fit in will surely be heartbreaking. So a floor plan with accurate measurements will not only save you your time but also help you figure out what all furniture you need to discard.

Visualize And Design Your Home

If you’re all excited about decorating and setting up your new home, you’ve probably flipped through every page of Architectural Digest and decided the kind of furniture, chandelier, or showpieces you’d want in your house. Who knows, you’d even have an idea of how you want your living room or bedroom to look like. But before you start doing any of that, you need to first see how spacious your apartment or home is.

If you create a floor plan with accurate measurements of your new house, along with knowing what things to buy, you can also think of where and how to place them. Instead of binge-watching Amazing Interiors on Netflix and marveling at other people’s homes, it’s time you decorate yours. With the help of a floor plan, you’ll know how to place your things artistically regardless of how small or big your house is.

Save Your Time On Your Moving Day

On your moving day, you’ll have tons of responsibilities on your shoulders. First of all, bidding goodbye to your old home and neighbors isn’t going to be easy, right? And to add to that, you’ll have to check whether all your things are packed properly and loaded onto your moving truck. If you have any pets or children, you’ll be busy taking care of them too. In all this chaos, knowing what to move and where to move will seem like a nightmare when you arrive at your new home.

But, if you have already made your floor plan, you don’t have to worry about directing your movers on your moving day. Just grab your floor plan in hand, roll up your sleeves and get started. An accurate floor plan will help you take charge of your moving day as it’ll give you proper information about how much space is there in each of the areas in your home. All you have to do is guide your movers and tell them where you want the furniture to be placed, whether the table can fit in your dining room, how you want the bed to be placed in your bedroom, etc. To make things easier, you can just get a copy of your plan and give it to your movers so that they get an idea of what things will fit where and how they can arrange all your belongings according to your design.

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What Should You Consider When Creating A Floor Plan?

By now, you surely know how important it is to have a floor plan as it’ll make your move stress-free and easy. So now it’s time for you to reveal that hidden designer inside you and use all your creativity to make a floor plan that’ll help you design and decorate your new home. But before you do that, take a look at the following things that you should consider when making a floor plan:

Understand Your Needs And Architectural Design

Planning and designing your new home can be challenging and at the same time very exciting. You may have seen dozens of architectural styles online or on various TV shows which might have blown you away. It’s easy to get carried away with all of that. But, you first need to figure out what will be your priorities in your new home. So before coming up to a conclusion and choosing any particular design, there are a few things you should ask yourself:

  • Is your family large or small, or are you going to live on your own?
  • How many bedrooms would you want in your new home?
  • Do you need a guest bedroom to have friends over at your place?
  • Do you want an open kitchen that extends to your dining room, living room, or any other living space in your house?
  • Would you like to have a playroom for your kids?
  • Should there be a fitness room where you can do your yoga and exercise every day?
  • Are there any elderly people in your family who have trouble climbing stairs?
  • Would you be needing a storage room inside your house to keep your sports and camping equipment and other items?
  • Do you want your home to have a rustic feel to it? Or would you like to live in a modern house?

Plan A Budget For Your Home Design

Even after asking the above questions to yourself, you’d maybe feel more confused about how you want your floor plan to be. With hundreds of layout styles available on Pinterest, your heart is probably stuck to a particular style that you’d want to incorporate into your house. That’s why you also have to look at the practicality of things when designing your floor plan and choosing an architectural style. You’re well aware that every change you want to make in your house will have a price tag. So your budget plays a very important role here. Just make a budget plan for your house plan and get some ideas from your contractor or builder regarding what different styles can be considered that’ll complement not just the house but also your budget.

Prioritize Your Lifestyle And Choose A Layout

Just choosing an architectural style is not going to help you in the long run. Along with that, you need to consider your lifestyle and prioritize the things you like, helping you design an appropriate floor plan. Here’s everything that you need to ask yourself:

  • Do you like being outdoors? Or are you a person who loves to get cozy at home?
  • Do you host a lot of parties at home? Or are you much of a quiet person who wants some alone time at home?
  • Are you working from home? Do you need a quiet environment and ample light in your room?
  • Do you enjoy cooking or order your food from outside most of the time?
  • Do you need a lot of furniture in your home? Or do you prefer a minimalist design with few things in your living room?
  • Are you planning to settle and start a new life with your partner? Or do you have kids and are going to live with your entire family that needs a big home?

Take Inputs From A Professional

As you can see, a lot of planning and decision-making is involved when creating the perfect floor plan for you. You need to make a mental note of the fact that not all floor plans are perfect. So you need to avoid taking the opinions of too many people like your friends or relatives, as too many cooks can spoil the broth. Now everybody won’t be on board with the kind of things you or your family prefer, that’s why it’s best if you consider your priorities and lifestyle habits when making a floor plan.

One of the best things you can do is talk to a professional, like for example your contractor or builder. If you’re hung up on having a two-story foyer and a huge chandelier in your living room, you also have to think of how you’re going to change the bulb inside it. So it’s best to take inputs from a professional and make a wise decision.

Conclusion

There are several tools and apps online that can help you design and create a floor plan according to your needs. As overwhelming as it may seem, it’s good if you start doing it well in advance before your moving day arrives. Just narrow down your priorities and styles and make your new house a home you’re looking forward to.

FAQs

Why Is It Important To Have A Floor Plan Before Building The House?

When it comes to building a new house, a floor plan will help you plan, design, and understand the different spaces of your house and the purpose for which they can be used. For example, you’ll know what all things you need to buy, how much furniture you can accommodate and it’ll also help you deal with the different designing challenges related to building your house.

Why Are Floor Plans So Important?

Floor plans are important as they serve as a blueprint of your entire house. Not only will they help you save time for guiding your moves when you move, they will also help you accommodate the right amount of furniture and choose a style that would suit your home.

What Information Can Be Obtained From A Floor Plan?

First of all, you can get an accurate measurement of all the areas of your house like the hallways, bedrooms, bathroom, living room, etc. You also get to know the size of all your windows and doors and the usage of all the spaces in your house, like for example your kitchen, dining room, etc. A floor plan will also give you an idea of how many appliances will fit in your kitchen.

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See also: Best Home Remodeling Ideas