Incorporate Outdoor Living Into Floor Plans

If you are the type that relishes entertaining in the great outdoors, your floor plans should reflect that in the available access. Entertaining family and guests should create an inviting means of getting to the outdoor areas and your floor plan can help provide that comfort. 

Having your guests enter the front door only to be escorted out a back door may be acceptable, but it is not usually convenient. Providing an area for parking near the back of the home or near the side will allow the guests to go directly from their vehicles to the area in which you are hosting the gathering. This helps minimize the traffic through your house as well as makes them feel less conspicuous by walking through your home. 

Providing easy access to bathroom facilities should also be part of your floor plans, as very few guests will want to walk all through your house seeking relief. A half-bath near a back entrance can be included into your floor plans that can be used for visiting guests as well as family when in the kitchen. 

If most of your cooking is going to be done in your kitchen, patio doors leading to your patio or outside entertaining area can make transferring food and other items to the outdoors easier and more efficient. It also provides a better means of returning items to the house at the end of your party. 

Many like to grill outdoors when they entertain, but weather does not always cooperate. A large overhang added to the floor plans at the back of the home can help keep you outdoors in any weather. Additionally, placing your outdoor patio away from the prevailing winds can supply additional shelter and extend your outdoor living season. 

Think through your living habits when perusing floor plans and have adjustments made to meet your needs instead of settling for what is readily available.

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Christine Cooney

Editor in Chief at The House Designers

Christine has over a decade of experience as a house plan and floor plan expert. Outside of providing her expertise to customers to help them find and build their dream homes, her passion and knowledge of the home building industry allows Christine to guide families and builders through all of the important steps from finding plans to building custom homes that meet the expectations of today’s new home owner. Christine’s years of knowledge of the diverse trends and needs of the modern homeowner has made her into an authoritative and trusted voice in the online house plan community.

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Christine Cooney

Christine has over a decade of experience as a house plan and floor plan expert. Outside of providing her expertise to customers to help them find and build their dream homes, her passion and knowledge of the home building industry allows Christine to guide families and builders through all of the important steps from finding plans to building custom homes that meet the expectations of today’s new home owner. Christine’s years of knowledge of the diverse trends and needs of the modern homeowner has made her into an authoritative and trusted voice in the online house plan community..