RENOVATE | What to include in your floor plan?

Floor Plans

Just got your floor plans back from your draftsman, builder or architect? It’s time to get the red pen out and understand how your space is going to work for you.

One of the first things I do with a client starting their project is to complete a floor plan review of the space. The cost of changing a floor plan will be nothing compared to moving a wall, window or door when you start building I promise you. Below are the three main areas I always consider with my clients so they can feel confident about what to include in their floor plans.

Take the time to imagine yourself in the space and how it will work, in particular considering the following:

1. Circulation

Get out the red pen and start messy! I find drawing to be such a helpful tool to connect my brain to the floor plan and how it will all work.

Print a few copies of your floor plan or if you are a more digital person try Morpholio Trace to draw over the top of your floor plan.

Imagine you are standing in a doorway and entering or exiting a room, where do you walk? Draw in lines to reflect this. Circulation is impacted by the location of rooms, their function and how we move between them. To get the fullest picture of the circulation I would suggest drawing in rough furniture placement as you will always circulate around this.

Straight lines across a room will give the most uninterrupted flow of a space. Doors in opposite corners of a room will give a diagonal line across a space meaning furnishing the room could be trickier than you think. For example, a diagonal circulation path across a living room means you will have a thoroughfare going through your couches to get to the other side.

2. Doors and windows

For each door it’s important to check which way the door swings. Does it block off access to something behind the door? Imagine you are standing in the doorway when you open it, does the way it open fit in with the way you would then move into the space. Do you need the door to be able to sit flat against the wall when it opens? Do two door swings overlap? Will this be a problem?

For a bathroom, the door can be a useful tool to block off views to the toilet, so check the line of site into the bathroom with the door swing and your toilet. For more on choosing and locating your toilet, let’s talk about toilet.

Window placement in a space will dictate the views in and out of your space and the amount of wall space you have for storage (be that joinery, artworks or hooks). One thing that I find is often not considered until it’s too late is the height of the window sill and how that might impact the use of the space. For example, if you have a low window in a bedroom this might impact how many different spots in the room you might orient the bed (I like to make sure each bedroom has at least two different bed options for flexibility).

Consider the function of each room and what needs to happen along each wall. For example you will need at least 900mm high wall for a kitchen bench and 750mm for a standard desk/dining table. 

3. STORAGE

Consider how you live in your current home. Do you have enough storage, do you wish there was more? Take what you already know and apply that to your new floor plan. I often find there are a few items that can often be overlooked in terms of storage - ironing board, vacuum, cleaning products for each room (do you need a few different sets because the rooms are spread out?) and linen storage (all sheets, towels, spare doonas and pillows).

The more you understand the space from the perspective of how you live the more personalised your home will be to you. There is never a one size fits all!

Once you’ve understood how the space will function from an interior perspective it’s time to give that feedback to your drafty, builder or architect to update your drawings. Create your list of changes and have a discussion with your building professional so you can feel confident you’ve got everything you need in your floor plan before you build.

Alternatively, as an interior designer, floor plans are what I do. Download my checklist for a more specific list of things to consider.