How to Pick the Perfect Floor Plan
These simple guidelines can help you choose the floor plan that’s perfect for you and your family.One of the easiest ways to get started is to think about the home you currently live in.
Brainstorm all the things you enjoy about your current home that you’d like to see in your new one. Use the layout of your current home to expand and map out what you would change if you were turning it into your dream home. Do you and your spouse currently share a closet, but you’re dying to have your own his/her closets? Hindsight is 20/20, so think of all the things you would have done differently with your old home. Make a list of the gripes you have with your current floor plan and let it guide your new home’s layout.
How It Works
“It’s a great educational tool to help our clients understand how much it costs to build in a particular region,” Johnson says. “As they go through the 20 questions, they will quickly understand how their decisions influence the numbers in their timber frame home budget. We encourage visitors to our site to use the Dream Home Budget Calculator multiple times, with different selections each time, to see how those decisions affect their budget. We update the data within the calculator quarterly, using regional and national construction averages, so it is remarkably accurate in developing a ballpark budget.”
After you’ve gone through the Dream Home Budget Calculator, you can download your timber frame home budget. When you try different scenarios, download each one to grasp how different levels of finish, size, and amenities can impact your timber frame home budget.
Johnson cautions that the land questions can sometimes increase the budget dramatically. “If you have purchased a 100-acre parcel, for example, it’s likely that you’re not going to be developing all 100 acres. You can reduce costs by simply developing just one acre,” Johnson says.