We’ve all done it at one time or another. Picked something, a car, a piece of clothing or a meal, that we think we are going to love and find that we don’t. We don’t want you to make the same mistake with your log home floor plan. Here are the top 7 most common log home floor plan mistakes people make and how to avoid them.
#1 Thinking every log home floor plan is right for you
If you take a few moments to scan Houzz, Pinterest or the latest Log Home Magazine you will find dream homes by the hundreds. Even though we would love to live in many of the homes we see it’s important to pick the floor plan that works for you and your family. Picture your family living in the home on a day-to-day basis. Is going up three sets of stairs to get to your master bedroom going to be exhausting or will the view be worth it? Or, would you prefer everything is on one level in a rancher style home? Think about how you plan to use the space in your home after you have lived in it for three or six months. This will help you see that a particular floor plan may sound like a great idea now but may only cause you frustrations in the future.
#2 Not having the room sized to fit your furniture
Sometimes space can be limited. If you are building smaller sized rooms or designing a tight staircase it’s important to take in account the type of furniture you have. Sometimes part of the joy of building a new home is all the new furniture you can buy to go along with it and other times you want to keep using what you currently have. For example, if you have a large custom bed, moving it up two flights of stairs may be a bit of a challenge or require some creative thinking. Taking into account any signature or key furniture pieces when designing your log home floor plan can help ensure you’re not left figuring out how to get something into a room after the fact.
#3 Not having the right log home floor plan for your new lifestyle
For many homeowners the process of designing and envisioning your custom log home is very exciting. As you start to pull your log home plans together the ideas start to fly and inspiration from Houzz, Pinterest, magazines and open houses starts to get overwhelming. It’s important to stop, take a moment and really consider your lifestyle. Creating spaces in your home that you won’t actually use but our beautiful will likely only frustrate you in the future. If you enjoy cooking and entertaining during the summer consider having a deck and barbecue area right off the kitchen. If you don’t enjoy baths, consider a custom shower. The biggest regrets we hear from clients is that they included elements in their floor plans that they liked at the time but were not functional for their lifestyle. So take a moment to think about every element.
#4 Building for now instead of the for future
Have you ever purchased a sports car because you just moved out of the house and didn’t have kids yet only to realize that a couple years later you’re expecting or have grandkids on the way? Now, you need another vehicle so the whole family can travel together. The same thing happens with a home. It’s great to think that right now there might only be two of you living in your home but what about five years from now? Will kids or grandkids be on the way and visiting? Having that extra guest room may come in handy and save you from having to give up the man cave or office space instead.
#5 Focusing on the décor instead of the floor plan
Sometimes when you’re building your dream home it’s nice to tour show homes to get inspiration for new layouts, features and other ideas. It’s one of the best ways to help you determine if you really like it or just liked the concept in the magazine. One key mistake many people make is that they don’t actually look at the floor plan but instead get caught up in the décor and staging of the home. Don’t get caught up in the décor as your furniture will look much different in the space. Instead, focus on the flow of the rooms, how you transition around the home and how much space there is in each room.
#6 Not asking questions about your log home floor plan
After you have started to get some clear ideas of what you want your log home floor plan to look like, your design team will start drafting up plans. For many people these plans look like they are written in a completely different language. Don’t be intimidated by this and feel free to ask what certain things mean. Understanding how doors open, what the clearance is and the room sizes will be important for you to have a house that feels like home.
#7 Not aligning your floor plan to your property
We all like to mix things up in our homes. You may have intended for your office to be in one space and your main living room to be in another only to mix it up in a few years. It’s easy for you to mix and match rooms around but you can’t change the location. Selecting a log home floor plan that complements your property will help you ensure that no matter what you change in the future you will always be happy with the view. A couple of things to consider are road and streets that might not be busy now but in 5 or 10 years will development in the area increase the traffic? If you have wide open spaces around you will they potentially turn into subdivisions and change your view? Or does the sun shine right into your home year round, if so this could warm up certain areas of your house making them harder to keep cool. If your bedroom is sun facing and you have hot summers with no air conditioning you will want to find ways to cool the space.
To help you avoid any potential mistakes with your log home floor plan it’s important to ask your designers as many questions as you have, look at tons of ideas and to be open to new layouts and designs. Check out our log home floor plans and log home galleries for some inspiration as well.