Floor plan must look to future

By Allison E. Beatty | Special to the Tribune

February 1, 2008

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Not crazy about your new floor plan? It's time to get creative and think outside the box. With a little ingenuity, you can turn an ordinary plan into the home of your dreams.

The first step is to think about how you plan to live in the house. Which rooms are the most and least important? Are there ways to rethink those secondary rooms and make them more usable?

Depending on your builder, you may be able to make minor modifications to the floor plan. If the kitchen is too small, perhaps you could add space from an adjacent laundry room.

As you review your floor plan, look toward the future and how you might use space in two, five or 10 years.

Also think about how much structure you want in a floor plan. Do you like designated rooms with full walls or larger spaces with a more open feeling?

Many people are moving toward more open floor plans, as it allows for ease of movement through the house. This focus on open floor plans causes some to speculate that the living room is destined for extinction.

"The floor plan will become one big room on the first floor," said Frank Johnson, a vice president and architect with Smykal Associates, which is building homes in the south and west suburbs. "When you walk into many condo and loft layouts today you walk in and see the whole space except for the bedroom and bathroom."

That same wide open look could transform many homes in the future, Johnson predicted. "It's not going to be the house that grandma grew up in."

Among the rooms to focus on are the living room, kitchen and bedrooms.

The formal living room is a prime target for someone with a little creativity. As buyers continue to gravitate toward the kitchen and great room or family room, the living room often has limited use. This leads to the frequent debate about eliminating the living room or reducing its size.

"Over 50 percent of our buyers don't care about the living room," said Curtis Perlman, project manager for Empeco Custom Builders.

Many of today's homeowners don't entertain formally, so they question the need for a living room. When they do throw parties, the crowd is in the kitchen and family room.

The decision to build a house without a living room is one that many people struggle with, however.

"More people would eliminate it if they didn't think they'd get hurt when it comes time for resale," Perlman said.

One compromise is to keep the living room, but tailor its use to your lifestyle. The space could become a game room or kid's homework station or a home office.

French doors would help separate the space from surrounding rooms. The game room scenario is ideal because the space is usable right away, but can be decorated as a living room later when offered for sale, Perlman said.

The kitchen is another place where lifestyle is important. If the builder's floor plan includes a separate breakfast nook, but you prefer a large island with seating, ask about adding an island. If you can't eliminate the breakfast nook, consider transforming it into a casual reading nook, skipping the kitchen table.

Another option is to make the kitchen more functional by adding a computer area. This might involve taking space from an adjacent laundry room and adding a row of cabinets along one kitchen wall.

Some buyers add a separate room behind the kitchen.

"They can use it as a craft room or a garden room," said Lynda Conkel, director of sales and marketing for Gerstad Builders. "Some people have used it as a second kitchen during parties."

In other homes, the shift in attention to the family room leads to reconfiguration of a bedroom or other second floor space. If the first floor family room is used primarily by small children, parents may decide to create a separate space for their older kids.

A loft area on the second floor can be an ideal place for a second family room, said Dan O'Malley, a partner with BSB Design, which is based in Des Moines, Iowa, but does architectural design work for many Chicago area builders.

The second floor space can be outfitted with a few computers for school-aged children.

One potential drawback to this layout is the lack of privacy. Lofts are designed as open areas, typically overlooking the first floor family room.

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Allison E. Beatty is a Chicago-area freelance writer. If you have questions or information to share regarding new home buyers' product and design choices, write to Choices c/o Chicago Tribune, New Homes Section, 435 N. Michigan Ave., 4th Floor, Chicago, IL 60611. Or, e-mail: abeatty22@sbcglobal.net.