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Picking a floor plan is one of the most important decisions in the entire homebuilding process.
Your home's layout is one of the key factors that shapes your routines, your comfort, and how your family moves through the house every day.
That’s a big deal.
With hundreds of modern homes and design floor plans out there, it’s easy to get distracted by flashy renderings or features you’ll never use.
But the perfect floor plan supports your real lifestyle, and not just the one that looks good on a brochure.
So, how do you choose the right floor plan?
As home builders with more than two decades of experience, we’ve helped hundreds of homeowners choose the right layout for their new homes. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but there are steps you can take to make sure you’re making the best choice.
Here are 8 tips to help you choose a floor plan, informed by over 20 years of experience.
Forget the furniture layout for now. Start with your life.
Do you work from home? Host big Sunday dinners? Need space for a toddler — or a teenager?
What does a normal day look like in your house?
If your mornings involve juggling kids, coffee, and groceries, a garage that opens into a mud room right by the kitchen is a lifesaver.
If clutter stresses you out, make storage space a top priority (think closets, built-ins, and even that out-of-sight drop zone by the back door).
Choose a floor plan that integrates well with your family, your habits, and the type of lifestyle you live today.
It’s important to choose a floor plan that meets today’s lifestyle, but your dream home shouldn’t become tomorrow’s regret.
Maybe you don’t have children yet… but you want to. Or maybe the kids have moved out, and you're thinking about retiring in a home where you can live the rest of your life.
Either way, the layout needs to flex with your future rather than fight it.
Put serious thought into whether a first-floor primary suite makes sense.
Leave room to add accessibility features down the road.
Choose multi-purpose rooms that can shift as life does, like a guest room that becomes a nursery, or a study that evolves into a media room.
The floor plan you pick should work now, but it should also be ready for whatever’s next. That’s where your careful consideration really pays off.
Room placement is one of the most important factors to consider when browsing or creating floor plans.
You don’t want bedrooms opening right off a noisy living room. Or guests wandering through the kitchen to get to the bathroom.
And if laundry’s a daily task, maybe don’t hide the washer and dryer two floors away.
Think about traffic flow. Think about convenience.
The location of your pantry, garage, and mud room can save you dozens of steps every single day.
And don't forget: privacy matters. Not every room should be open. Good designers know when to create separation and when to open things up.
Natural light changes everything from how a room looks, to how it feels, and even how it’s used. But it doesn’t happen by accident. You’ve got to design for it.
Start by considering where the sun rises and sets.
Large windows on the south or east side can make a kitchen feel warm and welcoming all morning.
On the other side, poorly placed windows can leave rooms feeling dark or disconnected.
So when reviewing floor plans, picture how the light will move across the space during the day. Ask about window sizes. Think about skylights, transoms, and glass doors.
Open floor plans are great — until you realize you can’t take a phone call without the whole house hearing it.
The best layouts strike a balance.
You want openness where it helps: shared spaces like the kitchen, living room, and dining area.
But you also need boundaries. Bedrooms should feel tucked away. A home office needs quiet. And bathrooms deserve some separation.
The goal is a home with effective overall flow from room to room, not a giant open box that feels like a warehouse.
If you go with an open layout, use partial walls, ceiling changes, or furniture placement to create subtle zones. You’ll get the feel of an open layout with the comfort of more privacy.
You don’t need more square footage. You need better square footage.
Too many new homes waste space on rooms that don’t get used: formal dining rooms, oversized foyers, hallways that feel like runways.
Instead, focus your floor plan around what actually gets used, like the kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, and shared living areas.
Need extra room for kids to sprawl? Add a bonus room off the kitchen.
Want a home that feels organized? Don’t skip the mud room or garage storage.
Put more space in the rooms where life happens. That’s where function matters most.
Starting from scratch may sound exciting, but there are many things that can easily go wrong. Don’t opt for a fully custom floor plan unless you have a serious reason to do so.
Builder-tested floor plans are popular for a reason.
They’ve been built, lived in, and refined.
They already solve for tricky issues like traffic flow, storage, window placement, and room relationships.
And best of all? Builders like Dunn & Stone can still make them yours.
Many builders will let you shift rooms, stretch a wall, add a mud room, or adjust the garage. You get the freedom of a custom home without taking on the risk of designing blind.
Your builder knows things you don’t — and that’s a good thing.
Ask what kind of floor plans work best for your lot, your lifestyle, and your space requirements.
Ask which designs get the best feedback from families like yours.
Ask what they’d personally avoid, and why.
A good builder will help you filter out the noise and focus on what matters: function, livability, and cost. They’ll help you weigh your ideas against your goals, and offer creative solutions that fit your vision and your budget.
Don't wait until you’ve picked your layout to get their input. Use them as a tool from day one.
Even the most thoughtful floor plans can fall short if you overlook the details. These common mistakes can quietly turn your dream home into a daily frustration.
It’s easy to fall for a layout that looks amazing — big vaulted ceilings, dramatic staircases, fancy entryways. But visual impact doesn’t always translate to day-to-day comfort.
That impressive two-story foyer might wow your guests... but it also wastes heating and cooling, creates an echo chamber, and offers zero usable space.
Meanwhile, your coat closet is an afterthought.
Instead of focusing on “wow factor” features, think about how you’ll use each part of the home. How does the layout support your morning routine? Where do your kids drop their backpacks? Can you carry groceries in without walking through three rooms?
Form matters, but function leads.
It’s one of the easiest things to overlook… and one of the hardest to fix later.
A beautiful kitchen with no pantry? Constant frustration.
A big laundry room with nowhere to keep baskets or supplies? Just clutter.
Even a generous garage won’t stay clean without space for tools, bins, or seasonal gear.
We’ve seen floor plans with giant master suites but no linen closet nearby… meaning towels and bedding end up stored across the house. That’s the kind of detail that seems small until you live with it.
Every room should have at least one dedicated storage option.
Prioritize closets near bedrooms, a mud room with hooks and cabinets, and built-in storage wherever you can get it. You’ll never wish you had less.
The relationships between spaces define how smoothly the home functions.
If the guest bathroom is tucked behind the kitchen, your visitors will have to awkwardly weave through food prep to wash their hands.
Or, if the laundry room is nowhere near the bedrooms, you’ll spend every Sunday hauling baskets up and down the stairs.
Think in terms of flow.
Bedrooms should be near bathrooms. The mud room should be near the garage entrance. Dining should flow naturally from the kitchen. Spaces should work together, not fight each other.
A well-connected layout reduces frustration, improves traffic flow, and just makes the house feel better.
Open floor plans are trendy. But without the right balance, they can backfire.
When everything’s open, sound travels. So does clutter. And finding a spot for furniture becomes a puzzle with no walls to anchor anything.
We've seen families add a homework station in an open-plan living area, only to realize it’s impossible to focus while someone’s watching TV ten feet away.
Or they end up buying oversized rugs and bookcases just to create a sense of separation that walls could’ve handled more cleanly.
Some openness is great, especially between the kitchen, dining, and living spaces. But walls aren’t your enemy.
Used wisely, they make a home feel more peaceful, functional, and livable.
There’s no one-size-fits-all layout. What works for one family might feel completely off for another. That’s why the ideal floor plan isn’t the “most popular.” It’s the one that fits your real life.
Pick a proven house plan. Personalize it to reflect your daily routines and future needs. Focus on the rooms that matter, the way the space flows, and how the light makes it feel.
Want help choosing a floor plan that actually fits?
Click here to see our pre-designed and modifiable floor plans.
Then, contact our team to discuss your dream home vision. We’ll help you narrow down your options, refine your ideas, and find the right layout for your ideal home.
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