When building our forever family home, it’s tempting to dream big and focus on what we want more than what we need, that we lose sight of the long-term trajectory of our family and what we need to foresee. There’s nothing wrong with dreaming and making sure that we get the design and ideas that we want, but not at the expense of functionality and foresight. Here are some essential tips for building your first family home to ensure that you and your growing family can stay comfortable for a long time.
Consider the layout.
Here are some things to consider in terms of the home layout:
- Make sure the flow of the space flows is right. It’s easy to feel discouraged if your budget does not seem quite enough for the kind of home you see in glossy magazines or Pinterest, but you don’t need the biggest budget in the world, but if your home’s space flows correctly, you don’t need the biggest house in the world.
- Size the areas well and make sure they’re connected. This means ensuring that your kitchen has a good view of both the external and internal play areas so that you can always watch your kids even when doing some work in the kitchen.
- Find areas that can serve as your kids’ study or homework nooks. Studies show it’s not good for us to work from our bedrooms, and in a time when our kids might have to do remote learning intermittently, homework stations are a must in our homes.
- Function and beauty go together. A kitchen island will not only be useful for when you’re cooking; it can also be a great place for your kids to hang out and do homework.
- Get a mudroom. Having kids means having multiple people with different interests, and you will need someplace to store those items. A mudroom will also keep your main home clean since the kids will have to leave their dirty shoes and slippers before entering the common areas. Make sure your home is designed in a way that’s easy to unclutter.
- Think about the bathroom situation as early as now. How many kids are you planning to have? Because the last thing you want in the future is heavy traffic in the bathroom in the mornings.
- Make sure the master bedroom is closest to the youngest child’s room. You need easy access for when your kid needs you in the middle of the night or whenever they’re sick.
The sun is your friend.
Studies show that our general health and well-being improves when we have regular access to sunlight, and natural light greatly increases the value of our property. It’s also one of the simplest ways to make your home look great. Speak to your architect or design team about the kind of design that will work best for your home’s placement and how to get your main living areas to access the northern sun (or the southern sun if your home is located in the northern hemisphere).
Prioritize privacy and protection.
If your home has big windows to let the sun in, then you need to find ways to ensure your family’s privacy and protection, especially if you have young kids. Here are some tips for doing this:
- Use landscaping to protect your home from prying eyes. Plant trees and big bushes around your yard to ensure that it’s hard to get a glimpse inside your home, especially if you don’t have a fence.
- Consider how much guests see into your home whenever they’re at the front door. Opt to have a small entryway so that only those you invite in have a full view of the inside of your home.
Consider how your family will grow.
When financing your dream family home, make sure that you’re planning for it in ways that look beyond the now. Will you have in-laws staying with you in the future? How about your kids—do you see yourself encouraging them to stay near you when they’re older? When building your family home, consider how your kids and even your relatives can grow into it. A multifamily home loan might be able to help you spend less time trying to acquire financing for your forever home and focus more on what’s important: Getting the design and construction right.
Your forever family home will serve as your haven during these difficult times. Ensure it can accommodate all of your family’s physical, emotional, relational, and work needs from this year and beyond.
Meta title: Critical Points to Note When Building Your Forever Family Home
meta desc: When building your first family home, it’s easy to be swayed by what you want. Here are some essential pointers for building your first family home.
