Every house, no matter the size, the style or the type of spaces it contains, starts with the same thing: a floor plan. And while they may share the same basic elements — kitchens, bedrooms and baths — the way rooms are arranged can make or break a home’s livability.
As our editorial team put the issue together, we had one fundamental question on our minds: What elements make a “functional” floor plan?
“It’s a great question, and like all great questions, it has several answers,” declares Michael Grant, whose company, Modern Rustic Homes, is known for thoughtful, personalized designs. “It begins with how you wish to live in the house.”
As you peruse existing plans or even sketch a layout from scratch, Michael suggests you think about the various spaces in terms of what will be done there; for instance, areas to entertain, to cook, to spend time with family, to de-stress and to store your belongings.
To arrive at a plan that will address your needs — both now and in the future — Michael says there are several no-fail features that will help you succeed. Here are his five essential features no plan should be without:
1. Room Adjacencies
The pandemic taught us many valuable lessons, but when it comes to our homes, it showed that having a space where a resident can have some privacy, aside from a bedroom, is vital to a successful floor plan. “When our home became our office, our restaurant, our gym, our media center … we needed a plan that could accommodate these very different tasks,” says Michael.
Thoughtful consideration of where rooms are in proximity to each other is paramount. For instance, you wouldn’t want to take business calls in your office next to the noise of a treadmill in the workout room, or placing a meditation area too close to the home theater could be quite inconvenient.
2. Internal & External Sight Lines
Drawing on principles outlined by Sarah Susanka, the renowned designer and author of the “Not So Big House” series, Michael advocates diagonal sight lines.
“What that means is that you can stand in one corner of a room and see a long distance into the next room or even farther,” Michael explains. It pulls your vision so you can see more space, making a small home feel larger than it is, and creating interconnectivity between the rooms.
As a companion to this concept, Michael says that defining spaces with changing rooflines, pitches and ceiling heights, rather than walls, keeps that open concept going while still creating a logical plan. In his own log home, he has impressive 16-foot ceilings in his great room that give way to cozier 10-foot-high ceilings in the kitchen and dining room, which leads to a tiny, 64-square-foot library with a slightly sloping roof pitch. These transitions make significant contributions to the rooms’ feeling and functionality.
3. Transparency
We often talk about windows and doors in terms of allowing light into a space, but they serve another purpose: They create transparency. And in doing so, they extend a home’s internal sight lines beyond the walls and into the outdoor areas that surround the house. Huge, retractable glass doors — an increasingly popular request — are the epitome of the concept. Incorporating more windows and glass doors allows you to take advantage of exterior focal points, like a garden, pergola, waterfall or mountaintop, from within the home as well as from porches and decks. The effect? The feeling of a more generous living space no matter your home’s square footage.
4. Flex Spaces
A “flex” space is a room that has more than one purpose and can morph to accommodate each as needed. The classic is an office/guest room combo, but there are more ways to get multiple uses from a room. The key is to look at your lifestyle and your hobbies to see what combinations make sense. There really are no limitations.
Flex spaces also can refer to claiming a portion of one area (like a living room) for another use. Michael uses the example of a “pocket office.” He had a client who worked from home but didn’t want to dedicate square footage to an office. Michael’s solution was to install a 6-by-8-foot, L-shaped space — barely more than a closet — in a corner between the foyer and great room. The end of a hallway, an awkward closet or the underside of a staircase are also prime spaces to add functionality by way of an office, library or bar.
5. Storage
You may not “live” in it, but having not only adequate, but also the right kind of storage spaces may be the linchpin to whether you’re happy with your home’s design or not.
“If you’re clever about storage, you’re not going to have to devote — or add — a lot of square footage to it,” Michael says. “And, with the cost-per-square-foot of housing today, you really have to be smart about how you incorporate that storage space.”
A few ways Michael suggests saving both space and cost are to look to what would otherwise be unused areas and make them useful. Like flex spaces, dead zones beneath stairs and at the end of hallways are excellent areas to reclaim for storing off-season items. In the kitchen, an oversized walk-in pantry with open shelving can help shave the cost of pricier cabinetry. Window seats in bedrooms, dining areas or living rooms can easily be made more functional with a hinged lid and storage space for linens or pillows. And when it comes to closets, don’t forget to look up: Often there’s a ton of unused vertical space just begging for shelves or an extra hanging bar.
According to Michael, every design has potential, but a truly great floor plan is personal. It supports the way you want to live today, tomorrow and potentially, for generations to come.
Michael’s Emerging Design Trends
When Michael Grant designs a home for his clients, he lets their lifestyles be his guide. But he has noticed a few frequently requested elements. Consider these smart spaces:
Smaller Suites, Bigger Closets.
Homeowners are recognizing the wasted space of the giant primary suites of the past and are reallocating that square footage to large his/hers closets — dressing rooms, if you will — complete with built-ins and mirrors. An added bonus? Less furniture to buy.
Bringing Back the Back Kitchen.
While open-concept kitchens are great for parties, it means guests can see your mess. A back kitchen, containing the fridge, wall oven, prep sink, cabinets/counters and small appliances like air fryers, is the new culinary workhorse, so you can have your show kitchen, complete with luxurious hero appliances, front and center and your business kitchen tucked away from view.
Family Entry Upgrades.
Most houses have lovely, welcoming foyers — spaces the family rarely sees unless they’re greeting guests. Residents typically enter the house through the garage — so in lieu of a mudroom or basic drop zone, why not create an exquisite, spacious family entry that you, too, can enjoy?
