Remodeling 101: Can You Change the Floor Plan of Your Cedar Falls Home?
Have you been thinking about adding square footage to your home or creating a room to make better use of your existing square footage? Perhaps your family has grown - or is planning on growing - and you're trying to plan ahead for needing more space. Regardless of your reasoning to increase and optimize the layout of your home, you probably have some questions first…right?
How Do You Redesign a Floor Plan?
Redesigning your floor plan goes much beyond "moving some walls" around. The key when considering a new floor plan for your home is to determine the way your family lives. Perhaps ask yourself these questions:
What is my family's schedule throughout the day, and how does our home fall into play?
What are my family's habits – do we prefer to eat in the kitchen on an island, or in a formal dining area?
Do we entertain a lot; host holiday parties or Sunday football game parties?
Is my family growing in the next 5-10 years?
Do we expect to be welcoming an aging family member into our home in the next 5-10 years?
Do my pets need a larger area within the home to live/play?
Could we finish our basement to provide another living/play area?
Working with a trusted design-build remodeler will be the key to embarking on this journey! Home Indeed has a knowledgeable and experienced staff that will listen to your goals, your needs and wants, and draft your ideal home remodeling floor plan with one goal: improving the way your home functions for you and your family. Our team can take the answers from the questions above, do a walk-through of your current home, and create a new space that will serve both fashion and function.
How Will the Experts Re-Design My Floor Plan?
There are several ways a design-build remodeling team can go about tackling a floor plan re-design. One of the most popular options is to use a 3D software modeling tool. We utilize this tool, together with the homeowner’s input, to design highly accurate 3D models of the proposed design, to help you get a better understanding of what your design will look like. This helps both contractor and homeowner see it "in real life", and make changes before construction begins – saving you money down the line – as making changes to your remodel once things have been selected and ordered can be costly.
Once a new floor plan is chosen, a team like Home Indeed's will continue on our design-build remodeling process.
How Much Does It Cost to Change the Floor Plan of a House?
Just like with most remodeling projects, the answer to this question will vary based on many factors, including:
Size and layout of your current space vs. desired size and layout
Material selections (flooring, cabinetry, hardware)
Appliance selections & more
The main driving factor in calculating the cost of most remodeling projects – but especially those that involve changing the flow of your home layout – will boil down to which type of building process you choose.
Home Indeed is a design-build contractor, which means we handle all parts of the process, from designing to building, in-house and with the help of trusted specialty subcontractors. With a design-build contractor, you work with a single company from start to finish. They provide a diverse team of dedicated professionals, including designers and project managers, so you don’t have to rely on contractors and consultants at any stage of the process.
The difference between working with a design-build contractor vs. a "traditional" building contractor - is the diminished risk of cost and timeline overages, and the increase in communication. With a traditional building model, the contractor is only responsible for just that - the contracting (or building). The design of your upgraded floor plan will be the responsibility of a third-party designer, as will the other necessary components to a job like re-designing a floor plan, where architects will be needed.
With a design-build remodeler, all of the necessary components to your remodeling team are on one team.
Though you cannot know the cost of your floor plan re-design before you have a consultation with a design-build remodeling team, you can be sure that the best way to stay within your budget and within your timeline is to work with a team like Home Indeed.
Does Opening Up a Floor Plan Add Value to Your Home?
Please note that these numbers will fluctuate based on where you live, the current state of your home, and various other factors.
If you opt for an open floor plan design for your home, studies do show that an open living space could increase the value of your home by as much as 15% (but only if it’s professionally done). Open floor plans are more modern, welcoming, and, well, open. They offer more opportunity for you and your family to move and grow - and if you're thinking about selling your home in the future - an open-concept floor plan will be more attractive to potential buyers for the same reason.
If you're considering an open-concept or open floor plan, but currently have closed off or a "sectioned" home (a dining room with 3-4 walls and an entryway, a living room or den that is walled-off, etc.), working with a design-build remodeler is your best bet. Teams like ours are FULL of ideas!
Five Floor Plan Mistakes You Will Want to Avoid
As always, our team loves to not only provide tips for how to do things but also to provide tips on how not to do things. We care about the investment you're making into your home, and we'll do everything we can to protect it!
Here are several mistakes people make when remodeling their homes. We are going to tell you what they are so you can avoid making the same mistakes:
1. Not Matching Your Floor Plan to Your Lifestyle
Think about how you and your family will be using your home, not only now, but in the future as well. This way you won’t have to remodel again in a few years. For example, if you'd like a larger kitchen, large master suite, a remodel that includes stairs, a remodel without stairs, storage options, convenience options, number of rooms, etc.
2. Not Considering the Cost of Your Features
Before you begin your design, think about how much your chosen features will cost you now and in the future. For example, floor-to-ceiling windows, high ceilings, airflow system, EnergyStar appliances (or not), etc.
3. Not Developing an Entertainment Friendly Design
Picture yourself entertaining. Does your new design take into consideration the space, kitchen, and bar area, as well as the traffic flow of your design?
4. Forgetting to Measure the Furniture
Don’t just look at the proposed dimensions of a room. Take the time to measure your furniture or the furniture you will be buying to make sure your rooms have enough space.
5. Not Adding Storage to Your Design
Many people forget to design storage features into their new floor plans. This is a costly mistake and will create a lifelong inconvenience for you and your family.
What’s Next?
Would you like to schedule a free consultation with our design-build team? Or perhaps you want a little more information first? If so, Contact Home Indeed today. We would love to show you around our two showrooms in Cedar Falls and Independence, IA while helping bring your floor plan redesign to life.
