The layout for today’s custom homes is changing and one of the trends is to group rooms in the together so that they serve as one overall function. Even though they are different individual rooms it doesn’t mean that they have walls between them, sometimes you can have an area that has 3 or 4 rooms but only a couple of walls.
Here are some examples of rooms that are considered “area’s” now in custom homes and serve to function together;
1. Kitchen area. The kitchen area consists of not only the kitchen but a breakfast nook, sometimes dining room, pantry, living room, sitting room and even an outdoor eating and cooking area.
2. Front entrance. The front entrance isn’t just the area that you walk into the home now it can have a sitting area, mudroom, laundry room and a powder room.
3. Master suites. The master bedroom is now grouped with the master ensuite bathroom, walk-in closet, sometimes an entrance hall, makeup area, a dressing area and a sitting room. Also there is a trend to design media areas where couples can watch movies or television away from their guests or children. Master suites are now designed with outdoor space like balconies or decks to enjoy some private time.
4. Entire second floors. With the trend for people to place their master bedrooms on the first floor of the house the second floor of the home is becoming for “guests”. Since the largest percentage of people that are building homes these days are baby boomers most of them are empty nesters. They are having homes built for them where they do all their living on one floor but still want the space that a second floor gives them for when friends and family come to stay over.
5. Games area. Large custom homes have spaces that are designated over a garage or in a basement where you can watch movies, play pool, ping pong or have a bar set up. It’s someplace for the teenagers to go that is away from the adults.
6. Entertaining area. This is usually a large great room on the main floor of the house that has a view or a large fireplace. It could also be several rooms that are open concept of one room leading into the other; this is where entertaining would happen before and after meals or meal preparation.
7. Kid’s area. The bigger that custom homes become the more bedrooms, closets and bathrooms get added. There are areas in custom homes deemed as the kid’s area that are the kid’s bedrooms, their own bathrooms, their own linen closets and hallways. This allows the parents to not have to worry about the noise their children are making or the state of their rooms as most people will not enter that area.
As custom homes increase in size and complexity this trend of creating “area’s” helps with designing of the different spaces in the home. This allows different parts of the home to have a completely different look and feel then other parts of the house. Because they are separate areas then it allows a lot of freedom to the designer when they are choosing colours, flooring, furniture and fixtures.
If you are designing a large custom home, take the time to think of the home as areas instead of one large space split into different rooms.
Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.
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