7 Considerations For Single-Story House Design
August 27, 2024Single-story home design continues to rise in popularity. Provided lots are big enough to do so, one-level house designs can sprawl out instead of up. You still have a lot of flexibility with a one-story home design, but there will be some things you think about a little differently compared to a multi-level home. Here are some considerations for single-story house design:
1. Take a Look at Your Lot
Single-story homes provide a lot of benefits. If you have a lot of plans for large rooms and several types of rooms, you’ll need a decent amount of land to accommodate your sprawling one-story home design. If you are settled on a one-story home design, this is an important consideration when you are looking for land.
2. Focus on Functional Layouts
Functional layouts are important for any home design, and are essential considerations for single-story house designs. Even if you have an expansive lot for practically endless sprawl, you still want your home and all of the rooms in it to have functional layouts that meet your needs and do not cause stress or frustration.
You shouldn’t feel like you want to remodel and overhaul everything after living in your new custom home for only a short time. By focusing on what you need and how you want your new home to function, you ensure that you get what you need first and then you can layer the extras and focus on stylistic design choices to make it what you want. This is a key tip for how to design a room that you can use when thinking about your single-story custom home.
3. Maximize Available Space
With everything on a single story, it’s important to maximize the space you have available. Even if your one-level home design does sprawl across your lot, it still needs to be manageable for you and for your land.
Although there are pros and cons of great rooms, they are a fantastic, and popular, option for one-level house designs. Not only do you elegantly combine the functions of a few rooms into one, but you also get the benefits of an open layout. High ceilings can also open up the space even more and give you some vertical storage space to work with.
4. Take Overall Flow Into Account
The flow of people, air, light, and more are all things you need to think about when considering room layout ideas. It’s also important to consider the overall flow from room to room and throughout the entire home design.
With single-story homes, you’re not necessarily considering what goes on what floor, but you still need to think about how rooms are grouped together, how they connect, and what navigating the home is like end-to-end. Ignoring flow and ease of movement is a great room design mistake that becomes an even bigger problem if ignored in a home design overall.
5. Don’t Forget Natural Light
Natural light and ventilation are important for any home, and make a big difference in the comfort of a single-story home. The more sprawl there is to the one-level home design, the more essential good airflow, ventilation, and light become to keeping the interior well-lit and comfortable.
Thinking about how much light you want overall and in each room, taking things room by room, and incorporating a variety of natural light sources are all tips for planning window placement in your custom home. These considerations can help you get enough natural light and balance other lighting options well.
6. Think About Outdoor Living Spaces
Other considerations for single-story house design are the outdoor space available and how to make the best use of it. Large spacious porches and outdoor living spaces are classic ranch architecture design ideas that work well with any style of single-story home designs. Larger front porches and other outdoor living areas can help add function and comfort to one-level house designs without requiring another interior room.
7. Consider Accessibility and Age-In-Place Features
One-story house designs are already off to a decent start when it comes to accessibility. Single-story house designs are key elements of aging-in-place home design. If you’re thinking about designing a retirement home or taking a long-term view with your custom home, accessibility and age-in-place features are considerations for single-story house designs.
In addition to improving comfort, these features can also increase home value and curb appeal even further for one-level homes. Things like curbless showers, wider doorways, and other universal design features ensure your home is comfortable for everyone who visits and is poised to meet your current and future needs.
Design & Build Your Dream Home With CHG
There are many benefits of single-story homes and these are just a few considerations for single-story house design. Whether the resurgence of one-story ranch homes is just your style or you’re looking for something else, working with an experienced, reputable custom home builder can help ensure you get the home you want and need. If you’re ready to start making your dream home a reality, contact Custom Home Group at 717-284-4090!