Previewing Our New Home: Floor Plan and Renovation Ideas
We aren’t ready to share a full virtual tour of our soon-to-be new home yet — we want to wait until the sale is fully complete and we’re actually living there — but we can give you a clear idea of the layout and what we plan to do with it. Below is a rough floor plan we created using floorplanner.com. The measurements are approximate, based on inspection notes and the sales flier, and the washer and dryer are stacked in the small mudroom off the carport.
Note: smaller spaces like bathrooms and hallways aren’t labeled with measurements, but the total finished area of this house is about 2,500 square feet.
When you compare this plan to our current home, you’ll notice some familiar elements. We’ve long wanted a bedroom with a true en-suite bath (our current house only has one full bathroom and nothing attached to a bedroom), a larger family room that can accommodate a comfy sectional, and a kitchen big enough for a proper island. This new house offers most of those things — a blend of our current home’s best features plus a few extras we’ve been dreaming of.
We’re grateful to have found a house that fits so many of our priorities: top-rated schools nearby, a great location close to family, a lovely yard for Burger & The Bean, and a price within our budget. Admittedly, it’s slightly larger than we originally targeted, but at around 2,500 square feet it’s manageable. We prefer modest living, multipurpose rooms, and less cleaning, but some extra space will help us host family events and give us room to grow. Our average gatherings of 10–16 people will be easier to accommodate, and the extra square footage means more opportunities for DIY projects and design choices.
Here’s how we’re planning to adapt the floor plan to suit our family’s needs (areas we plan to change are described below):
Key changes and ideas we’re considering:
- Convert the carport into an enclosed garage, made possible by a seller credit.
- Turn the modest dining room into a home office, with elegant French doors to create a semi-private workspace.
- Repurpose the formal front living room as an entryway and a casual dining area that doubles as a library or reading nook.
- Create a larger opening between the new dining/library area and the kitchen to improve flow and sightlines.
- Designate one bedroom as a playroom or future nursery, make another bedroom Clara’s room, and convert the third into a guest room with its own small bathroom so visitors don’t have to share with the whole house.
- Add a kitchen island and widen the doorway into what was previously the family room to create one large, central living space.
- Consolidate living areas so we have one main family room suitable for a large sectional and lots of seating — we’ve learned that three separate rooms with sofas aren’t necessary for how we live, and a single open gathering space will better support family time and entertaining.
- Explore the possibility of a double-sided fireplace by opening the back of the kitchen fireplace to serve both the kitchen and the living room.
Update: After posting this plan but before moving in, we adjusted the bedroom assignments. We decided Bedroom #1 (the smallest room closest to the front) will be Clara’s room, and Bedroom #2 (the larger, middle bedroom) will be the playroom/second kids’ bedroom. In a few years Clara may move into the larger room as her “big girl” room, and the second child would then occupy the nursery.
We won’t rush into major structural renovations — no immediate wall removals, full gut renovations, or large-scale fireplace demolition until we’ve lived in the space and confirmed how it works for us. We prefer to live in a home briefly before committing to big changes, because the best ideas often come from everyday use (we discovered that by closing off a door to gain a bedroom and a whole wall of kitchen cabinetry in our current house). Early improvements will focus on paint, swapping light fixtures, updating hardware, refinishing or painting cabinets, and gradually furnishing the home in a casual, child-friendly, and budget-conscious way.
Designing this house is what occupies most of our thoughts right now — inspiration tear sheets, notes, and ideas surround us. We’re excited to settle in and let the home evolve with us as we make thoughtful, practical updates that reflect how our family actually lives.