I have included a few pictures of my original drawings. As many of you know, I am working on getting legal rights in order to sell our house plans. We may have designed the layout, but we had an architect draw them up correctly. This way we could get accurate blue prints to give to our contractor. Please take note that many of the photos I have included are not accurate to our current house plans. These were all original drawings to help show you the process of creating house plans to fit your needs.

Our Thoughts on Designing Our Custom House Plans

House plans are one of the most stressful things you have to decide on when you first decide to build. You can search websites for different layouts for days and they all start to look so similar. Then, you don’t remember which ones you actually liked or not!

I’m going to start by talking about how we created our custom house plans. I was stressed and overwhelmed because I couldn’t find a house plan that was perfect for our family. We knew that after purchasing our land (purchased 13 acres with my sister and split it down the middle), it was going to be the place we lived forever. Deciding on our forever home. No pressure, right!?

We needed our house to be flexible as our family changed overtime. It needed to have at least 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, a large living area, large master bath, a large patio area, boys room had a jack and Jill bathroom, and possible office/playroom. I found house plans that checked off all these boxes, but the layouts were not working for me. They didn’t flow right, or I didn’t like where something was placed.

I knew then, after researching house plans for a month or so that I would have to do something different. Once the builder we were going with told me that I could draw up my ideas, and take it to an architect. He would create the blue prints with accurate dimensions. I was so PUMPED! I went home and started looking at a few house plans I saved. Then, I got to work!

Started with the Great Room, and Worked My Way Around.

I started with the main living area because I knew that was the area that would be used the most by our family and for entertaining. I found a house plan on the Architectural Designs website that has the layout of the open great room. So I drew up how I wanted this room to flow within all one big area; the kitchen, to dining room, to living area. I wanted my front doors to open right up to my dining table. I also wanted my back doors to match the front doors. So you can see straight through my front doors to the back doors.

The great room was originally 19.5 x 49, we eventually cut back some of the length. Then added a foot to the width to create more walkway space. Sooooo glad we did this! So our great room size we ended up with is 20X 47! It’s the perfect length, and has lots of walkway space without feeling crowed between rooms. We also added in a small pop out area for a small foyer. That way it didn’t feel like you were going to walk into a table when you came in. Our entrance foyer area is 3.5X12.

Bedrooms and Bathrooms

Then I looked at other house plans that I liked the bedrooms and bathroom set ups. I wanted our boys rooms to be on the opposite side of the garage, laundry room, and the master room. So if the laundry was going or we opened the garage doors, we didn’t have to worry about them waking up from the noise. I also wanted them to have a jack and jill (technically a jack and jack since they are both boys) because I didn’t want our guests using their bathroom. #boymomlife

Liam and Blaine’s room are exactly the same size and so are their closets. Their bathroom is small, but I figured they are boys and they don’t need a lot of space to get ready. Their jack and jack bathroom is small. Really, I don’t think it’s considered a true jack and Jill bathroom because they only have one sink. It may be small, but it is perfect for them!

We also wanted to make sure we had minimal hallway space. Jeremy felt like it was wasted square footage. So I kept searching and redrawing how I could create minimal hallway space with identical bedrooms and bathroom between the rooms.

Next, I moved on to our master area. In the master bathroom we wanted double vanities and a tub that would be center with our bathroom doors. Then, I figured out a large closet and worked my way to the laundry room and half bath for guests.

The playroom/office area was added right off the living room and next to the boys rooms. I wanted it to be close to the living room, to make them feel like they are still part of what’s going on in the main room. Also, hoping that they would keep their toys in there. Which has worked out pretty well for the most part! This space will eventually turn in to a hang out area for teenagers, and later become an office.

Garage and Outdoor Spaces

Jeremy decided most of what in what he wanted for the garage since that was more his space. We have a space for our fridge that is cut into the wall so it doesn’t stick out, a garage sink, and a storage closet for his gun safe and an extra washer. Jeremy works on printing presses all over the U.S. so his uniforms are really dirty and we wash them separately.

Our front porch is smaller, and our back porch is large. I knew we would spend more time on the back porch with our boys and when we entertain, so we wanted this area big. Our back porch is the same length as our great room and it’s about 13 ft wide. We actually ended up adding a uncovered concrete patio area at the end of our build and we love this choice!!

After Drawing a Rough Draft

After I drew out a really rough draft of our home, I needed to figure out if the dimensions were correct. I may be a teacher, but I am the WORST at math! So there is this website that helped me create a digital copy of my house plans that had accurate dimensions. I needed to know accurate dimensions, because I wanted to make sure that we were staying around 2,300-2,400 square foot. This website has a 7 day trial, so I signed up for the trial, and worked hard to get things in the right place, and right size before the trial was up. Check out Smart Draw to try this for yourself!

Remember, that this layout is NOT what we went with, but it was one of many of the drafts we did before we finalized our plans. This layout works so well for our family. Hopefully, you can find a house plan that is already created! It would make this process much faster! This was a long process and we even made some simple changes along the way. If you chose to go custom think about what would work best for your family and include the top must haves for your build.

Tips on Creating Your Own Custom House Plans to Fit Your Needs.

You can find pre made house plans on Pinterest, and on the Architectural Designs website , or even E Plans website. They both have very similar plans, but their are small adjustments. These sites let you chose house plans by rooms, bedrooms, square footage and even exterior styles.

If you find a house plan you like, but it doesn’t have the exterior you like, you can always change it up to the a different style of home. I liked a lot of the farmhouse craftsman type homes, but my exterior is definitely more modern farmhouse.

Things to think about when designing your home, is think out in your head your everyday things that you do. Will it work best if your room is close to your kids rooms, or do you want them on different ends of the house? Would a open floor plan work for you, or something that is sectioned off a little more? Do you really need a dining room, and a kitchen eating area?

It is also a good idea to go over your house plans with a family member, or even your builder. Sometimes others will catch mistakes, or a way that a certain space can flow better.

Helpful Tools to Have While Creating House Plans and Throughout the Build

Purchase a spiral of graphing paper. You will use for drawing out your house plans, but also drawing up other layout designs of your home. I used mine for the kitchen, bathrooms, closets, pantry, and living room built ins. I also used an architectural ruler, which is to scale with your blue prints. This helps you quickly tell you the measurements of your plans without having to do math! I think I carried my house plans, my house binder (more on that soon) and my architectural ruler in my car with me where ever I went.

I linked some for you below so you can easily shop them from Amazon!

Just Remember

Just remember, that this process is long, and it’s okay to take a while for this process because it’s going to be the house you live in and the place you call home! It’s also okay to make changes while building.

If you have any helpful tips for creating custom house plans that you used, or questions about the process of creating your own house plans, please comment below!

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