Back in college, one of our teachers said that we—civil engineers—are great at calculating good lasting structures, but we’re certainly not good enough to design the floor plans of anything based on all those ugly “shoeboxes” we end up designing. This is why you should preferably hire an architect for that step of the process whenever there’s a construction project in your mind.
The floor plans should not be taken just as a place to fill with “house stuff.” The point of designing a plan is to make a home as functional as possible, to get the best advantage of natural lighting or weather, and to help those people living inside have an easier way of living and navigating that space. For example, you should place the kitchen facing the East, so its occupants can take advantage of the morning sunlight. However, the bedrooms need to be placed in the most private areas, and preferably away from the main living area in order to prevent noise.
This infographic may not make you an expert designer, but it will be a great help to understand some of the design decisions seasoned architects would make in order to make a home feel a lot more like home. So, whenever you’re wondering things like, “why is the roof slanted to one side?” or “who had the idea of placing the laundry room closer to the bedrooms?” it turns out, the answers actually make a lot of sense!