A house floor plan is a blueprint that illustrates the layout of a home. Floor plans for houses are helpful because they give you an idea of the flow of the home and how each room connects.
Typically, a floor plan design includes the location of walls, windows, doors, and stairs, as well as fixed installations.
Sometimes they include suggested furniture layouts and built-out outdoor areas like terraces and balconies.
They are usually drawn to scale and indicate room types along with room sizes and key wall lengths.
You most certainly can! Designing a house plan yourself can save a lot of time and money, and it is also really fun.
Many local authorities require a house blueprint together with the permit application. If you have already designed the house layout, an architect can finalize the plan and convert it into a blueprint relatively quickly.
With your own house floor plan, the architect isn’t starting from scratch and you have a good idea of your dream home design already.
“I have found RoomSketcher to provide exactly what I was looking for – a tool that was easy to use to draw up my house and then start removing walls, adding new furniture, etc., and then get a quick 3D rendering of that.”
Dave Campell
Homeowner, USA
Create Your House Floor Plan Online
There are two easy options to create your own house floor plans. Either start from scratch and draw up your plan in a floor plan design software. Or start with an existing house plan example and modify it to suit your needs.
Option 1: Draw It Yourself with a Floor Plan Design Software
You can easily draw a house layout yourself using floor plan design software. Even non-professionals can create high-quality floor plans for houses.
The RoomSketcher App is a great home design plan software that allows you to add measurements to the finished plans, plus provides stunning 3D visualization to help you in your design process.
If you choose this option, we recommend you find house plan examples online that are already drawn up with floor plan software. Browse these for inspiration, and once you find one you like, open the plan and adapt it to suit particular needs.
RoomSketcher has collected a large selection of home design plan examples, all of which are drawn up using our app. Find your favorite and kick-start your dream home design right away.
Draw house plans in minutes with our easy-to-use floor plan app. Create high-quality 2D and 3D Floor Plans with measurements, ready to hand off to your architect.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
House Floor Plan Templates
The quickest way to design a house plan is to start with an existing plan online and then modify that. Below you will find lots of templates to inspire your new home.
You can certainly create your own floor plan without being a proffesional as long as you have the right tools and a bit of creative inspiration. Sketching out ideas yourself will help communicate your vision to the architect when you need to have a professional blueprint drawn up.
Iit is not enough to build a house. While floor plans give the big picture of living spaces, they do not have enough information for builders to actually construct the home. Your builder will need complete blueprints, or construction-ready drawings, with technical information that you will not find on most floor plans.
With Canva Whiteboard's unlimited canvas, you can dream up infinite variations of each room in your house or gather all the floor plans for your multi-story dream home in one space.
While it is possible to design your own house without an architect, it is generally not recommended. Designing a house is a complex process that involves many technical and safety considerations, such as building codes, structural engineering, and HVAC systems.
Unless your local building code absolutely requires an architect, most residential homes do not need to hire an architect. Part of the excitement of building a new home or doing a major retrofit is spending time creatively designing the space that you will inhabit.
Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. The cost to hire a floor plan designer ranges between $800 and $2,700, or an average project cost of about $1,750. Rates start at $50 and go as high as $130 per hour for a draftsperson to draw up blueprints or a house plan.
The typical plan set does not include any plumbing, heating or air conditioning drawings due to the wide variety of local codes and climatic conditions. These details and specifications are easily obtained from your builder, contractor, and/or local suppliers.
There are several free floor plan creators available, depending on your specific needs and preferences. Some of the most popular free options include Planner 5D, RoomSketcher, SketchUp and Floorplanner.
Whether you want to play around with the furniture layout, plan a home remodel, negotiate with a contractor, or you are providing home designs for clients, RoomSketcher is the best software for designing a home.
Bad layouts include a staircase that's facing the door, adjoining bedrooms, and no views from one room to another. Keep in mind that you'll likely sell the home at some point, and a bad layout could make it more challenging to sell.
Ideally, to provide the best layout for your family, there should be one bathroom for every two bedrooms in the house. Homeowners who entertain frequently should choose a house layout that has a full or a half-guest bathroom near the living area. The guest bathroom should be downstairs in homes with multiple floors.
With Home Design 3D, designing and remodeling your house in 3D has never been so quick and intuitive! Accessible to everyone, Home Design 3D is the reference interior design application for a professional result at your fingertips! Build your multi-story house now!
The cost to hire a floor plan designer ranges between $800 and $2,700, or an average project cost of about $1,750. Rates start at $50 and go as high as $130 per hour for a draftsperson to draw up blueprints or a house plan.
You could also try to design your own building. Many design companies, drafting companies, and home designers produce floor plans or even entire building permit construction sets. These are not necessarily -- and usually are not -- architects.
Introduction: My name is Kerri Lueilwitz, I am a courageous, gentle, quaint, thankful, outstanding, brave, vast person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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