Square footage is not just a measure of pricing your new home. It’s an important factor when considering how you will actually live in your home. It’s important to make sure it is an accurate calculation based on the space needed to live, work, and play comfortably in your home. When you take your lifestyle need and budget for a new home into consideration, you’ll be able to find a home that is the perfect square foot for you.
Family Members
The size of your family is probably one of the first things you will consider when you are considering what the size of your home should be. However, the number of people in your family alone should not completely dictate the decision, families of all sizes have different living needs. A general rule to go by is that for every bedroom in your home, you should have enough room for at least two people to sit in any space. If you have four bedrooms, there should be enough seating room in the living room for eight people. If you have two bedrooms, you should plan for a dining room that can seat up to four people. It’s an easy rule of thumb to visualize how much room you will need to have comfortable living spaces.
Entertaining
It’s also important to consider how much entertaining you and your family like to do. If your family only really has company over around the holidays, you may not need an extra bedroom or a larger living room, if you were only going to use them for guests. However, if you love to have friends and family over every single weekend, you will want to consider how much space you will really need. Generally, putting more square footage into communal living spaces like the kitchen or living room where people can socialize, will be worth more than putting all the square footage in the bedrooms and bathrooms.
Budget
Your budget is obviously an important factor when considering square footage, but you do have a couple of options when it comes to actually using that budget. Some people prefer to have the largest home they can afford, while placing less emphasis on the interior designs and finer details. Others may purchase a smaller home but value high end interior furnishings and amenities. Either way is perfectly fine, it’s your budget and personal choice, you get to choose how it is allocated. However, making the decision about how to allocate your budget earlier rather than later will help you maximize your budget.
Utility Costs
Utility costs are something that is often overlooked or forgotten when considering the square footage of a home. Each area of the home will need to be lit, cooled, and heated. To get a close estimate to what you may be paying in utility costs, you can always ask some of the residents in the surrounding area. If you are purchasing a home from a seller, they can help give you a general estimate of what your utility bill may be.
Multi-purpose Rooms
One more thing to note is that all rooms do not just have to be for one purpose. Utilizing multi-purpose rooms can help you maximize square footage, especially if you are building your own custom home. You can still maximize square footage with multi-purpose rooms if you are buying an existing home, but with a custom home you can design it exactly how you’d like from the ground up. Your huge basement doesn’t have to just be an entertainment space, it could also be a craft room, office space, home gym. It’s completely up to you!
When it comes to square footage, remember that bigger does not always mean better. Each family has their own living needs, and if you plan ahead and work with your builder, you can build a beautiful home with the square footage that is right for you.
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