As your family grows, even a large home can start to feel small. That’s when it’s time to start looking at other options. A new home build can be the best fit at this stage of life because of the flexibility and choices available to you. They tend to better meet the needs of today’s families with modern floor plans. In addition, you’re able to choose an ideal match for your family’s needs and lifestyle. Depending on the builder you choose, you may even have the option to modify existing floor plans to your exact specifications. 

The best way to make a decision and start the search is to look at what you want and what features you need from a new home. In this way, you’ll be able to move into a home that is perfect for your family.

1. Space

Big families simply need more space offered by a larger floor plan. Most people want each child to have their own room, and parents typically prefer a large master suite to escape the chaos. This is a large departure from the families of the past, where siblings shared rooms and parents didn’t feel they needed their own separate bathroom.

In addition to the need for more bedrooms, families may also need the space to accommodate aging parents or may want to have a separate space for a home office. All of these can be easily accommodated in a new home build.

2. A Large Eating Area

With parents having hectic work schedules and kids participating in various after-school activities, it can sometimes feel like family members have no time to spend together. However, many experts agree eating meals together is an important part of growing up. It exposes kids to healthier foods, helps them learn proper social conduct, and helps your family stay more connected. 

With a large family, you need a space large enough to accommodate everyone at dinnertime. Many older homes have kitchens that are simply too small to fit everyone comfortably. A modern home, though, can have this feature. It can also be designed with a few smaller eating ‘nooks’ where you can get one-on-one time with each child. If you’re the type of person who loves hosting holiday parties, you’ll also want to have space for entertaining.

3. Kitchen Storage

Whether you have two kids or eight, you know how much food they can go through in a week. Once they hit the teenage years, the grocery bill will hit staggering amounts. You can save a lot of money by shopping in bulk, but you need to have enough kitchen storage space for all that food. Special features like more cupboards in the kitchen, a separate pantry, or an additional deep freezer can make a big difference when it comes to convenience. Even if your kids are still young, you’ll be glad you thought of this as they get bigger and have more friends coming over.

4. Soundproofing

Large families can also be loud. This can make it hard to concentrate on homework or any other task at hand. While you don’t necessarily need to have the type of soundproofing found in recording studios, you also don’t want to be able to easily hear conversations from the next room. Older homes tend to have thinner walls and creaky floors that let everyone know when you’re walking around upstairs. With the better materials available today, new homes aren’t quite as noisy. This is something you should immediately notice when you visit a builder’s showhomes.

5. Play Areas

Kids need places to play. A large backyard is often a necessity for a large family, especially if you’re thinking about having things like swing sets, pools, and patios. It’s also nice to have a separate play area inside to allow the family to play together without invading any one person’s space. For instance, you might have one room that’s home to all of the games and shared toys like blocks or LEGOs and a finished basement downstairs with an open space for running around during the winter. No matter what your family needs, a quality builder can make it happen.

6. Storage Space

Large families also have more storage needs. Maybe you want to hold on to clothes and toys until a younger child is ready for them, or you just need more garage space for the extra bikes, scooters, and hockey gear. A good home design takes this into consideration, making it easy for you to keep the clutter at bay. If everything has a place to go, you won’t be dealing with a lot of mess.

7. Additional Features to Keep Things Tidy

Speaking of mess, there are plenty of other choices larger families can consider when it comes to keeping the home neat and tidy. For instance, shaggy carpets can hold more dirt and be harder to clean than hardwood floors. Having a mudroom in the entryway gives kids a specific ‘drop off’ zone when they come in, rather than allowing them to drop their things all over the house. It also stops them from tracking mud into the home. 

Other considerations to improve family life can include where to put a laundry room and which layout might be most efficient. Many people like having a laundry room upstairs with the bedrooms, but some people find that kids get more excited about laundry when they’re putting dirty clothes into a laundry shoot. All of these little things can make a big difference in how tidy your home is on a daily basis.

Large families have unique needs that should be addressed when building a home. Think hard about what might work best for your family and discuss those ideas with your builder. If you choose the right builder, almost anything is possible.

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Photo Credit: kid’s play area