“Make sure you look very carefully at how the space is planned out,” says Adele. The floor plan is your map to your new home: try to visu-alize ceiling height, room size, sightlines, and the flow of light and traffic throughout. Here are some other things to keep an eye on.
- Are there too many hallways? Even a large space can feel small if a big chunk of square footage is dedicated to traffic zones.
- Are there awkward areas, like unusable nooks? Ask the designer about other cumbersome features that may not appear on the layout, such as bulkheads, which can make it hard to hang draperies.
- Is there enough storage? “Has consideration been given to adding built-ins, or are there places you can adapt for storage, like the area under a stairway?” says Kimberly.
- “Will you be able to tailor the space to your needs, or is it so rigid that you won’t have any flexibility?” asks Anna. If there’s a formal dining room, could it become something else if you don’t entertain? If there’s a den, could it be opened up to give you a larger living area?
- How many bathrooms are there? Look at the ratio of bedrooms to bathrooms. “We put in an extra bathroom on our second floor,” says Julie. “It was originally listed on the floor plan as a computer nook, which is probably just a creative way of saying ‘unusable space.’”
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5) Shed some light
“Most new-development homes have limited lighting,” says designer Anna Simone, co-owner of design firm Cecconi Simone in Toronto. “There’s often only one fixture in the entry hall, one in the bathroom and one in the kitchen.” Here are three ways to ensure your new home is well lit.
- “Engage a professional to do a proper lighting plan and make sure it’s coordinated throughout,” says Anna. “To put light fixtures in after the fact is often impossible.”
- Consider the amount of natural light your home is going to get. “Then ensure there are provisions for task, ambient and decorative lighting,” says Kimberley. “Find out if fixtures are energy efficient, or if they can be replaced with compact fluorescents.”
- “To keep the lighting design simple, always light your corners (for intimacy) and your centre (to expand the room), and put them on two different switches,” says Anna.
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