Floor Plan

Learn how to create a floor plan,
the different types and examples, as well as key considerations when designing them.

What is a Floor Plan?

A floor plan is a drawing or a visual representation of a house from above. It is used to showcase the structure of the walls and showcase key elements of the house like doors, windows, stairs and the main furniture elements of each floor of a home project. It also communicates the room names and sizes as well as the dimensions between walls. Scale drawings give a true representation of both the interior and exterior layout. They are useful for:

Presenting the overall house layout with the walls and partitions.
Understanding the project with the room articulation.
Giving detailed information about each room area and dimensions.

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The Importance of Floor Plans

Floor plan design is the starting point of the home building , home remodeling or interior design process. It gives a precise and realistic view on space planning to confirm it corresponds perfectly with the clients lifestyle and requirements. It is essential to help clients visualize the project and understand the vision of the housing professional before the new home is built or remodelled. Showcasing a detailed layout avoids misunderstandings and communication issues with the clients, which is key to maximize the chances of selling the job.

According to research from Zillow , 65 % of home buyers want to be able to see the floor plan or layout. The absence of floor plans in a conceptual design is a barrier to the sale.

The floor plan drawings are used to start the discussion on the project with the clients. It has to be adaptable to fit their needs in terms of space available in each room once furnished and make sure it is functional and practical. The conceptual design will stand out with the presentation of both 2D and 3D plans as they help to engage with the clients and communicate different information in the most attractive, clear and easy way.

Types of Floor Plans

There are 3 main ways to visualize the layout of a house and convey the information useful to the homebuyers. The floor plan design should be available in 2D to display the more technical details and in 3D to see the big picture including the floor coverings, paint, furniture and decoration to be as close as possible to what the clients gets once built.

2D Floor Plans

The 2D floor plan is a flat representation of the home layout without perspective, showing technical information and measurements of the spaces. This view is basic and should be presented along with 3D visualizations to help the clients envision their future home.

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3D Floor Plans

This view, with a 3D perspective, is much easier for the clients to read as it is usually fully-furnished and decorated. It can also include the deck and garden design. It is the most appealing and efficient way to showcase a home project in order to sell it.

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3D view of a single storey house with 3 bedrooms

Live 3D Floor Plans

You can also present the house as if it is already built by giving the clients a virtual tour. The walkthrough is a great way to display specific details and change the point of view while you are talking about the project.

5 Key Floor Plan Considerations

Effective floor planning requires the housing professionals to get a global and detailed understanding of the clients requirements in order to propose the best house layout for them. It must fit the basic needs like number of garages, bedrooms and bathrooms with a logical space flow and aesthetic architectural balance.

Layout

The perfect home layout is unique to each client. When you create a floor plan, you need to start with the clients requirements and adapt it to make sure it is functional and practical: separating the living rooms from the bedrooms for example. If you find the ideal room layout, which gives enough space in each room without wasting areas where it is not needed, then you’ll convince your clients to work with you.

Size

In order to define the size of each room, you need to know the size of the family, or the number of people who will live in the new house. It is important to make sure that the room sizes are sufficiently big enough to be comfortable for day-to-day life.

Lifestyle

You need to understand the lifestyle of the homebuyers to make sure their priorities are met with the floor plan design you present. If your clients work from home occasionally or every day, they may need a dedicated home office or they may have a separate space in a bedroom or living room.

Expenses

The floor plan must be designed according to the family standard of living as some outstanding architectural ideas can be more expensive to build but also involve high monthly spends afterward like high vaulted ceilings or large spiral staircases.

Versatility

Make sure that some rooms can be used for a different purpose if needed, like a guest room which can be converted into a nursery, office or gym room without restricting the space flow. The house layout must be designed with this idea in mind to meet the needs of your clients for years to come.

Floor Plan Examples

You can design house and apartment floor plans with unique shapes and sizes to present to your clients. You can present the layout in 2D and 3D and even focus on some details in each room.

1 bedroom floor plans

2 bedroom floor plans

3 bedroom floor plans

House floor plans

Apartment floor plans

Bedroom floor plans

Colored floor plans

Office floor plans

Common Floor Plan Components (and Symbols)

Multiple options are available to customize floor plans with colors to quickly identify the purpose of different rooms, furniture and plants symbols, wall types… and make them easier to understand, even in 2D.

Walls and partitions appear as solid lines and can be differentiated to indicate an indoor, outdoor isolation, waterproof partition...

Door arcs indicate the opening orientation, in or out of the room as well as the direction, shown by the straight line. Sliding doors are represented with 2 rectangles.

Window arcs indicate the opening orientation the same way as doors for french windows, the hung or picture windows are represented with a rectangle.

Stairs are represented by a rectangle with parallel lines to show the steps. The arrow direction shows the top side.

Multiple furniture symbols are available to define each room’s purpose on a 2D floor plan

Dimensions can be hidden to get a clean floor plan but you can also add new ones where needed.

How to Create a Floor Plan

With Cedreo, floor plan design is fast and easy. There are simple basic steps that allow home builders, remodelers and interior designers to create appealing designs for home, apartment and commercial projects.

Import a Floor Plan

If you already have an existing floor plan, you can import a scalable floor plan in jpg or png format into Cedreo and use it as a layer to trace the walls over it. By importing an existing floor plan, you get this exact same plan very easily, including measurements, door and window placement, ready to be customized. Then, you can rotate it, to change its orientation on the screen, mirror it by flipping on a vertical or horizontal axis in just one click, to adapt to a different plot of land.

Draw Floor Plan

Whether you use a layer to trace over or draw a floor plan from scratch, you start with the load-bearing walls and then add the inside partitions after selecting the thickness slab and height under ceiling. This is easy with the magnetism and the grid to guide you while the continuous drawing mode allows you to create the corners of the home design by left-clicking wherever you need.

Draw the Exterior Layout

Once the layout of the house is drawn, you can design the exterior layout to showcase the outside of the house. You can import a plot of land in the same way as you can with a floor plan. You can draw the boundaries with a hedge or low wall, add the driveways, lawns, decks and pool. Then you can apply the coverings of your choice to customize your proposal.

Add Levels

Once the ground floor is drawn, you can add a basement or upper level in just 2 clicks. The ground floor exterior walls are automatically duplicated. On multi-story floor plans, you can hide or display the upper and lower levels in order to see where the partitions of each level are located. Thanks to the window with the 3D view, you can visualize your home design in 3D in real-time while you are drawing in 2D.

Measure Floor Plan Dimensions

Move a wall or enlarge and reduce the overall house layout on a vertical or horizontal basis, in one click, the other walls will automatically be extended or reduced to keep the same angles.

The dimensions between walls appear on the floor plan in metric or imperial, as set up in your profile. The area calculation updates automatically, directly on the floor plan and on the recap table showing the area of the design per room and for the overall design.

Furnish and Decorate

Selecting the covering materials, furniture and decoration from a 3D library of more than 7000 customizable products is easy: you just click on the parquet or tiles and click on the room where you want to apply it. Thanks to the assistant window, you can easily decide to apply it to the whole house or just one room. Proceed in the same way for the furniture and decoration, once selected, click wherever you want to drop the piece of furniture and rotate it, customize the colors to match the client’s style.

Generate 2D or 3D Floor Plans

It only takes 2 clicks to download the black & white or color 2D floor plan to scale in pdf format including each room’s surface, main furniture symbols, wall types...

It is as easy to generate the 3D renderings , set up the camera angle to get the desired top view of the house layout and generate the isometric perspective in HD (1280x720) or full HD (1920x1080). It only takes 5 minutes to generate, then it’s ready to download.

Frequently Asked Questions About Floor Planning

What is the Best Floor Plan Software?

The best floor plan software allows housing professionals to draw a house layout, furnish the interior and exterior and generate 3D renderings in less than 2 hours. A fast and easy learning curve is essential to avoid spending days getting to know how to create a floor plan. The intuitive and time-saving features to draw a floor plan are key to reduce time spent on the conceptual designs phase.

Who Uses Floor Plans?

Home builders, remodelers, interior designers, real estate developers, architects, home designers, all need floor plan layouts to present a home project to potential clients. Whether it is for a new home construction or a renovation, it is the basic communication support to showcase the overall design and room positions to allow them to understand the vision.

What is a Closed Floor Plan?

At the opposite of an open floor plan, the closed floor plan has defined rooms, enclosed with walls. The walls separate the spaces. This more traditional layout allows you to attribute a single purpose to each room, which are usually smaller than those with open-kitchen and living rooms.

Are 3D Floor Plans Better Than 2D Floor Plans?

3D floor plans have a different objective than 2Ds. 2D floor plans are ideal to display more technical details like the walls measurements, the living area, openings location and directions… They can be downloaded and printed to scale. However they fall short when showcasing a house project in order to sell it to potential clients as they are difficult to read and understand. The fully-furnished 3D floor plans give a true feeling of the house layout with the space available and circulation.

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Floor Plan

What is a Floor Plan?

The Importance of Floor Plans