In recent years, open concept homes have once again been all the rage! More and more new homes and custom-built homes choose to have an open concept floor plan over the traditional floor plan.

This isn't for everyone, though! New home buyers and home builders often think that they should choose an open concept layout, but you don't have to have it because it's in vogue. 

When building your custom dream home, you should choose a floor plan that is not only your style and to your liking, but one that will fit your family and their needs!

Open Concept Floor Plan

Open concept homes became very popular in the 1970s, and by the 1990s, most homes were being built with this style. But the open concept has evolved during this time, as everything does.

An open concept floor plan is essentially a floor plan where no walls exist to separate the living room, dining room, and kitchen. They all become one large open space, where the way one tells each room apart is by the differing furniture.

This floor plan has many benefits:

• Making a small space appear larger
• Promote everyday living
• Spread natural light
• More modern
• Resale Value

However, as with most things, there are downsides to an open concept floor plan:

• Lack of privacy
• Cooking smells travel
• Hard to keep clean
• Resale Value

You may have noticed that resale value is both a benefit and a downside when it comes to this type of floor plan and may wonder how that is possible. While vastly popular right now, this type of floor plan is still a trend, much like sliding barn doors or heated entry way floor. This means that the trend could go out of fashion. It also means that not all home buyers want this. 

Traditional Floor Plan

A traditional floor plan is one where the home has different and distinct rooms that are usually sectioned by walls, so there is a separate living room and kitchen, and sometimes a dining room. This type of floor plan is most often seen in homes built before the 1990s.

As with the open concept floor plan, there are many benefits to this floor plan:

• Privacy
• Sound control
• Mess containment
• Reduced heating and cooling costs

Downsides to a traditional floor plan:

• Large gatherings can feel split up
• Safety (more challenging to keep an eye on the kids)

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When it comes to choosing between a traditional or open concept floor plan for your custom home, it truly depends on what your needs and the needs of your family are, as well as what your preference is. If you know that this home will be a forever home or retirement home and that you'll never sell, choose the floor plan that you like most.

Maybe you want to cook with your family and/or keep an eye on the kids as your cook; then, an open concept floor plan is for you!

Barb and Doug Pocha can help you when it comes to the floor plans of your custom dream home. With the help of their architects, they have build many a dream home for their happy clients. Each Fine Point Cedar Home is built to meet the clients' needs, and each house can have changes made to them.

There is so much that goes into building a custom home. The easy part is choosing a company to build with! Choosing Fine Point Cedar Homes as your builder will be the easiest part of your custom dream home journey.

Before choosing a company to design your home with, you should scout and find an excellent location for your home to be built on.

Location is everything as the saying goes, location, location, location! 

Here are three things to consider when searching for a location and plot for your custom dream home.

1. What kind of Home are you Building?

Is this home going to be one that you retire in? Do you want to vacation in it? Or is this going to be your forever home, the home where you start a family, and grow old in?

Depending on your answer, your location and plot of land may differ. What you look for when building a family home is vastly different than what you would want when building a vacation home.

2. Research Your Preferred Location

This and the first point can go hand-in-hand. When you think about where your home is located, do you picture a suburb with many children and families, a secluded country road, or maybe in a picturesque historic part of town? It would be best if you were thinking about the community you want to live in as much as the plot of land you'll build on.

Research whether where you want to build and live is near schools, a community center, or even close to bus routes. Does the plot have easy access to the grocery store or recreational spaces? These are essential things to consider. You don't want to build your dream home only to realize the closest grocery store is 30 minutes away.

Don't forget to take roadways and your commute to work into account!

3. Sunlight

One thing that can be overlooked when choosing a location for your custom home is its exposure to sunlight. 

As Canadians, we know how important sunlight is, especially during the winter! Seeing the sun can help to cope with our cold winters!

When you start to build, don't ignore the effect that the direction a house faces can have. From utility costs to soaking up the sun in the summer, the direction your home faces is truly important!

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Barb and Doug Pocha of Fine Point Cedar Homes will help you ensure that your dream home is exactly what you want. Helping design homes in Western Canada, they have the expertise and experience to help you; whether you want to build in British Columbia or Saskatchewan or in between, they can help you and your family!

To learn how to build a Custom with Fine Point Cedar Homes, call us at 1-855-554-6325 or register your interest here: Register with Fine Point Cedar Homes.

So, you've decided to build a custom home, whether that is a vacation home, forever home, or the home you will retire in. You and your family have gone over the important financial details and with the lowest interest rates in decades, you know you can afford to finally build your dream home! 

You know that you want to work with Lindal, given our over 75 years of experience, great service, and lifetime warranty, it's a no brainer. But you're not sure what you want your home to look like.

That is where we come in.

Lindal Homes has a new home series called the Imagine home series. Our Lindal Imagine Series of homes has seven different designs for our clients to choose from to create their dream home. These homes are pre-engineered with premium materials and a lifetime structural warranty. Lindal Western's representatives, Doug and Barbara, will work together with you, step by step, and with our Lindal team to finalize the design. Lindal is the first company of its kind to offer Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired home designs on this scale.

As mentioned in our 'Building a Frank Lloyd Wright Inspired Home in Calgary' post, these homes are built to be affordable and customizable to the middle-class family and are meant to meet the needs and lifestyles of today's families.

Building and Living in Invermere B.C.

If lakefront living is something you've always dreamed of, Inveremere the perfect place to build your Lindal custom home. Known as 'Invermere-on-the-Lake' this beautiful downtown district is located just beneath the Rocky Mountain and below Panoram in the Columbia Valley. Build on Lake Windermere and you can take your boat out anytime or let the children go for a swim on a hot day.

With a mix of trendy and local boutiques, restaurants, galleries, and more, Invermere is the perfect place to build a home. Invermere has not only wonderful views but a great climate! It is mild in the winters and warm in the summers! It is a place where no matter what you build your home for (retirement, vacation, or forever home) you will be in a community where staying active and healthy is easy. 

To learn how to build a Custom Lindal Imagine Series Home with Fine Point Cedar Homes/Lindal Dealers in Western Canada, call us at 1-855-554-6325 (1-855-5 LINDAL) or register your interest here: Register with Lindal.