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Floor Plans Graphing your ideas!
What is a floor plan? • A floor plan is a drawing that shows a room as seen from above. Everything in a floor plan appears flat. Architects use floor plans to show what a room or building will look like. Anyone who draws (or drafts) a floor plan is called a draftsperson.
Dimension lines • Floor plans usually show the measurements (called dimension lines) for how long things are in real life. In the example to the right, the back wall is 24 feet long in real life and the side wall is 30 feet long. Other dimension lines may show the length of windows, the distances from walls to windows, and so on.
Plans • Floor plans may be drafted by hand with a pencil (to draw thick or thin lines), ruler (to draw straight lines to a specific length), a protractor (to draw the angles where walls meet), and graph paper (which usually has 1/4 inch boxes, to make floor plans easier to draft in 1/4"=1' scale). • They can also be drafted by computer, using CAD (computer-aided design) software, such as TurboCAD or ClarisWorks. CAD software makes it very easy to draft scale drawings.
Scale • Floor plans may be drafted to scale, which means reducing the size of a drawing so the whole room can fit on a piece of paper. A common scale is 1/4 inch equals 1 foot. This means that if something is drawn 1/4 inch long in a floor plan, it is 1 foot long in real life.
First floor of a home • Notice the symbols indicating outside walls, doors and windows
Symbols • Scale - Shows size of floor plan in relation to feet. • North Arrow - Indicates which side of the floor plan is north. • Wall - This is the symbol for a solid wall. The symbol portrays the wall's relative thickness. • Partial Height Wall - Symbol for low wall that doesn't go all the way to the ceiling. • Door Swing - Indicates direction the door opens, and location of door knob.
Symbols continued • Sliding Glass Door - Symbol for sliding glass door in a solid wall indicating which panel slides. • Bifold Doors - Indicates bifold doors and direction of operation, like closet doors. • Window - Symbol for glass window in a solid wall. • Bathroom Sink - Symbol for bathroom sink. • Bathtub - Symbol for bathtub showing location of faucet and drain.
Symbols • Shower - Symbol for shower without tub. • Toilet - Symbol for toilet. • Washer/Dryer - Symbol for washer and dryer. • Refrigerator - Symbol for kitchen refrigerator.
Symbols • Kitchen Sink - Symbol for two-compartment kitchen sink. • Range - Symbol for kitchen range. • Shrub - Symbol representing various exterior shrubs. • Tree - Symbol representing various exterior trees.
Practice using a floor plan • Practice making a furniture arrangement on the handout, cut out templates, arrange and glue down.
Kitchen Floor Plans • A good site to try, and it’s free is Floorplanner.com
Video Snips • Smart Kitchens Design • http://www.hgtv.com/smart-kitchens-2010-video/package/index.html • Kitchen Layouts • http://www.hgtv.com/smart-kitchens-2010-video/package/index.html
The Kitchen Triangle • Let’s practice making the ideal one • For the most efficient layout, we recommend that the appliances be placed so that the distance between any two of them is no less than three feet, and no more than seven feet, with the total of the triangle sides measuring no less than twelve feet. A greater distance means extra steps. A shorter distance means a cramped work space. Length of sides of triangle should be between 12 and 26 feet.
Galley Kitchens • Although kitchen designers try to keep traffic from crossing through the work triangle, that's impossible to do with a corridor, or galley kitchen. • Closing off one doorway can help solve this kitchens built-in disadvantage, but doing so causes difficulty with traffic flowing throughout the rest of the house. • The best work arrangement for a galley kitchen places the refrigerator and sink on one wall and the range on the opposite wall. The aisle between counters should measure not less than 4 feet and not more than 6 feet.
L-Shape The two adjacent walls in an L-shape kitchen form a natural triangle that protects the cook from interference. If the activity center is kept close to the corner of the L, household traffic can flow by without crossing the work triangle. This plan offers flexibility in the arrangement of appliances, storage, and counter space. The work itself should flow from refrigerator to sink to cooking and serving areas.
U Shape • The most efficient floor plans prevent household traffic from cutting through the work triangle. The U-shape kitchen is ideal in this respect. Its dead-end design prevents the kitchen from becoming a household artery. This practical kitchen also provides three walls of storage and counter space. You'll need a kitchen that is at least 8 feet square to provide the minimum 4 feet of working room needed in the center of the kitchen.
G Shape The G-shaped kitchen floor plan provides the same efficiency of the U-shaped kitchen layout design with the extra advantage of having a peninsula that can be used as an eating counter or for a place for those not helping out in the kitchen to sit and socialize. One drawback is that the enclosed space could feel a bit claustrophopic.
Islands • An island works well in U-shape kitchens with more than 10 feet between the legs of the U, and also in L-shape kitchens. An island is especially useful in minimizing the work triangle in a large kitchen. It can also define traffic patterns and act as a room divider
Work Centers • Food Storage Refrigerator/Freezer Center; needs counter space next to it for loading/unloading; needs near by storage for serving and packing food, i.e. foil, baggies • Cooking -needs counter space on at least one side, cabinets for food, cabinets for pots/pans, and other kitchen equipment. • Cleanup- may have a dishwasher, trash compactor, disposal; needs lots of counter space for stacking dishes and a place for cleaning supplies • Mixing - area between two other work centers--counter space; needs outlets, storage for measuring/mixing/baking equipment, appliances and food ingredients • Planning - sit-down desk area with multiple purposes - menu planning, shopping lists, household records, bookshelf, cookbooks, telephone, bulletin board, calendar, etc.
Begin planning your dream kitchen • Decide what layout appeals to you the most. Find a picture in a magazine or online that has a kitchen arranged the way you like. • Create the layout you see on graph paper. Include outside walls, draw in windows, doors, closets with the correct symbols • Cut out kitchen appliance templates and arrange till you are happy with it. Glue down
