How to Design Basic House Plans
- 1). Draw, on plain paper, a large rectangle that covers most of the page. Make the rectangle any shape, but avoid making the longest side drastically longer than its shortest. The rectangle, which represents the top view, or plan view, of the house's exterior walls, is the basis of a simple one-bedroom house. You can add to this structure as you like.
You can also use a design applet available on the Internet. If you take this route, click the applet's "Gallery" or similarly labeled link and click the plan with the simplest outline you can find. - 2). Rotate your paper so that your rectangle's longest edges run left to right and its short edges run top to bottom. This action will make following the rest of the instructions easier.
If you're using an applet, interpret the remaining steps as though you're viewing the rectangle with the orientation just described. - 3). Begin making the rooms inside the house by drawing a vertical line dividing the rectangle in half.
If you're using an applet, drag a wall icon from the toolbox at the right of the drawing area onto the drawing area, then drag the wall's sizing handles until the wall fills the rectangle's width. - 4). Label the top left portion of the rectangle as "kitchen," and the bottom left portion as "family room."
- 5). Begin making the bedroom and bathroom by lightly drawing a horizontal line dividing the right half of the rectangle in two. Draw two darker lines, one slightly above and one slightly below the lightly drawn line. Label the center, slender room you just made "laundry," the top room "bathroom" and the bottom room "bedroom."
If you are using an applet, add wall using the tools provided. - 6). Make doors by erasing a small portion of the following lines: the line between the bedroom and laundry room. The line between the laundry room and the bathroom, and the line between the laundry and the kitchen-family room.
If you're using an applet, drag a door icon from the toolbox onto the walls just mentioned. - 7). Erase small portions of the following lines to represent windows: the center of the kitchen and bathroom's top lines, and the centers of the family and bedroom's bottom lines.
If you're working in an applet, drag window icons from the toolbox onto the lines just mentioned. - 8). Locate, using existing plans, images that represent the top views of the following fixtures: stove, refrigerator, kitchen sink, bathtub, bathroom sink and toilet.
You can also get these images from the sample plans in the applets. - 9). Cut out, if you're drawing on paper, the top view images you located.
If you're using an applet, you'll already have individualized icons, so won't need to do this step. - 10
Position, by sliding if you're working with paper, the kitchen-related images against either of the two walls separating the kitchen from the house's exterior. Position the bathroom-related images against the either of the two walls between the bathroom and the house's exterior.
If you're using an applet, click and drag the icons, such as a stove or a toilet, from the toolbox to the areas just mentioned.
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