Many of us will tend to tour different houses and navigate through the various room layouts as we dream of the day we can build our own house. It can be beneficial to know what are some of the most common defects in house plans that can be detrimental to living in a building and what you can do about it.

1. The most frequent design flaw is found in spaces that have a single use and are a dead end. These spaces can block a natural flow of traffic into the home and essentially create a bottleneck. How to fix: Open up a wall or just add a door so you can walk through this space without turning around.
2. There is not enough integration from the inside out. How to fix: Add doors that open to a porch or patio. This connection will connect the building to the landscape and keep it from feeling utilitarian.
3. Front porches that are too small to sit on. How to fix it: Make sure your front porch is at least eight feet deep to make room for furniture.
4. An island in the kitchen is great, but it can also be too big to work with. How to fix it: Determine how much space is needed for normal food preparation and eating, and plan accordingly.
5. The size of the room is not proportional to the height of the ceiling. How to fix it: Large, airy rooms should have a slightly higher ceiling which will add to the spacious feel of the room. Lower ceilings can definitely make a room feel smaller and cramped.
6. Lack of natural light due to not enough windows or all windows on one wall. How to fix it: Don’t make a room that has only one window. You can also consider expanding it to make a bay window. Another solution is to add a skylight.
7. Poor progression from garage to kitchen. How to fix it: Shorten and straighten the path from the kitchen to the garage.
8. Sculptural bathroom sinks that have lots of nooks and crannies that will make cleaning difficult while leaving little room for a counter. How to fix it: Use full-length or drop-in sinks to get as much counter space as possible.
9. Cheap glass or plastic shower doors that can induce a feeling of claustrophobia. How to fix it: Change the tub/tub combo for a walk-in shower or replace doors with shower curtains.
10. Roof configurations that are complex or too high and have too many bumps, hips and gables. Not only is this aesthetically unsightly, but it can also lead to leaks. How to fix it: Keep the roofline and silhouette simple.

Hopefully, by reading up on these common flaws and how to fix them, you can avoid making these mistakes on your own home plans and end up with a home that looks and feels great.