Ideally, there will only be a few structural elements than can't be moved or changed, but there may be other reasons why your ideal modular home layout can't be achieved. The most common obstacles are cost (it may be prohibitively expensive to do what you want) and officialdom (there may be a building code that is violated by your ideal layout). So, it's always a good idea to get your rough layout checked before you get too attached to it!  Many of the online modular home builders and manufacturers have had their plans and homes certified in all fifty states.  A quick look on the websites of modular home builders will give you easy access to hundreds of plans and designs to fit every budget...

Let's look at some of the factors to consider when arriving at your perfect floor plan.

Room Sizes
Most off-the-shelf plans allow you to move internal walls around to change the proportions of different rooms. But you have to be sure that each of the resulting rooms is adequate for its purpose. Use the dimensions of your current rooms to help you get an accurate feel for what the dimensions on the plan really mean.

How Many Rooms
One area where your new modular home is likely to differ from your current home is that many modular homes have more open spaces, often combining most or all the public rooms into one large space. This is a relatively new trend, inspired by inner city loft floor plans that have become so popular. Think carefully about how this will apply to your lifestyle.

Use All Three Dimensions
While some modular homes are only single story, most are at least one and a half stories, and you may also have a basement to include in your planning. This means you have to consider not only the layout of each floor, but also how these floors relate to each other vertically. For example, keeping water supply and waste drainage on one side of the building is most cost effective. Your modular home manufacturer can be of great help here.

Storage
Few home designs include enough built-in storage to begin with, especially those that are based on designs for vacation homes. Be realistic about how much storage space you need, again using your existing home as a starting point.

Extra Spaces
Designing a modular home gives you the chance to include some different forms of space that add little to the cost of the home, but can greatly enhance the flexibility of the design. The first space you might plan in is a loft that can be used as an extra living room, a guest room, an office -- or with a little planning, perhaps all three.

The other space to include in your planning is a porch or deck (or both). If you plan the location of porches and decks carefully and integrate them into the internal modular home floor plan, they can add lots of value and enjoyment.

While you may be satisfied with sketching your plans out roughly before handing them over to the professionals, you may find it useful to look at some of the low cost packages for home computers. These can be very powerful and will allow you to make many trial modifications to your floor plan. Most will even give you a three-dimensional view of your new home design.

And using home design software enables you to hand over a very accurate representation of your vision to the architect or designer to make sure the finished building is just what you planned. Of course, many of us will choose an existing design from the manufacturers' pre-made floor plans to save costs.

Another place to find great floor plans is to simply search on the internet. There are many modular home floor plan websites that offer thousands of plans. They can give you some really great ideas.  There are some great resources and links to reliable builders on this site.

And, of course, perhaps the easiest and simplest way to come up with a great floor plan is to just ask your builder to come up with one for you. They will be glad to take your input of home features that you want and create a design that will meet your every need. Then you pass it on to the modular home manufacturer, but remember they may have some limitations within their own building facilities, as well.

Remember, with just a little thought and planning, you can easily create your own perfect modular home floor plan or choose an existing model that meets your needs perfectly.  The models that are designed and built by the modular home manufacturing companies have incorporated the best features learned through years of experience.  Use this experience to your best advantage.

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