10 Tips for Making Your Home More Functional

Homes by Taber designs floor plans to meet the needs of today’s homeowners, with open layouts and so many sought-after features included in our Proudly Overbuilt promise. Once you move into your thoughtfully designed new home, the functionality of the space can be improved even further with a few tips from our team. 

#1 - Plan the perfect layout 

When designing for an open floor plan, like the main living spaces in most Homes by Taber houses, we suggest finding a focal point, creating visual separation, using cohesive colors and materials and establishing an easy flow. While the first three tactics are more about looks, finding the right flow for your home can make all the difference when it comes to functionality. 

Think about how your family moves throughout the house, and how they use each room as well. By creating a clear and open path of travel that isn’t obstructed by furniture, you’re establishing a flow that will make the most of your large, open floor plan. For families, it’s important to keep high traffic areas like hallways leading to bedrooms, the area around shared bathrooms, utility rooms and entryways clear from obstacles. 

#2 - Create an effective entryway

Speaking of entryways, they’re a spot in the house that can make or break your family’s morning routine and schedule. No matter how much you prepare the night before or how early you wake up the kids, getting out of the house on time sometimes seems impossible during the school year. One way to make mornings easier on both you and your school-aged children is by having an organized entryway. 

Depending on which floor plan you selected, Homes by Taber’s personalization options make it easy to designate a place for every member of the family to keep their essentials organized. Add a mudbench to the utility room, just inside the front door or simply use one of the existing closets. Once you’ve settled on a space, it will be the ideal drop zone for kids to store backpacks, instrument cases, sports equipment, school supplies and more. This means less scrambling and searching for what they need in the morning before school—it also provides an allotted place for masks and hand sanitizer. 

An effective entryway can keep dirty shoes, coats, pet leashes, purses and more at bay so they won’t be scattered throughout your home.  

#3 - Get smart with storage 

Ample storage space is usually pretty high up on the lists of demands for today’s homeowners, and Homes by Taber is sure to provide that in every floor plan. So you have storage, but do you know how to use it effectively? 

For items you use all the time but don’t necessarily want to be displayed, pick a place that makes them easy to get out and easy to put away when finished—we’ll use countertop appliances as an example. If you make a smoothie every other day, store your blender in a cabinet or drawer close to the fridge. Love a toasted bagel but hate the look of a toaster cluttering up your kitchen? Store it in the pantry near your bread and bagels or in an upper cabinet.

Outside of the kitchen, linen closets, the garage and bedroom closets offer lots of vertical space to stack bins and boxes. Make sure everything is properly labeled, so no one has to go digging through every container for the right item. To keep clothes from overflowing, consider a seasonal clothes container in each family member’s closet or use the seasonal storage rack in the closets to get the unused clothing out of the way. When temperatures begin to drop, swap sundresses, shorts and swimsuits out for jackets, sweaters and scarves. 

Holiday decor and other items you barely use (but need to have in the house), don’t need to be in the most accessible locations—the garage, attic, a hall closet, or tucked away on a high shelf will do just fine.  

#4 - Give every room a purpose 

While we embrace open-plan living, it’s still important to define each space and give it a true purpose. This can be done by using furniture, decor, lighting and accessories in a way that makes sense for the goal of the room. If you plan on using one of the bedrooms as a home office, invest in the furniture and accents you need to work from home productively. Hang art on the wall that inspires you, don’t allow for interference like television or kids’ toys and find a comfortable desk chair that makes long hours easier on your body. 

In the same way, if a room is intended to be used as a kids' space, don’t put your favorite furniture or exercise equipment in there. By giving every room an intended purpose, it won’t become a dead space for random items that don’t quite fit anywhere else. A functional home is filled with purposeful pieces and rooms. 

#5 - Make spaces multipurpose 

On the contrary, we know that part of creating a functional home for your family—especially since a global health pandemic changed what home meant to so many people—is making the most of the space you have. So if you do need to use an area of your home for multiple purposes, smart design has to be a priority. 

Once you know what you need to use a room for, make a plan that allows for separate, yet cohesive, spaces. If it’s a home office and home gym, ensure there’s enough room to do a workout without bumping into the desk or chair. Include shelves or another organization system that makes it easy to keep things tidy and limit distractions. 

#6 - Stick to a cleaning and decluttering schedule 

Keeping your home tidy is one of the simplest ways to eliminate the chaos that can come align with having a busy family. Assign daily, weekly and monthly chores to each member of the family. Doing dishes, mopping floors, cleaning windows, making beds, vacuuming, picking up toys and scrubbing down bathrooms can all go a long way in making your home more livable. Decluttering every couple of months, whether it’s toys, clothes, paper products or the kitchen pantry, helps as well. 

#7 - Select functional furniture 

There’s nothing worse than filling your home with furniture that just doesn’t work for your lifestyle. Furniture gets a lot of daily use, especially if you have kids and pets. Don’t pick out items that have a color or material you’ll be constantly worried about getting ruined. Instead, choose a fabric that can hold up to the wear and tear of daily life in a color that can hide some stains or discoloration. 

#8 - Extend living to the outdoors 

When routines start getting repetitive, a simple change of scenery can help break family members out of a rut. Homes by Taber floor plans come standard with outdoor living space, either with a back porch, a front porch or both. A back patio with a small but sturdy outdoor dining set can become an area to enjoy meals together, do homework, host game night or a quiet seat to enjoy your coffee before a hectic day begins. Personalization options offer extended back patios for even more space, and every Taber home comes equipped with media hookups and an outdoor fireplace—making it easier to create an additional living room outside.

#9 - Utilize smart home technology 

Your new home will come prepared with the latest in smart home technology to control temperatures, adjust irrigation and stay secure. Not only do these take a few more responsibilities off your plate, they can also help families save money in the long run.

Your new home will come prepared with the latest in smart and healthy home technology™. These features help control temperatures, adjust irrigation, stay secure and clean the air as you go about your day—all from a digital alarm panel or smartphone. Not only does this take a few responsibilities and worries off your shoulders, but it can also help you save money on utilities in the long run with energy-saving automation. 

#10 - Be prepared with safety features 

Homes by Taber’s smart home technology can put homeowners' minds at ease with security and video features, but there’s another included feature in our homes that so many families across Oklahoma are thankful for. We don’t believe in putting a price on your family’s safety, which is why we include a Storm Safe storm shelter in every single home we build at no additional cost. While this might not affect the functionality of your home daily, it can make all the difference when making safety plans with your family during storm season. 

Find your functional home today 

Homes by Taber makes the process of planning a functional layout even easier with our interactive floor plan tool. Once you decide which floor plan is perfect for your family, you can browse the personalization options available and see how even the smallest changes can have the biggest impact on your home. 

To learn more about our most popular floor plans or to schedule a tour of a new-construction community in Oklahoma City or Tulsa, contact us online or give us a call at (405) 984-1185 or contact us online today.