Luxury log home floor plans need to contain the areas you desire, in the size that fits your needs. Sometimes when you roll out a set of blueprints you see numbers staring at you from the page, almost daring you to try to comprehend exactly how they will define the parameters of your new log home. A size like 12×14 may seem straight forward, but it is important to visualize that space as well. A good way to do this is to start measuring out rooms in your current home and comparing them with sizes you ‘wish’ you had.

Great Great Rooms

Let’s begin with the room central to most open log home plans– the Great Room. The concept of a great room is one large open space which replaces the traditional compartmentalized living room, dining room, kitchen, and foyer layout. Sometimes the kitchen will be located under the edge of the open loft, but the main ingredient is the absence of interior partition walls.

How Big Was That Great Room?

A great room may be 20×36, 24×36, or another size. Take out a measuring tape and measure the size of your kitchen, living room, and dining room. Then imagine them without the interior walls. In large luxury log home plans the great room may only contain the foyer/grand entry and the living area. In this case, only take the dimensions of your current foyer and living area. How did they come out? Are you happy with the size you already have or do you wish it was longer, wider, narrower?

What About Kitchens and Dining Areas?

For the kitchen and dining area, these can be combined or included in the floor plan separately. The root of calculating how large of a dining area you desire is to first list the number of people you need to be able to seat. Also list any other furniture that you want included in the room. You may at first think a 15×20 foot area is sufficient, but after pondering people and furniture you may find you need a 20×20 space.

Log Home Kitchens deserve special attention. Again, with a kitchen list items you want. One kitchen I visited had two stoves, two dishwashers, and a huge refrigerator. The appliances alone increased the size of the kitchen layout. If you want a pantry, considering adding a pantry closet instead of a free standing pantry that consumes floor space. Also remember with an open kitchen there is less wall space to hang cabinets on. In my open kitchen I only have to wall cabinets and cabinets in a china cupboard style with glass fronts. If you want walls lines with kitchen cabinets then consider locating the kitchen on a corner of the floor plan or in a separate wing of the home, instead of combining this space with the great room.

Great Rooms vs. Caverns

Within the great room itself, care must be paid that this large open space does not feel ‘cavernous’. In a big room you need ‘big’ things. The nicest great rooms usually contain a large two story fireplace. Some of the high cathedral ceiling space is utilized for an open loft. Exposed log beams, trusses, purlins, or rafters are also a vital part of making this area feel like a true log home. A log roof system does increase the cost, but it also greatly impacts the entire aura of the home.

Making Your Investment

A few years ago a log home builder built a lovely log home for resell. He added a solid log garage, wide covered porches, and located the home on a sizable piece of property. From the outside it looked very dramatic and appealing. Thinking that the location and exterior would capture a sale for him, he chose some economical materials on the interior. The home did not have a log roof system, the wood ceilings were a mere 1×4 tongue and groove instead of a 1×6 or 1×8 size, the floors were covered in high great carpeting instead of solid wood, a wood burner was installed instead of a stone fireplace, etc. The list went on and on. This log home felt like a ‘nice house’ instead of a showcase luxury log home that it appeared to be from the outside.

The drama created by a big log king truss presiding over a great room, a rugged stone fireplace stretching up into the cathedral ceiling, and solid wood flooring cannot be matched with lesser materials. In the end you are the one who has to decide what is important, how great your great room will be, and the correlation between cost and final wow factor within your home. But remember that the location, exterior appearance, and interior appeal all work together to provide the total value of your home upon resale. All of our luxury log home floor plans are fully customizable to your needs. It is wise to devote more time to planning your home once it reaches over 2,000 square feet.

Cowboy Log Homes