What Is the Best Home Layout? Variations on Open Plan, Floor Plan Design, Room Zoning

The best home layout for a family is a zoned floor plan with two living areas: an open-plan kitchen, dining, and main living area, connected to the alfresco, plus a separate media room or rumpus that can be closed off. The master bedroom should sit away from the kids' wing for acoustic separation, and the main living space should face north for passive solar gain.

Yes, but they’ve evolved. Pure open plan (one giant room with no separation) is no longer the default. Current best practice is a broken plan, where the kitchen, dining, and main living spaces still connect openly, but a second living space can be closed off, keeping the social benefits of an open-plan layout without the noise and privacy trade-offs.

An open plan removes walls between the kitchen, dining, and living spaces, creating a continuous space. Broken plans keep that connection while introducing subtle details, such as partial walls, ceiling changes, sliding doors, joinery, or material transitions, so each zone has its own identity.

Effective room zoning uses a mix of techniques rather than just walls:

• Change ceiling heights between zones

• Vary the flooring material

• Use joinery or a kitchen island as a divider

• Layer lighting differently in each zone

• Add cavity sliding doors where you need the option to fully close a space.

With most volume builders, customisation is limited and expensive. We’re one of the exceptions—Melbourne and Eclipse collection floor plan designs come with flexible options built in, and customers can also adjust the plan during a design consultation and design review. Our team are completely open to your ideas to bring your floor plan to life.