With the abundance of home styles available on the market today, it's not easy to pick just one type of home that will be best for your next step. You may be downsizing or simply changing gears in your lifestyle, but how do you know what home style is right for you? Two-storeys offer plenty of living space, but you may be looking for a spacious home without a multi-level floor plan. A bungalow could be what you’re looking for. A custom bungalow can offer even more advantages –take a look! 

1. Perfect for New Families and Empty Nesters

When you're a family with a new baby or young children, keeping all the action contained to one floor can make your life much easier. Picture having all the bedrooms, and even a playroom, on the same floor and never having to worry about stairs for your children to navigate. Having the ability to keep a closer eye on your little ones will surely bring you peace of mind.

Similarly, a bungalow might fit well if you're an empty nester looking for a home that fits your new lifestyle, yet sustains most of the square footage you desire for a more comfortable living space. Minimizing the need to have multiple levels, a custom bungalow can be designed in such a way that the floor plan functions perfectly for everything the homeowner needs.

2. Improved Accessibility

For those with inhibited mobility, living in a two-storey home may be a source of frustration. By designing a custom bungalow, your home can be—in every sense of the word—your sanctuary. Crafted around your specific needs, not only can your home be designed so that you can access every part of the house, but special features can also be designed to facilitate your daily activities. These features may include cabinets or countertops at specified heights, widened doorways or passageways for wheelchairs, and many other options to make your lifestyle more comfortable.

3. Plenty of Privacy

Bungalows tend to require a larger plot of land to accommodate their wider stature. This also naturally creates more privacy and separation from your neighbours. With a custom bungalow, you can select the lot on which your home will be constructed, giving you more control over how close or far away from your neighbours you’d like to be.

And since you're designing your floor plan to your specific needs, you can also plan for your bedrooms to be far away from living areas, or your master to be on the other side of the home from the secondary bedrooms. Almost anything is possible in a custom home; how you'd like to live is really up to you. A good custom builder will build the house around your lifestyle.

4. Grand, Open Floor Plan

Because there's no second floor to contend with, your bungalow can have grand, vaulted ceilings. Not only do bungalows generally have more opportunity for large windows, but a vaulted ceiling can significantly open up the space to feel much larger than it may be. This allows you to control the square footage of your bungalow and still live in a home that feels spacious and airy.

If you so choose, your basement will have a large, open footprint where you might develop an additional living space for a rec room or gathering space for entertaining.

5. Environmentally Friendly Features

Since there's only one floor to heat and cool, your energy usage throughout the home will be significantly reduced. No fumbling with the thermostat to balance the temperature between floors. Your custom bungalow is also constructed to the highest energy efficiency standards possible, including things like triple pane windows, Heat Recovery Ventilator system, among many others.

6. Low Maintenance

Another obvious advantage of a home with fewer floors is less cleaning. Especially when it comes to living in a custom home, which will often have low-maintenance features. A custom bungalow decreases the need for maintenance even further. No more trying to carry a heavy vacuum with hoses and cords up and down staircases–enough said. 

The benefits of building a custom bungalow are plentiful. Choosing to "give up" a second floor certainly doesn't mean you have to give up your dream design. A good, experienced custom builder can help you create the home you want, within the convenience of one floor.