The result of several attempts, for most new designers, is that their initial drawings all start to look the same. Rooms are similar in scale, hallways curve in similar ways, the design feels comfortable, if a little boring. This is because if it isn’t sure of what else to do, the brain resorts to what it knows. So change it up. Force yourself to begin with one thing that you’d never normally do, like putting the living room on the short side of the rectangle, or moving the front door off-centre. If you begin with something different, something else will follow.
Always start by creating a bubble or organic room diagram, in which you identify the spaces that are meant to be for quiet contemplation, circulation paths, and areas with windows or other sources of natural light. This helps you avoid outlining standard boxes too quickly. The typical novice starts with boxes, when they should be avoiding that because it narrows the possibilities for the final design. If your bubble diagram is unique and exciting, the plan that follows will be, too.
I also see people attempting to make all areas in the room equally prominent. This ends up being monotonous to look at. Choose what you want to be the focal point and let the other areas play second fiddle to that area. This contrast is what makes for a well-designed room. Nothing will stand out if everything is supersized and superscaled. Sometimes making certain areas smaller will make your main space look bigger, even though it isn’t.
Try this as a short exercise: go back to a previous plan you drew and redo it, but reverse some fundamental aspect of it. Maybe you’re using the public spaces as private, or maybe the whole thing is turned ninety degrees. Take a few minutes to play with the circulation. Even if it doesn’t make sense, it will give you some ideas about what you can do with spaces and will increase your vocabulary.
If you get totally stuck, take a break from floor plans and go study spaces in the real world — a coffee shop, a bus terminal, a courtyard — and how the edges and spaces influence people. Do a quick sketch of it without looking at the dimensions. Going back to your design afterwards may surprise you because your eyes have learned new patterns you haven’t considered before. If you want unique architectural designs, you can’t just decide to make it unique. You have to show your brain new things so it can incorporate them into your patterns.