Custom Home Design Tips For Designing Your Dream Home
The planning stage of home design often determines whether
or not your custom home design will fulfill the dream you had envisioned.
Victor Hugo wrote, "Where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is
surrendered merely to the chance of incidence, chaos will soon reign."
Hugo was certainly right as far as custom home design is concerned. To avoid
wasted time or chaos follow these six tips to help your designer create the
perfect custom house plan for your family.
1. Start simple.
It isn't necessary to
invest in fancy software to begin making decisions about your custom home plan.
All you really need is a pencil and a piece of paper. Brainstorm and sketch
your ideas. Making lists of features you want each room to have will help you
get your idea onto paper and into your custom home design.
2. Think about the
future.
Consider the future
of your family and how you will accommodate for different scenarios, such as
having children, accommodating grandchildren and grandparents, taking care of
elderly parents. Even accommodating extended family for holiday occasions
should be considered in your house plans. Similarly, if you hope to transition
from an office job to operating your own business out of your home, your custom
home design should include an office or flexible space. When you think about
the amenities in your custom home plan, be sure to not limit yourself or the
growth of your family.
3. Prioritize
features.
Once your ideas are
recorded in rough form, begin prioritizing features for your new house. Custom
home design can easily exceed a budget if you let your fancies run amok. With
so many luxuries to choose from, it's important to prioritize the most
important aspects of your design. For instance, if you've always dreamed about
a box window in the kitchen where you can grow herbs, you may want to
prioritize that over installing a line to facilitate a gas stove.
4. Consider function
and flow.
As you and your
designer begin playing around with where various rooms should be located,
consider how your final design will flow and how your family might function in
each space. For instance, to reduce noise in sleeping areas, it's wise to place
bedrooms away from the communal areas of the house. Likewise, if you're the
kind of family that tends to gather around the kitchen, an open floor plan with
easy flow between the living room, kitchen and dining area will suit you well.
This kind of design also allows for excellent flow between rooms.
5. Reflect on light.
Light has a powerful
influence on humans. Indeed, in areas that see little natural light during the
winter months, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is not unusual. This disorder
brings feelings of depression, along with weight gain, daytime sleepiness,
social withdrawal and lethargy. If you have suffered from SAD in the past, or
if you're moving to a place with long, cloudy winters (such as the Pacific
Northwest), it is smart to add skylights to your custom house plan in order to
maximize the natural light in your home. Heck, even if you've never felt sad on
a cloudy day, skylights are smart because they reduce the need for artificial
light and provide as much as 30 percent more light than vertical windows.
Natural lighting
should also be figured in the floor plan design in a custom home plan. As an
example, if you want to enjoy natural morning light in your dining nook, it
would be wise to face the nook east, where it will catch the morning sun.
It's also wise to
think carefully about how electrical lights in your home will facilitate
comfort. For instance, a custom home designer would suggest installing bright
task lighting for kitchen countertops to facilitate food preparation. Lighting
can also create a mood - for example, dimming sconces in the bedroom can create
a sense of romance or peace.
6. Showcase and
maximize the lot.
Usually, those in the
market for a custom house plan already own the property where the home will be
built. If you already know where your custom home will be situated, be sure to
consider the topography, size and best features of the lot. For instance, if
your lot overlooks a beautiful natural setting, you might choose to face the
living room toward the feature so you can showcase the wonderful view.
Alternatively, if you have a brook or stream running though your property, you
might choose to place bedrooms nearest the stream so you can enjoy the
beautiful sound of running water while you sleep.
In addition to
thinking about which windows should face the home's best views, you'll want to
consider whether the land is sloped. A custom home design for a steep slope
will look very different than a design for a flat lot.
Considering the tips
provided above can be helpful in creating the home of your dreams. Take your
time when working with your home designer and voice your likes and dislikes. It
far easier to achieve your dream home in the design process than it will be to
remodel your home later.
Post Title → Custom Home Design Tips For Designing Your Dream Home
