It’s a really exciting time when you are in a position of trying to design your own home. You need to make sure that you are doing all you can to design it as you would ideally want it to be, because that is going to make a huge difference to how happy you are in that home on the whole. But if you have never designed a home before, or you have not done so in a long time, there are a lot of things that can go wrong, and you need to be aware of that.
In particular, it’s important to know and think about some of the major essentials behind designing your own home that you might want to think of here. In this post, we are going to take you through some of the most important considerations if you want to design your own home, at every stage of the process of doing so. All of these are going to be important for you to think about, so let’s take a look.
Consider The Plot
The first thing you need to think about is the plot, because that is going to make a difference to what you can and cannot achieve in your home design. You are going to be limited by the plot, which is of course why you should make sure not to rush into your purchase of one, and to shop around for one that you are going to be happy with. And for that, you might want to already have some basic ideas for your plan in place.
However, you need to be ready for those to change once you actually have your plot, because it will soon become obvious that it is not always going to be possible to achieve everything you originally wanted. So you need to focus on that and make sure that you find a way to marry the two together as best as you can.
One major element of the plot is obviously the size and shape of it, but there is also the aspect in relation to the sun and surrounding nature, other buildings, and the local area in general too. So make sure that you have considered all of that well before you start to actually get into the nitty-gritty of designing your home for real.
Budget Out The Project
It is useful to think about the budget this early on, simply because otherwise you are going to struggle to make it come together later on. You might end up being disappointed if you are trying to achieve something that doesn’t prove to be possible, so it’s much better to have a strong sense of what kind of money you have available at the start. As long as you have that, it is really going to help you out a lot.
When you are budgeting your project, you should aim to be as honest with yourself as possible. Really there is no need not to be so. If you are not honest, the only likely result of that is that you will struggle to see the project through to completion, so this is something that you are going to need to avoid as best as you can.
And of course, when you have a good idea of your budget, that is going to influence many of the creative design decisions that you make around the home. So the more information you have upfront, the better. All in all, then, this is something that you need to make sure you are prioritizing as best as you can.
The Fundamental Design
Now you can start thinking about the fundamental aspects of the design, and the stronger these are the better it is going to be for the whole home, of course. The basics here are of course the foundation, including the size and shape that the final home will take, and then on top of that the basic building materials that you are going to use. You have so many options there that it would be impossible to list even most of them here, but suffice to say you are not bereft of choice when it comes to this.
As a necessary part of that, you will probably start thinking about the windows and the roof. Whether you opt for something modern like corrugated roofing sheets, or you go old style with slates and tiles, it’s really up to you – just consider the effect it will have on curb appeal and the attractiveness and appearance of the home as a whole.
Once you have these fundamentals in place, you are now in a good position to start thinking more about the interior – and here you have a lot of choices that you will need to make as well.
Floor Plan
You will already have started thinking about this when you began the design in general, but now you need to revisit it and flesh it out a little more. This is something that you are certainly going to want to think about, because it is no less than the final basic shape that the interior of the home will take. Here you are deciding on what rooms you have, how big they will be, and what their partitions will be, all of which is clearly really important if you are going to be happy with your home. So make sure that you are putting the necessary work into this and that you allow yourself to be a little creative with it too.
Ask yourself what kind of rooms you want and in what layout. Here is where you need to think deeply about life in your new home and how it will actually look and work. The more detailed you can get on this, the better, as it is going to make a huge difference to how your home turns out. So make sure that you don’t overlook it if you can help it. You might find that you want to get some help with this side of things, in fact, which is a pretty good idea in most cases for this kind of project.
Hiring An Architect
If you do, then the best kind of help is obviously to have your own architect working on the project. Hiring an architect definitely is a good idea and something you are going to want to think about, and it’s likely that you will need to choose carefully if you want to ensure that you make the right choice. After all, they will have a very fundamental and strong impact on the way that the home finally appears and what it is like, although of course you should remember that you always have the final say on any ideas they might come up with.
In any case, working with an architect is a really good idea if you want to ensure your project is as good as possible, and it’s something you might want to think about from the start.
Timing & Scheduling
All of this then needs to be considered in terms of timing and scheduling, which can be one of the most difficult parts of the whole process. You need to schedule out the build, and for that it can be helpful to hire a project manager, unless of course you want to do that yourself. In either case, it’s important that you are getting it right, as it is going to have a material effect on the final appearance of the home.
