How to Design Your Own Home

If you are seeking a distinctly unique home you may want to consider designing your own home. Designing your own home can be one of the most exciting, rewarding, and challenging experiences of your life. It will provide you with much more control over the design and construction materials used, and you might even save a good deal of money in the process.

Before you begin designing your home plan, create a list of your family's requirements. Make note of how many bedrooms you would like to have and how large each room should be. Consider the type of closets or built-in storage units that should be included. As you think about how each room will be used, make note of any special features that should be considered.

Determine how many bathrooms you will need and if they will include a bath tub, shower stall, or both. Decide if your family room will have a fireplace or built-in home entertainment center. Will you be including a home theatre room or game room in your custom home design? Where will the laundry/utility room be located?

Give careful consideration to the kitchen design. Think about placement of the sink, dishwasher, refrigerator, and stove. Will this be an eat-in kitchen? Do you want a breakfast nook or breakfast bar between the kitchen and dining room? What type of dining room would you like to have? Take note of every detail you can think of and keep a notepad handy so you can easily jot thoughts down.

Next, take a drive through various neighborhoods and make note of the details you like. Look at the different types of porch designs, fencing, and exterior design features. Determine the type of roof, driveway, walkway your home will have. Think about the type of windows and doors you would like to include in your home design. Consider visiting homes that are hosting an open house to get ideas on various layouts.

Visit home and garden centers to determine what type of plants and materials you will want to include in your landscaping design. Do you plan to start your lawn from seed or will you use sod? What species of trees are native to the area where you will be building your home? Will you be planting trees, shrubs or flowers? Will you install an automatic sprinkler system for your lawn? Do you need exterior water connections to easily water plants or wash your car?

You'll also want to visit a building materials store to familiarize yourself with the various building materials. Research the different types of windows, heating and cooling systems, appliances, carpets, flooring, cabinets, trim, paint, insulation, etc., so that you can make informed decisions. Whenever possible, ask for paint sample cards and flooring material samples. Most home decorating stores have small pieces of tile and flooring they can provide to you at little or no cost. Paint sample cards are generally located in the paint section.

Visit your local library and check-out books on home design. Look for books that include home blueprints, as well as "Do-It-Yourself" books. If your library has design magazines, take several home and browse through them for ideas. If not, purchase five or six design magazines from the grocery or drug store. Cut out pictures of items you like and tape them to a poster or foam board.

After you have gathered your ideas and samples, sketch out a floor plan in pencil on graph paper and draw your plan to scale. Generally, one block on the graph paper is equal to one foot. Another common scale is one-inch equals four feet. Unless you are great at math or have a degree in architecture, consider using home design computer software. Most packages come with templates so you can easily insert appliances, fixtures, and even furniture into your home design plan.

Once you have created a sketch of your home design, you'll need to take your plans to an architect so s/he can draw up building plans. The architect will help you determine if your plans are feasible, can suggest changes, and spot potential problems.

You'll find a variety of resources available to help you design your own home. There are several home design websites where you can start from scratch or utilize existing home design plans and customize them. Custom home design plans are available from various home designer stores and web sites. Another option is to purchase computer software which will assist you in designing your home on your home computer.

Although designing your own home can be challenging, it can also be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life. Today you have more options than ever before to help you design the home of your dreams. Carefully research your options and do your homework ,and before you know it you'll be living in a dream house designed by you!