It can be very exciting for you and your family to move into a new home. It’s even more exciting when you have the ability to create that new home from scratch. After choosing a home design, you get to see all the original plans and ideas come to fruition.
Moving into a custom-built home allows you to avoid the projects and create a space that is just how you like it. But before you move in, choosing a home design is the first step.
Choosing a Home Design
When you sit down with your design-build contractor, there will be many things to consider when choosing a home design. This process can be a long one, but it’s important to be open and honest about your opinions.
Here are some of the top things to consider when choosing a home design.
1. Sustainability
If you’re choosing to create a custom-built home, you are most likely planning to live there for a long time. In that case, it is super important that you take the time to consider the sustainability and efficiency of your home. This efficiency of a custom-built home is often overlooked and can save you loads of cash in the future.
If your budget isn’t large enough to cover expensive additions like solar panels, there are many inexpensive things that you can do to shrink your home’s carbon footprint.
One inexpensive design detail is to add large windows to your home. This not only adds to the aesthetic of your home but lowers the need for artificial lighting and heating.
When designing your cabinetry and countertops, think of using recycled or locally sourced materials. These materials add character to your home and save money on shipping costs.
2. Designing Your Home’s Layout
Creating a layout is arguably one of the most important things to consider when choosing a home design. If you are planning to stay in this home for a long time, it is crucial to think of the future and how your family will grow. You don’t want to spend all of this time and money creating the perfect home, only to have it not work for your family anymore in as little as five years.
In this stage of home design, you’ll want to think of how many floors, bedrooms, and bathrooms that you’ll need. If you plan on having more children, having an additional bedroom to spare might be a good idea. Or, if you often work from home, it might be extremely beneficial to have a designated office space away from the lively common areas.
Lastly, you’ll want to think of the mobility in your home when choosing a home design. If you love to entertain, an open-layout main living area is best to keep everyone together and comfortable. For two-story homes, it can be ideal to locate the master bedroom next to common areas such as the kitchen and laundry room.
Choosing a Home Design: 3. Planning for Storage in Your Custom Home
You’ll thank yourself in the future if you focus on the amount of storage that you plan into your home design now. When covering this step, just like when planning the layout, it is paramount that you have room to grow. It’s amazing just how many shoes three kids can accumulate!
Take advantage of the space that you have with dual-use furniture, and consider custom cabinetry to fit the actual things that you need to store. With custom cabinetry, make sure that you maximize your storage spaces by having upper cabinetry that reaches all the way to the ceiling. The days of standing on top of the countertops to dust will soon be over!
4. Defining Your Home Design Style
Before your plans can really be brought to life, you need to define your home design style. A design style adds cohesiveness to the aesthetic of your home, and direction when purchasing construction materials. This choice can impact all of the major design decisions that you need to make in the future.
If you don’t know whether you want a traditional, farmhouse, or modern home design, try searching for inspiration on design-build firm blogs, home magazines, or even Pinterest. With these inspiration photos, you can work with your design-build team to define a style that fits you.
Choosing a Home Design: 5. The Devil’s in the Details
When you are getting to the end of choosing a home design, you’ll need to begin focusing on the fine details. These finishing touches can make all the difference and truly show what it means to have a custom home.
You can add unique detail to your home by creating additional spaces with niches and alcoves. With these spaces, you can add character with a hidden reading nook or breakfast bar by the kitchen window.
Lighting and Hardware choices can be afterthoughts but have the power to completely transform the look and feel of a room.
Hardware can reflect the design style that you’ve chosen while adding a pop to large cabinetry and countertops. Lighting can define the mood of space and tie in the rest of the design. For an Industrial home design style, consider a brass sink to add warmth and caged pendant lighting.
Create Your Custom Dream Home Design
Choosing a home design can be a long process that requires a lot of patience. But finding the right one has rewards that last a lifetime. Choose a design-build firm that will be patient with you and help guide you through all of the things that need to be considered and should be explored.
Whether you stay in your home forever or change locations in a few years, a custom home build will increase the value of your home and make it the envy of the neighborhood.
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