For those of us whose favorite pastime is browsing through realtors’ catalogs and visiting open houses to get ideas, there’s little more exciting than designing and building the home of your dreams. It may start as a dream, but there’s no reason it can’t be turned into reality if you’re determined (and realistic!).
Buying someone else’s home will never totally fulfill your dream. Architects are the experts in house design, but it’s perfectly feasible with the software available today to design your dream home and create working drawings to turn it into a bricks-and-mortar reality.
Your idea of the perfect home may change over time as your family grows, grows up, and moves out, or your tastes develop and mature. The secret is to never stop dreaming – the time will come when everything slips into place, and you can turn that dream into reality and put the design in front of your builder to action.
Steps Needed To Design Your Dream Home
Once you’ve decided to go ahead and design your home, it’s imperative that you follow a logical plan of action. Any mistakes or omissions can turn into expensive corrections and will turn your dream into more of a nightmare. There are just a few items you will need before you start:
- A design notebook, ideally a looseleaf one, so that you can add or remove pages during the design process. Have graph pages as well as lined or blank pages in order to get the right proportion on sketches, make notes and insert pictures.
- A camera – you’re never going to remember all the details of houses you see and get ideas from.
- Collect magazines on the subject, brochures from realtors, and print articles from the internet that inspire you.
Check As Many Exterior Styles As You Can
You may already have a clear image in your mind of the style of your dream home. But you’re allowed at this stage to change your mind, so drive around the areas where you would want to live. Ignore for now the fact that you possibly couldn’t afford to live there, and just look out for the most desirable homes.
Get some idea of what features you would include in your dream home regardless of cost. Record in your notebook all the things you see and would like in your home, whether it’s a façade, a color choice, a style of roof, or a gated entrance – photograph it if you can, sketch it if you can’t. It may not always be possible but try to get permission from the owner before you record the exterior.
Let’s assume for the moment that you already own, or have decided on, the plot of ground you’re going to build on. It’s going to affect your plan in many ways – the position of the house, which way it faces, the views you want, the access from the road, and even the most suitable materials to use. Our aim here is to determine the steps in designing that dream home itself.
Get To See As Many Interiors As Possible
Every home is different and has features that you may want to incorporate into your design. It may be an exciting floor plan, special features which make clever use of space, unique and luxurious entertainment areas – whatever you have in mind for your dream home may be influenced by what you find in other homes, as long as you’re open to new ideas.
The best way of getting into homes is through a realtor’s open houses. I would recommend being entirely honest with the realtor and getting their permission to record the various features by photographing them or making sketchpad notes. If they know you are interested in the property and might even have a house to sell (once your dream home is built), they may be willing to take you through their other listings as well.
Apart from physically viewing homes, there is, of course, the internet. Searching for dream homes on the multitude of sites available will almost certainly give you fresh ideas. It might take you in a new direction regarding style and features. Just beware of becoming confused by the overload of possibilities, and concentrate on the features that are truly important to you.
Draw Up A Detailed Budget
The wishful thinking is over, and it’s time for harsh reality. All the ideas you’ve gathered and recorded are great, but they will have to be paid for. It’s time to establish a firm budget that will determine what you can and can’t afford in as much detail as possible.
The first thing to do is meet with your banker, financial advisor, or mortgage originator. They will be able to analyze your financial strength and give you an accurate estimate of the mortgage loan you qualify for. Even if you’re able to finance the building of your dream house without a loan, it is still advisable to get advice from these experts to find out if there are tax advantages in registering one.
You won’t be able to do a costing exercise without firm plans and the advice of a quantity surveyor or builder, but you will be in a position to set limits on what you can spend for things like construction, connection to services, professional fees, fittings, storage, and relocation.
Start Designing Your Home
All the groundwork has been done – you’ve got your inspiration from all the houses you’ve seen, your notebook is full of ideas, and you know how much you can afford to spend on constructing your dream home.
- Your looseleaf design notebook should be divided into sections labeled for each room. In each section, place the details you’ve decided on – photographs of the inspirational rooms, fabric samples, and sketch plans giving the kind of layout you’re keen to have. While doing this, bear in mind that you’re designing your home for the long term – have you got sufficient bedrooms, maybe a separate wing for guests or elderly parents, or a work-from-home office?
- For each room, list the “must-haves .”It could be a fireplace in the main bedroom, a covered deck off the living area, or a mezzanine library above the dining room.
Remember, you are past the dreaming stage, and this all has to be budgeted for. Be realistic and match your ideas to your lifestyle and your finances.
Get Your Sketch Pad Out
You don’t have to be a qualified architect or an artist to complete a detailed sketch plan. Using the information you’ve compiled in your notebook, you will be able to map out a rough floor plan, including the dimensions of each room.
- Are you planning a bungalow or a multi-level home? Do you prefer an open-plan kitchen and family room, or do you prefer to keep them separate? Does your garage have direct access to the house? Will the children’s bedrooms be in a separate wing or close to the main bedroom? These questions and others will need to be brainstormed and answered.
- As you draw this kind of detailed plan, the unique aspects of the plot need to be considered. Bedrooms ideally need east-facing windows for morning sun, living areas south-facing for maximum light, and garaging on the north side where there is the least sun. Does this also allow the best views from your living area? Is there sufficient privacy from the road and neighboring houses?
- Refer constantly to your design notebook. Drawing plans is an exciting but daunting exercise. It’s a lot easier when you’ve done your research, collected ideas, seen examples, and have a clear picture of what you are going to incorporate into your dream home.
Turn Your Sketch Plans Into Working Plans
There are several software programs that one can download which will allow you to convert your hand-drawn sketch plans into 3-D working drawings that you can present to your builder or architect. Some are free, but we recommend buying one of the more sophisticated packages to give you a far better end product.
Have a look at Home Designer Suite, Virtual Architect, SketchUp, Sweethome 3D, and RoomSketcher or any of those you find in a search for similar programs.
There are also several websites that offer to draw plans, 2-D and 3-D drawings based on your sketch plans, and other information. This is one way to get a professional plan done, but my advice would be to rather do it yourself with the aid of one of the programs mentioned above. You may want to make several alterations and adjustments as you see the house coming to life on your screen. You can only do that if you retain control of the process.
Take your time with this step in designing your dream home. Have a close look at room dimensions, size and position of windows, movement flow, as well as the aesthetics of the exterior, where the sun will be in relation to bedrooms and living room at various times of the day, and whether you fully catered for your lifestyle needs.
This is the best time to make any adjustments – trying to solve design issues when the house is under construction is an expensive exercise in terms of time and money.
Consult With An Architect
Up to now, the project has been all about fulfilling your wishes, creating your perfect home, and making your dream come true. Now, unfortunately, we have to bring in the expert to bring us back to earth. Architects spend years learning about the practical issues of designing homes, and their experience is essential in putting detail into our design.
Write an extensive brief for the architect before you present your plans. This should explain in detail what you are hoping to achieve – the thought behind your floor plan, the non-negotiable features of the house, your lifestyle requirements, and what style details must be incorporated into the design.
The architect will be able to advise you on numerous technical details:
- Local municipal and state building regulations
- Requirements regarding the provision of utilities (water, electricity, sewerage, etc.)
- The structural integrity of the building – load-bearing walls, foundations, roof construction, and site suitability are some factors that need professional input.
- Cost of materials – while the architect cannot estimate the cost of labor, he will have enough information to supply cost estimates for all the other aspects of construction.
- Having presumably designed many houses, the architect may have some really good suggestions on subtle changes to your plan that will save you money, overcome unforeseen problems that may make life in the house a little less than perfect, and possibly improve its appearance.
Having fine-tuned the design of your home, the architect can assist you by compiling a bid proposal. This will include final working drawings, showing every last detail of the proposed house, from window sizes, ceiling heights, electrical points, and plumbing, to kitchen finishes, flooring, door, and cupboard furniture, skirtings, and cornices.
Get Firm Quotations From Builders
The schedule of finishes, together with the plans, can then be provided to whichever builders in the area you choose to include in the bidding process. They will meticulously cost the entire project, detail by detail, and add the cost of labor, connection fees, and any additional costs before submitting a bid to try and win the construction contract.
A word of advice here, based on experience – don’t necessarily accept the lowest quote. The builder may have skimped on quality or underquoted on time and labor to secure the contract and may not be offering the best value.
The builder and the architect will have a site inspection at the location of the house-to-be to:
- finalize the exact position of the home,
- check soil densities to ensure the foundations will bear the weight of the construction,
- check levels to create adequate and efficient drainage
If any adjustment is necessary, this is the last opportunity to change the plans before they are submitted for approval to the local authority. Once construction begins, you will pay dearly for any changes you want to make, as the builder will need more time to complete the house, there may be wasted materials, and alterations to the plan may require approval from the local government.
Conclusion
Once you’ve got your quotes, made the necessary adjustments to your plans, and appointed a builder, you may find that you could have bought a similar-sized house with the same accommodation for the same price or maybe even considerably less.
What none of those houses can offer you is the pride and satisfaction in knowing that you have designed a home that is built on your land, using your design and your specifications. No other house, no matter how beautiful, can carry the title of your dream house. So go ahead and build!