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How to Design the Best Custom Home

Buying a home is an exciting time in a person’s life. It is a huge investment with a chance to stake your claim on this blue ball, and you get to make it your own. While this personal retreat will have all the standard amenities like a kitchen, living room, bedrooms and bathrooms, you must work with the existing layout unless you want to renovate.

A better option is to build a custom home. This way, you get everything you want, where you want, to fit your needs and lifestyle. You may have to wait until your dream transfers from paper to property, but you can move into a unique living space you’ve created when it is finished.

Are you ready to get started? Here is how to design a custom home.

1. Put Together a Budget

Money makes the world go around and is required to build your custom home. Before you get excited about your deluxe spa and indoor basketball court, you must see how much money you are working with. Dreaming big has nothing wrong because it is a great place to start.

See how much money you can put together to fund your house build. How much can you qualify for if you have to get a mortgage? Do you have a big lump sum for a down payment? These things will be crucial in making your custom home a reality, so put pencil to paper and make a budget.

You need to include:

• Cost of the lot
• Lot prep
• Design
• Construction
• Finishings
• Appliances
• Furniture
• Landscaping

You don’t want to spend all your money and not be able to buy any furniture, so research everything and have a detailed budget that works for you.

2. Decide What You Want in Your Home

Everything starts with a concept, and you can continue your custom home design journey by writing down information about what you want.

Think about the main purpose of the home. Are you raising young kids? Is it just you and your spouse? Do you do a lot of entertaining? How many stories do you want? You want to create a home that most benefits your lifestyle, and it also has to make logical sense.

Consult with luxury custom home builders for their professional expertise. Start making a list of your rooms and amenities for your custom home. These can be:

  • Games room
  • Large master suite
  • Chef’s kitchen
  • Gym
  • Pool
  • Entertainment deck
  • Home office
  • Movie room

Now that you have your wish list put it in order of priority. You may not get everything you want, and it could come down to space or funds, so include your must-haves first and then put the rest on a reserve wish list that you hope to include.

Sketch a floor plan and start figuring out your basic layout. This will show you how much square footage you need and force you to decide about room placement and flow. You can look at floor plans of other homes for inspiration and then come up with a rough idea of what works for you.

3. Pick a Style

You can customize the inside of your home with any layout you wish, but you also have to deal with the outside. There are many different styles of homes, and you may already have a favourite. Driving around your neighbourhood and beyond to find homes you like and consider them for your custom build is a good idea. These include:

  • Craftsman
  • Modern
  • Cap Cod
  • Rustic
  • English Cottage
  • Contemporary
  • Victorian
  • Rancher
  • Tudor
  • Colonial

Your style will influence several things in the house, like staircases and ceilings, so make sure your house style fits your design requirements. You may also want to consider what fits in your neighbourhood, especially on a smaller lot in a subdivision.

4. Work with a Professional Designer or Architect

Now you know what you want, the next step is to find a professional to bring your vision into reality. House designers and architects have great digital tools to quickly bring your custom home to life, and they know what’s required within your local and national building codes to ensure you comply with all requirements.

Once they have done a preliminary mock-up of your concept, they will meet with you to review the design. You may have to make some adjustments or compromises and can discuss what changes can happen to make your dream home as close to your vision as possible. Once all the decisions have been made, they will work on the blueprint and produce house plans that your builder will follow.

This is the process of designing a custom home. Once you have all these ducks in a row, you can hire a great builder to make your dream a reality. Then immerse yourself in your custom home and live the life you’ve always wanted.

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