Once you have sown the seeds of an idea and you are excited about the prospect of designing your new house it can be tempting to get started straight away.
Before you even contemplate getting started on the design and construction of your dream home from scratch it is essential that you consider a number of crucial questions, which will help you to end up in a home that will look and feel exactly how you imagined.
How do you intend to use your home?
One of the first questions that need answering is what sort of design will fit your lifestyle.
If you love spending time in the kitchen or plan to do lots of entertaining with family and friends, these are all relevant to the design process as it will help dictate how you allocate space, giving more to the rooms that you are going to be using the most.
Materials and finishes
It pays to be mindful that the architect you are using to design your home will be working from a blank canvas and everything you tell them about the layout and style that you are looking for will help guide them toward creating a blueprint that reflects those preferences.
You need to give plenty of consideration to the exterior and interior materials and finishes you are going to be using.
From learning the anatomy of a roof to deciding what sort of flooring and specific finishes you want inside the property, it is essential to talk through all these choices with your architect in order to get a clear idea how your home will look and feel when it is completed.
It would be great if you also consider building your home the eco-friendly way.
Budget constraints
It is very common for most people to have a budget in mind that they can afford to allocate to the project and if this is the case with your project it is wise to convey this information to your architect so that there are no hidden surprises or unrealistic plans drawn up that don’t align with how much money you have available.
The reality for many home-building projects is that the final cost can exceed your estimated budget and it is suggested that you try and make contingency plans to allow for this eventuality.
The last thing you want to happen is to run out of cash and struggle to finish the build on time, or at all.
How involved do you want to be with the process?
Architects will often have a tale to tell about a client who said they would leave them to it and then got heavily involved with every little decision, which is fine if you want to be totally hands-on as long as you tell your architect what to expect.
Tensions are likely to rise when everyone in the process is not on the same page. If you want the project to go as smoothly as possible it is best to tell your architect what type of client you are going to be and how involved you would like to be at every stage.
Are you selling or staying?
It is very relevant to consider whether you are building a home that you intend to stay in for a very long time or want to sell it on a short while after it’s done.
Your future plans will affect how you spend money on the house, for example, if you are planning on selling to try and make a quick profit it would be probably to pay to spend the most on your kitchen, as this is a room that always matters to buyers.
There are lots of questions that need answering when you are designing your new house and you won’t regret asking any of them if it means you end up with a property that reflects your lifestyle and preferences.
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