An Approach To New Home Designs

When I was selecting new home designs for myself, this is what I did. In hindsight, I think it worked well, so I'm suggesting it to you. This presumes that you are approaching the size issue based on practical considerations, and you won't be building 3 times the size you need just because you can.

Things My Wife and I Thought About

* What style of house do we both like (ranch, 2-story, etc.), and why?

* Size of the family - number and ages of children (current, and intended).

* What hobbies do we have that might require dedicated space?

* Do we prefer casual living, or formal?

* Have we seen anything in model homes or magazines that really appealed to us?

* What do we like about where we are now, & how can we incorporate that into the new home?

* How often will we entertain?

* Any pets to think about?

That was 30 years ago. There are other issues about new home designs to consider now.

* What energy systems do we want to use?

* How "Green" do we want the house to be?

* What to do about our electronic, audio and visual equipment?

* What new electronic gadgets do we want?

Things We Did - Before Seeing An Architect

* Visit model homes and look at about 1,000 magazines

* Made notes and tore out photos - put everything in a file (took about 6 months)

* Bought a couple of magazines that have house plans which you can purchase. I got them at a newsstand. Today you can also find them at Home Depot. They are usually compiled by style, like - luxury, country, classic, etc. So you can just look at the ones you're interested in.

* Saw about 6 layouts that we liked. Started narrowing that short list by applying the list above (things we thought about) to each. Got it down to 3 layouts.

* Started measuring rooms in our current house. Decided which were too small or too large.

* Found that the 3 layouts we had left all had room sizes which were generally too small. And there wasn't enough closet space in any of them.

* At this point, I thought I knew just what we wanted, and I drew my own plan. Assuming you don't have the ability or inclination to do that, I recommend that you now select an architect. The important thing is, by now you'll know just what you want. MAKE SURE YOU GIVE HIM YOUR COMPLETE LIST UP FRONT.

Given recent technology, here are several items you might want to consider before giving your wish list to the architect:

* Solar roof (either panels or shingles) & to do what?

* Type of water heater (can eliminate the storage tank)

* Security/alarm system

* Smart house (involves specific wiring)

* Timers for anything using energy (heating, lighting, etc.)

If you're going to get financing for your construction, any extras you include in the new home designs will be covered through the financing.

You don't have to think about decorating issues yet. But when thinking about new home designs, you should give some thought to furniture layouts. Typically, architects don't produce furniture drawings. Although, for a fee you can get anything done. But let's assume he/she is not making one.

Ask him for a copy of the floor plan (once it's finalized). Go to Staples and buy a designer's template for about $4. If the scale of the drawing is 1/4" = 1'-0", you have to buy a template for that scale.

You will see many representations of various pieces of furniture (tables, chairs, sofas, etc.). There are lots of different templates, so if you don't see what you need, ASK.

You could do this one of two ways: either draw directly onto the architect's drawing (in which case you should have a giant eraser handy); or you could draw on blank paper, and cut out the little symbols.

Move them around on the floor plan until you line things up the way you want. Then, either draw them onto the plan, or tape the pieces of paper down. Do this for every room.

It's important that you do this with some urgency. Bring it back to the architect so he can make his other drawings conform to your furniture layout. If you take a long time, you'll be delaying the completion of new home design, and the construction documents.

Why am I telling you to do this? Because I didn't. There were 2 rooms which we later had problems getting the furniture to lay out well. It took months - and I spent the whole time kicking myself. In one of those rooms, I ended up using extension cords under the furniture so I could have a lamp where I needed one.

If I had given the architect the furniture layout, he would have put outlets where I needed them, and he would have relocated windows or traffic aisles so that the new home design would have worked better.

This could be frustrating, but it could also be lots of fun. When it's done, you'll really feel good about it.

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