How to Design the Perfect House
The perfect house is the one that is just right for you. Remember back through your childhood to the favorite places you had at your childhood home. Think back to vacation places you had a chance to visit. Maybe your friend had a room that you always liked and thought was the coolest place on earth. You can always scour magazines and websites to find the look you want. Designing the perfect house starts with putting your heart down on paper. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Brainstorm all your biggest dreams and write them down on paper. Don't be afraid of going overboard or thinking too big. It's easier to whittle down the ideas, than to not give them a chance at all. Many ideas may not be doable or fit in your budget, but you won't know until you think of them all.
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Make another list of the things you don't like about your house or houses you've lived in before. Knowing what not to do is as important as designing what you do want.
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Sketch your large house ideas on graph paper first. Each square on the graph paper will equal one foot. If you have a 60-foot-by-40-foot lot of ground, count out 60 squares by 40 squares. Plan your whole house to fit on that lot. Decide what direction the front and back of the house will face.
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Draw a basement or second floor plan on separate pieces of graph paper.
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Take the space that is squared off on your graph paper and draw multiple room plans. It's only paper, so play with a lot of ideas. By using the 1 foot per 1 square rule on the graph paper, you can see in an instant if your 14-foot-by-14-foot multi-media room is really going to fit next to the upstairs master bedroom.
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Add the details to your rooms last. Put the doors, windows, closets and hallways where they should be. Allow for doors to be opened and closets to bump into the floor space. Look for any space that might be wasted, and design a use for it.
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Pay special attention to the details in your kitchen and bathrooms. These are areas that have new design ideas occurring everyday. They will have to most options to choose from and can be the most costly.
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Go online and price the items you have chosen.
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Add up the cost of each item to estimate your building material cost.
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Take note of each item's costs and if you are over your budget, decide what is a “must have” and what is a “want."
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Rearrange the room space and details. Wait a few days, and do it all again. Give yourself plenty of planning time before you rush in and start digging.
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Tips & Warnings
Today, there are many ways of working around budget cost, such as using salvaged materials and doing the work yourself.
Your perfect house will have the look and features you want and can afford.
Eventually, you will need to run your ideas through an architect or engineer who will determine if all your ideas will actually work.
References
- Photo Credit hausbau image by Yvonne Bogdanski from Fotolia.com
