How To Design Your Dream Home (Partner)

When you close your eyes, you can probably picture the home of your dreams as clearly as if it was right in front of you. We certainly can. But finding a home that matches your exact design wishlist is anything but easy - particularly when your search is restricted to a particular city or part of the country.

While renovating is an easy way to customize your dream home while sticking to a budget (another thing we love about renovations is that it doesn’t have to be done in one fell swoop), the best way to get everything exactly the way you want it, is to design it yourself from the ground up.

If your budget does allow for a full design from the ground up, knowing your options, limits, and more than anything where to start, can be overwhelming to say the least. Here are a few initial things to keep in mind when getting started.

Find Inspiration

Before putting your vision onto paper, you want to have a clear idea of what direction you want to go as far as what the property will look and feel like. Start simple and brainstorm your ideas on paper before making anything concrete. It’s a good idea to begin brainstorming without constraints to get the juices flowing. Consider design aspects, features, and imagine what your home would look like if money were no object. Get inspiration from other houses you admire and want to emulate. Dive into Pinterest boards, drive around different neighborhoods to spark your imagination, take photos of homes you like, or browse architecture publications to get your creative juices flowing. This is the only stage where the only limits you are restricted by are the limits of your imagination. So let your mind run wild.

Get Your Ideas On Paper

Now that you have some idea of what your home is going to look like, it’s time to start sketching it out in more detail. The first thing you should do is draw up a budget and ask yourself how much you can reasonably afford. This will bring your vision into more realistic focus and will help prioritize certain wish list aspects over others. Invest in a design notebook and start sketching it out. Think about the needs of your family, both now and in the future. For example, do you plan on having more children? Is there a chance you may need to accommodate other relatives? Or might you want to create a home office to work remotely? Sketch out floor plans and make a list of essential features you want your home to have.

Finalize Your Plans

With your vision on paper, now is the time to bring it to life. There are many 3D imaging software solutions available, specially designed for visualizing your dream home. These will allow you to transfer your paper sketches into a 3D color model of your home. You can even put yourself into your future home and take a tour around it. You will be able to use this 3D model to present to builders who can then create it in real life for you. Consult with an architect to discuss your plans, who can help advise you on any considerations pertaining to structural integrity, zoning issues, and the suitability of the surrounding property. All that’s left to do now is hand your house design over to the pros and let them get to work building the house of your dreams.

Your dream home can become a reality if you design it yourself. All it takes is a sketchpad, some imagination, and the budget, of course…