Determining Priorities in Your Custom Home
Even before construction begins, one of the more stressful aspects of a custom home is choosing a house plan. Looking at plans can be overwhelming, especially when you feel pressure to build the perfect home! High Cotton Homes allows clients to totally customize their home, so there are no preset plans to choose from. This means you are free to design each and every part of your home; it also means you may feel a little anxiety about where to begin. Before worrying about style or details, doing this simple step can get you started on creating a home that's perfect for your family.
First, you and your spouse independently write down a list of needs AND wants in a home. Both are important! Your house should be functional, but you should love the features, too! Next, go back and rank the list in order of importance, from #1 being the most important all the way to the bottom. Once you both have a list, combine the two lists into one main list in order of importance. By creating this concrete list, it serves as a guide to help you focus in on your priorities as you sort through house plans, determine how to budget, and meet with the architect.
The best way we think you should go about making a list is to really think about your lifestyle and HOW you use your home. Where do you tend to hang out in your current home- kitchen, bedroom, living room? What do you love to do- watch movies, entertain, be outdoors, cook? What do you do a lot of or spend a lot of time on- laundry, Netflix binging, working from home? Really considering these things can help you decide how to prioritize and budget for your home's features. Also, fitting your home to your lifestyle ensures its an investment that actually meets your needs!
Here's a few ideas to consider when making your lists, but only add them if they're important to you!
Some basic home decisions:
- 1 or 2 floors, basement
- Slab or crawlspace (check out our other BLOG "The wise man built his house upon the ---" for the differences)
- Number of garage bays
- Number of bedrooms, baths
Would you like:
- Formal dining room
- Eat in kitchen
- Dedicated office
- Entertainment space
- Dog washing station
- Outdoor kitchen
- Outdoor access bathroom or outdoor shower if you plan on a pool
- Oversized pantry
- Detached garage/work space
- Desk space, reading nook, or homework area
- Fireplace
- Mudroom
- Theater room
Other decisions you might want on your list:
- Open concept or divided rooms
- "Split floor plan" meaning master bedroom is on one side and other bedrooms are across the house
- Grade of kitchen appliances
- Level of home efficiency
- Washer/dryer in the master closet
- Custom closet systems
- Wiring for speakers, security systems, etc.
- Laundry shoot
- Extra storage, usable attic space
- Coffee or espresso bar
- Wine cooler, wet bar area
Hopefully this tool will help as you begin your journey to a new custom home. It is a simple exercise, but knowing your priorities up front will give you an end product that is perfect for your family. As always, give us a call, and we can help walk you through the steps no matter where you are in the process!
What would be on your list?
