William Morris, the famous British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, and printer of the 19th century once recommended to “have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”
One of the most obvious advantages that comes with building a custom home is exactly what the name entails: that you and your family get to customize every aspect of your living quarters. Though many homeowners may be attracted to the quick build times of prefab houses, the cookie-cutter house layouts don’t offer much opportunity for tailoring the home to your unique needs and aspirations. When designing your custom house, you are gifted the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to design usefulness and beauty into every hidden corner of the place you will call home.
True creativity and originality in a custom home starts with the home design layout. How many rooms do you need? Where is the most convenient place for your children´s playroom? How might the layout of the kitchen and dining areas improve the “flow” of the home? Are there ways to connect the indoor and outdoor living areas?
These are just a few of the questions that future homeowners should be asking when going through the process of analyzing different family home plans. Below, we offer three simple suggestions for how you can best design your home design layout.
Home Design Layout Suggestion #1: Think about your current lifestyle and future needs
A custom home should fit your lifestyle, create unique spaces for your hobbies and interests, and allow you unparalleled levels of comfort. As you go through the process of building a custom home floor plan, create a list of priorities that you absolutely must have and how much you are willing to spend on each of those priorities. If you love grilling out, then adding an outdoor kitchen and cooking area should certainly be high on that list of priorities. If you have an artistic sense, creating an art room with a beautiful view might also be something worth considering.
Furthermore, you should also think about what types of life changes might occur throughout the years of living in that home. Are you planning on having children? What spaces might they need/require down the road? As you grow older, will the stairs become a problem for accessibility?
As you think through these things, you should also consult with your custom home builder to get an idea of potential costs. The best custom home builders will also be able to offer insight and guidance regarding your home design layout ideas.
Home Design Layout Suggestion #2: Take the Surrounding Environment into Consideration
Building a custom home also gives you an opportunity to best take advantage of the natural forces and elements that interact with your building site. Site-specific designs allow you to orient your home in order to best capture the natural heat from the sun for a passive solar design. You can also organize your home layout to:
- Maximize the best views
- Improve your privacy from neighbors and nearby roads
- Protect your home from strong, winter winds
- Offer cooling shade during the hot summer months
- Exploit solar energy for residential PV solar systems
By finding the best way to situate your custom home on the building site, you can improve the energy efficiency of your home, lower your energy bills, and enjoy the ways in which your home blends into the surrounding landscape.
Home Design Layout Suggestion #3: Don’t Be Afraid to Think “Outside the Box”
Lastly, when designing your custom home floor plan, don’t be afraid to let your imagination go a little wild. It can certainly help to tour other homes that break the mold on traditional home designs. This can help give you a “feel” for what some of your ideas might look like in reality. As you think through your home design, consider adding a few “luxury rooms” or spaces that will make your home uniquely your own. A customized wine cellar, an entertainment room with state-of-the-art technology, and other similar ideas can help you create a home that you will love.
Natale Builders is one leading custom home builder that specializes in helping homeowners in Western New York plan and build a home that will fulfill all your wildest dreams. We are willing to work with our clients to help ensure that their custom home gets finished on their timeline. If that means that our crews work through the winter, then that´s the sacrifice Natale Builders is willing to make.
We have over 50 years of experience in building custom homes, and we are also proud to be an industry leader in Energy Star and Green Build designs for homes and neighborhoods in Western New York. Contact Natale Builders today to get started planning the construction of your custom home that will last a lifetime.
