A Guide to Home Design

Follow these four steps to create your dream house

Custom-home designs and specifications typically are created through a four-step process, as follows:

Step 1
The buyer brings his or her ideas for the home to the table or the buyer and builder develop some preliminary ideas together. Very often, buyers have saved pictures, articles, floor plans and other bits of information relevant to their dream home. The designer and builder can use your clippings to create a plan for a home that is build able and will meet your needs and fit your budget.

Step 2
The designer begins the preliminary drawings based on your ideas and conversations with you and the builder. The preliminary drawings consist of rough sketches of proposed floor plans and levels, projections for the size and location of various rooms and concepts for sitting the home on the lot. Accurate cost estimates can't be calculated at this stage, but the builder and designer can guide the project toward a plan that will be within your budget. A realistic cost estimate can be determined only from complete plans and specifications.

Step 3
Preliminary drawings approved by the buyer then are turned into working drawings. At this time, the designer creates the original drawings from which the blueprints for your home will be made. Working drawings may consist of four to 20 pages, depending on the complexity of your home and the level of detail in the drawings.

Step 4
Specifications-called "specs" — are created to identify the finishes and features that will be used in your home. The specs determine everything from the type of roof to the trip levers on the toilets. The working drawings determine the quantities of materials that will be needed and the specifications determine the quality of those materials.