So you’re considering building a new home and you want to make sure you cover off on everything before you go about designing your home. Here are some things to consider when designing your home that you need to be aware of.
Balconies.
We are often asked to incorporate balconies into our home designs. People are under the misconception that balconies make homes look grand and give the home better appeal. Whilst in some cases they do, you have to ask yourself whether a balcony will have a real purpose in your home and weigh up the cost implications. We recently designed a home for a client where they wanted a balcony, simply because they thought they needed one to make the home look better. When we let them know what costs are involved with balconies and offered them elevation alternatives, they felt their money could be better spent in their kitchen or adding in a 3rd bathroom.
Sculleries.
It is almost a pre-requisite these days that all kitchens must have sculleries incorporated. They are great things to have incorporated in your home. They key is to make them functional and useful, as opposed to tucked away corners that inevitably drag the person using them away from the main areas of the home. Having them flow from the kitchen to the laundry is always a great option as you avoid a dead end in the kitchen and make use of the space as the corridor to the laundry.
Storage.
Gone are the days where homes from the 70’s had one linen cupboard in a hallway next to a laundry. These days, we want a variety of storage spaces. Linen’s, general storage, wine storage, workshop storage, even specified broom cupboards, laundry chutes and ironing cupboards. Designing a home is about understanding what you want to fit into the home without compromising on the other spaces in the home. For example, if I have a wine cellar, that essentially means I may not have walk in robes to the minor bedrooms. Which brings us to the final and most important point.
Family dynamics.
Understanding what your home needs right now, is a product of what you currently don’t have in your home. If this home is a 5 year home or a 15 year home, plan ahead and think about the areas of the home that will be important for the entirety of your existence there. For example, you may have teenagers and want an activity room for the pool table or ping pong table, but in 5 years those teenagers will become adults and may want the privacy of larger bedrooms to study privately whilst at university. We can never get the dynamics right at all times, but it is important to think not just about the things you want now, but the things you want in the future.
Whatever the things you desire in your home, understand that every household has different dynamics. Yours is different to your neighbours and theirs is different to the entire street. The benefits of custom designing your home is that you have the opportunity to consider your own requirements and design to suit those. Try not to be overwhelmed with what everyone else is doing or what you think will make your home more desirable in the future. The most important thing in your home is you, so make sure you walk into your new home thinking you love the way you created it….. Specifically for you.