Once you’ve determined what you need in your new home and have the target size of your house you’ll need to figure out what you want. What I mean by this is you want to determine the TYPE of house you want. This consists of style, things you want to make your house special and unique, and the types and quality of materials you want for the house both inside and outside. Please refer to our article “What is the Best Home Design” for additional thoughts.
As an aside, I think of the song “Somewhere That’s Green” from the movie musical “Little Shop of Horrors” when contemplating someone dreaming of their new home. In this beautifully quirky tale, the female lead sings this gorgeous song representing her dream of a better life with her beloved. In part of the song are the lyrics “…and I dream of a place where we could be together at last, a matchbox of our own. A fence of real chain link, grill out on the patio, disposal in the sink. A washer and a dryer and an ironing machine, in a tract house that we share, somewhere that’s green.”
Though this song is about a 1950’s era dream of escaping skid row to the suburbs, it beautifully describes the dream of a better place to live and what that looks like to her. This type of dream is what I want you to describe for yourself.
The goal of figuring out what you want will go a long way in establishing a realistic budget for your new home project.
For Step 1 see the article “Four Steps to Take Before You Design – Step 1: Determine What You Need“.
STYLE AFTER SUBSTANCE
The Step 1 information you put together about the rooms, spaces, their sizes, and what goes in them is the substance of your new home. However, I now want you to think about style.
Style can mean a variety of things. It can be the specific aesthetic of a home such as Cape Code, Farmhouse, Bungalow, Contemporary, etc. It can also be more descriptive. Do you want tall gables (the vertical triangular ends of roofs), a tall or low-slope hip roof (sloped surfaces on all sides of the house), or a flat roof? It would be good to research house styles to get a sense of what you like and want. Please refer to our articles on house styles at the following links:
“Ultimate House Styles – ‘A’ to ‘C’“
“Ultimate House Styles – ‘D’ to ‘N’“
“Ultimate House Styles – ‘O’ to ‘Z’“
It can also be the feeling you want to portray to others and/or the lifestyle you want. Do you want something formal and impressive? Do want something casual and comfortable? Do you want big and spacious, or cozy and charming?
Style can also encompass the types of use. Will this be a place that you’ll have a lot of casual gatherings with friends and family? Will you want as much outdoor living as indoor living? Will there be a lot of kids with their friends and cousins around all the time? Will this be a place of formal gatherings for business and socializing? Is this to be a place of seclusion from the world?
It can also encompass a lifestyle aesthetic. Do you want a surf and sand lifestyle on or near the beach? Do you want a place to retire in the woods? Do you want an urban chic lifestyle, or a country casual one?
All of these types of style are what you need to determine, as those will influence the overall aesthetic and materials for your home as well as the planning and design.
THE THINGS THAT MAKE IT SPECIAL
Once you’ve determined the aesthetics and lifestyle of your house you need to write down the things that will make it special to you. These could include such items in each space as:
- A special entry feature such as a generous porch or two story entrance hall
- Full-width or wrap-around porch
- Tall ceilings (either throughout the house or in select rooms) or two-story spaces
- Sloped ceilings or ceilings with special features such as exposed beams, wood trusses, or recessed coves.
- Bay windows or window seats
- A built-in bar
- French doors to outdoor living areas
- Walls of glass
- Outdoor living spaces (porches/patios)
- An outdoor kitchen and dining space
- A swimming pool, hot tub, and maybe a cabana
Be sure to do some research on this. Look at home sites, magazines, and books. Maybe visit some open houses to see what’s out there. But, don’t get overwhelmed or too crazy. It’s just an exercise in knowing what you’d like to have.
THE MAGIC OF MATERIALS
In addition to the physical form of your house, materials and their application make up the overall visual style of your home and lifestyle. Be sure to consider and write down what types of materials you want in each room (walls with paint, wall coverings, a wood base and cornice; woodwork paneling; wood, stone, tile, or carpet floors; ceilings with beams).
Also do this for the exterior walls and roof of the home and for any exterior spaces of your home (porches, patios, etc.). See our article “What Exterior Walls are Made Of” for more information on exterior wall types and exterior materials.
Higher quality materials (brick, stone, metals) will generally cost more and might be appropriate for some styles more than others. Lower quality materials (wood, vinyl, cement board products) can be appropriate for other simpler styles but can make some styles appear ‘cheap’. Be sure to consider materials appropriate for the style of home you want.
Be sure to include such things as driveway and walkway materials as those will have an impact on cost.
WINDOWS
Windows play a big part in establishing an aesthetic and level of quality for a home. You’ll need to decide what types of each you’ll want in terms of operation, materials, and style.
Windows can be described in terms of operation, such as double-hung, single hung, casement, hopper, awning, and fixed.
Window style involves how it’s put together and how it looks: simple single infill panel of glass, true divided lites creating a pattern in the window, divided lite inserts that allow for a single piece of glass but with an aesthetic of divided lites, arched windows, groupings of windows, walls of windows, etc.
You should also consider the material you anticipate or prefer for the windows. Do you want quality wood that you can stain or paint? Do you want exterior wood windows with a cladding material for protection, such as vinyl or metal? Do you want easy-to-maintain windows made from materials such as metals, fiberglass, or vinyl?
You should contemplate what you want for windows and include that as part of your project description. This will help a contractor or architect get a sense of what you’re wanting for budgeting purposes.
Be sure to review our article “The Great Window Guide for Your House” for more detailed information on windows.
DOORS
Doors are one of the few items you directly touch with your hands on a day-to-day basis, and for that reason can establish the aesthetic and quality level of a home. Doors can also establish the personality of your home starting at the front door.
Like windows, doors can be described in terms of operation, style, and material. A door can be a simple plain slab or a surface made up of multiple components creating a pattern of surfaces. Doors can be lightweight or heavy and substantial. Doors can be made of finished wood, solid flat painted surfaces, and a variety of manufactured materials other than wood.
Be sure to review the article “The Great Door Guide for Your House” for more in-depth information.
THE FEEL
Another thing to consider is the ‘feel’ you want for your new home. This is a more descriptive exercise, describing the home in more emotional terms. This could inlude the type of home you want to project to visitors (formal, casual, contemorary, etc.), the feeling you want inside your home (formal, casual, open and bright, quaint, cozy, etc.).
ACTIVITIES
Also, be sure to write out the types of activities you anticipate in each space. This is important if you’ll have a variety of activities going on such as playing games, studying, celebrating, holiday decorations, etc.
WRITE IT DOWN
What you want plays as big a part as the basic requirements in determining the quality of home you want. Together these will help to establish a budget that reflects your dream. Be sure to include this information as part of your project description.
With a bit of research and a lot of contemplation you’ll be able to understand your dream in greater detail. Be sure to give special consideration to these items and write them down as part of your project description.
TAKE THE THIRD STEP
Read about your next step by reading the article “Four Steps to Take Before You Design – Step 3: Select Your Property“.
Top Photo by Abhilash Sahoo from Pexels.
Feature photo of women holding up a card by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels.
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