My Home Inspire Ideas

Guest author, Joe Ahmann, owner of Ahmann Design Inc, has kindly written this article to help you in your house plan search. So you’ve bought your home lot and you’re ready to by the perfect house plan, but you don’t know where to start. There are important questions that you should ask your designer before buying that house plan, and I can help. I have been designing custom home plans and stock house plans for 20 years, and I have compiled a list of questions you should ask your home designer before buying. 1. How long have you been designing house plans? The more experience your home plan designer has, the more detailed his or her plans are likely to be. Stock house plans experience is also important because with all of the competition for online house plan exposure, there are plenty of home designers out there with little or no experience. 2. Do you design custom house plans? You think you’ve found the perfect house plan, but you want to make a few “tweaks”, and before you know it, your revision bill is 2-3 times the cost of the original home plan. A good designer will recognize the fine line between designing a custom home plan for you and spending too much time on revising a stock house plan. 3. Can I return my house plan if I decide not to build it? Most stock plan brokers online have an “all sales are final” policy, so make sure you check it out BEFORE you click the “buy” button. But there are some house plan companies and home plan designers WILL allow you to return your house plan with a minimal restocking fee, so be sure to ask. 4. Why can’t I return my house plan? Because there are so many house plans sold online to different parts of the world, it is hard to police theft. Bottom line is that there are many people out there buying a house plan and building it more than one time, which is a copyright infringement unless agreed to by the house plan owner. Home designers have limited resources to check to see if you are telling the truth or not, so most have adopted the “no returns” policy. 5. Will I need to have my house plan reviewed by a local architect? House plans sold through the large brokers online are required to be 2006 IRC compliant at a minimum, but some areas of the country require special additions to the plan that are specific to that area. It’s best to check with your local building official before buying a house plan. 6. Do you have references I can talk with? Most home plan designers will not have a problem giving you names of past clients, and if they do, reconsider using them! 7. What is your timeframe for completing my house plan? If you are hiring a home plan designer to draw a custom home, or modify an existing stock house plan, ask up front how long it will take so there are no surprises later. Many home designers who sell their house plans online are a “one man shop” and may require more time to complete the work. 8. Do you have photos of the house plan I like? Many times the house plan designer will have photos of a stock plan that’s already been built, so it’ always good to ask. 9. Who owns my house plan when it’s finished and paid for? The original designer is the owner of the copyright of your house plan, even if you’ve made changes to a stock plan. What are your payment terms? Some home plan designers will require an up-front deposit to begin the project, and it’s always a good idea to find out ahead of time how payment will be handled. (more…)

Nowdays the computer age is making software for a dazzling array of uses. One such genre is house floor plan software. With this type of program, you can quite literally be your own architect! Whether you’re a home hobbyist or a trained professional, anyone can now use software to do everything from create house floor plans to landscaping the back yard of your dreams. Home design software ideas can go from dreams to reality with the touch of a button.
Creating house floor plans from home design software can be accomplished in just a few easy steps. Most programs have a number of notable features.
1. Design, publish and print completed designs in 3D for yourself, family and customers.
2. Customize the home’s exterior by adding dormer windows, skylights, sun decks, balconies, terraces, and patios. Door styles and window types can also be customized.
3. Calculate and manage the cost of materials. This feature makes it easy to keep your house floor plan design withing you housing budget.
4. Lighting effects and shifting patterns of sunlight and moonlight can be created in order to see what effect the placement of windows will have on a room via 3D movies.
5. A built-in interior design program and furniture gallery can be used to create different themes before money is spent on interior decor.
6. Some software programs offer an optional landscape and garden program which allows the user to create a detailed design of yard desired right down to the flowers and ornaments. The landscape created can then be viewed through the change of seasons in order to create a colorful landscape year round. Most programs offer drag-and-drop capabilities that make designing your dream yard easy and fun.
Because most house floor plan design software runs on the local hard drive of your computer, you should keep the software system requirements in mind when making a selection. The system capabilities of your home computer should always meet or exceed the system requirements of the software you intend to purchase in order to properly execute the program. Knowing these facts will save time and frustration. (more…)

During the development of your custom home design, there are numerous floor plan features that should be considered.   Maximizing the enjoyment of your custom home can be accomplished by devoting ample thought to key areas of the overall floor plan.   Areas of consideration for your custom home design should include and open layout concept, ceiling heights, traffic flow, recreational areas, sight lines and exterior views. Becoming a key feature of almost every custom home design, an open floor plan concept allows better flow between spaces.   A good custom home design floor plan will maximize the useful square footage of the custom home while also creating a sense of special separation.   One way to achieve this effect is implementing half walls as a design element between rooms.   Maximizing the open concept for your custom home design can also be done by separating each space with a change in floor treatments.   The open concept can also have some influence on how the ceiling heights affect the whole design. Varying ceiling heights or changing the design elements of the ceiling can also create an open feeling throughout the custom home.   Tall ceilings and vaulted ceilings are popular trends used to create the open concept of the custom home design floor plan.   It is common to see ceilings in great rooms achieving heights of 20 feet either by vaulting or 2-story space.   Additionally you will find ceiling heights of 9 to 10 feet in kitchens, dining rooms and bedrooms of new custom homes. Particularly in an open concept custom home design, the floor plan must cater to the overall traffic flow throughout the home.   Single story custom homes typically have bedrooms adjacent to a family room or media room.   When designing these areas, Design Alternatives also makes sure too much traffic flow doesn’t cross over one another since the kitchen is usually located in proximity of the family room as well.   Although the importance of traffic flow is often neglected in custom home design, experienced designers will also give much consideration to the location of stairways in the overall traffic flow scheme. Home technology and home theaters have also increased the necessity and importance of recreational areas as a key aspect of custom home design.   Adequate thought must be given to not only identify where the television screen will be located, but also how the furniture will lay out around the home theater speakers and components.   If the recreational area is not attached to the kitchen, consideration must also be given to including a wet bar as part of this floor plan concept. As previously mentioned the open concept has become an increasingly important feature of new custom home design.   By creating an open floor plan, it opens up sight lines between spaces and to the outside.   A quality custom home design incorporates wall openings and doorway locations to utilize critical sight lines.   Limiting sight lines not only creates a mundane space, but will also make the whole house feel smaller due to the visual obstructions.   These sight lines should open up all the way to the exterior surroundings as well. Locating the house on the building site is just as important as the custom home design itself.   Care should be given in considering how the sun will enhance the natural lighting throughout the home.   If there are certain views that should be maintained, window type and positioning are also critical features which need to be planned out.   Design Alternatives Custom Home Design incorporates all these important aspects when designing each and every floor plan.   Your dream home is a big investment, so your custom home design should be completed by a designer who knows how to maximize all these important features. (more…)

Whether you are constructing a new home or refurbishing an apartment, this is your chance to make your kitchen stand out by incorporating a contemporary kitchen island plan in your construction or redecorating project. Kitchen islands are very popular in contemporary (and functional) kitchen designs because it certainly makes cooking and entertaining or watching over the children as you prepare dinner a lot easier.

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