Posts Tagged ‘design your house’
Dormers Can Transform Useless Attic Space
Dormers can greatly enhance the appearance of a house, while also expanding the useful living space on the second floor. A standard attic that might otherwise be only good for storage can be dramatically transformed into delightful living space that is loaded with character. Rooms carved out of the space under the house roof framing…
Read MoreLearn How to Calculate Square Footage in a House Plan
It is critically important to know how to calculate square footage when you are designing your new house or addition. What parts of the house count in the calculation and what parts do not. The most commonly used formula for calculating square footage, and the one used by real estate appraisers, is to include only…
Read MoreHow to Design a Kitchen That Is Efficient and Beautiful
People who know how to design a kitchen are keenly aware that the first goal is to make the kitchen functional and efficient. Naturally, you want your kitchen to be attractive. After all, we spend a lot of time in our kitchens. But first and foremost, your kitchen needs to fulfill its purpose of being…
Read MoreSmall Kitchen Design is a Puzzle Waiting to Be Solved
A small kitchen design is a tough challenge. The kitchen is the most complicated room in any house. Small kitchens should still follow the planning principles of any good kitchen design. They must hold many different items, such as appliances, sinks, work surfaces, eating areas, and storage cabinets. They need to be workable and facilitate…
Read MoreGood House Planning It’s the First Step toward Designing a Great House
House planning is the most important part of the design process whether you’re designing a new home or designing a remodeling or addition. It’s a fool’s game to try to design your house without having a clear idea of what you want to achieve. I compare it to driving off for your family vacation without…
Read MoreWindow Grids Are Important to the Style of Your House
Window grids, more properly called muntins, are the slender bars that divide a large window into smaller panes, or lites. In the UK these grids are called glazing bars and they’re called astragals in Scotland. The small strips of metal that join glass in leaded glass windows are known as the caming. By whatever name…
Read MorePlan Your House to Meet Your Budget
Often when you look at a new home, or talk to a builder about the rough cost of building a house, you will hear the phrase “Square Footage” and they will talk in terms of “Cost per Square Foot.” This is the standard way of describing the size and cost of a house. But how…
Read MoreI Know What My House Should Look Like
Do you know what your house should look like even though you don’t have a floor plan? If so, you might have the same question one of our readers asked me recently. Luci wrote: I know the correct answer for this, but I’d like to find out that it CAN be done differently – My husband…
Read MoreLiving Small – Efficient House Design
The days of “Living Large” may be numbered. House design is changing. We might soon be bragging that we’re “Living Small.” With the current economic conditions, we are seeing our dreams and desires in a whole new light. High energy costs, environmental concerns, maintenance costs and the cost of the house itself are strong motivators…
Read MoreHomebuilding – Early Cost Estimates
I was asked this question recently. How do I go about determining the likely cost of building a new house without having to go through the expensive and time-consuming task of completely designing the house and creating the final bidding and construction documents (drawings and specifications)? If the price comes in too high, the design…
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