When is the Right Moment and How to Hire the Right

Designer for Your Home

When you decide to renovate your home, you should be prepared for stressful moments.
Deciding to renovate your home must be done carefully.
First, you have to take in consideration how long are you going to live in this home, one year or
more years. Ask yourself, if this home satisfied your family needs, or you are looking to resale
your home.
If you decide to sale your home, you should prepare it for that, you have to spend less money and
you should make your home to look the best for resale.
If you decide to stay, you have to be financial prepare to invest your money in renovations and
you need a plan for it. Think at your family needs and how the future renovations will satisfied
them.
Write down what you wish for each room of your home and try to imagine the future results. You
can make a right financial estimation without a clear imagine of your future home renovation.
If your project is small, having the whole details, making notes is going to be helpful. Make
notes about the tiles, doors, if you are going to hire a contractor find how much his job is going
to cost.

If your project is going to be big, involving the alteration of floor plan or elevation now is the
moment to talk to an architect and you will need a designer too.

If you need a decorator to help you out selecting the paint color, or the drapery or your future
furniture, than hire one. It is your decision, you are in charge, you decide whom do you need to
hire.
If your renovation involves space planning, re-configuration of floor plans and maybe more you
will need for sure, a designer.
Now it is the time to choose the right designer. Try to find your architect and designer by referral
system. After you did your research, go with your feeling go with your instinct. You have to be
comfortable with persons you choose you do not want to get in conflict with them in the future.
As owner, you are liable for your home, for the improvements you are going to do to your home.
You will need a permit; you will need to hire qualified workers.

When you are reviewing proposals, stand with impressive scripts not with the pretty documents
, look for details that really matters for you. Look for specifics notes for preparation side and
protection. You to have to have a contact person; that person is going to manage the site.
In the end, you will need an honest open and friendly relationship with your architect, designer
and contractor in order to avoid unnecessary stress and your home renovation will be a success.
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Why Should You Have House Plans Before You Start

Building?
Building your home is perhaps the biggest investment of your life and you should plan
everything carefully.
Having house plans before you begin the construction it is of utmost importance.
You will save time and money, not to mention the quality of your future home.
Having house plans means also, you and your builder will know step by step what to do.
The building process will be easier and smooth. You will know exactly what materials are
included and their cost.

In fact,
having house plans it is similar with having a road map for your subcontractors and other
tradesmen you hire to build your home. They will understand what you want and will follow
your ideas and wishes. Of course they are professionals and know very well what they are doing,
but having detailed house plans improves the communication between them and you.
So, to save money and time and your dreams, building a home, to be fulfilled you need the house
plans to be exact, without any possibility of interpretation. Only the floor will not be enough for
this kind of job.
You will need detailed plans such as:

Site plan

Foundation plan

Elevations plan

Framing plan

Floor plan

Interior elevation

Wall sections plan

Roof plan

Electrical plan

Plumbing plan

HVAC plan

Room finish schedule plan

Door and Window schedule plan

Specifications Plan

Having your house plans means also you can find all the deals before starting your construction,
so you dont have to pay interest, which in fact, happens if you start building. You can start
shopping, knowing exactly what you will need for your building. Planning means also,
organization, less mistakes that means no materials and time waste.
Conclusion: A good planning could cut in half the home building work time. You can save
maybe almost 40% from the total cost. So, you should spend time for planning before you start
to build.
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Why Should You Have House Plans Before You Start

Building?
Having house plans are a great way to save time and money when you wish to build a new
home.
There are literally thousands of house plans available today via the Internet and having house
plans makes the building process smoother.
Maybe, some of them will fit your familys needs and a lot of them wont.
However with the staggering number of choices at online house plan sites and in published plan
books its almost impossible to find, choose, and buy the right house plan for you and your
family.
But, before you make your final decision on house plans, there are several things you should
consider.

First of all, you should keep in your mind that, your plans are the directions for the
subcontractors and other tradesmen you hire to build your house. These are the experts that
actually do the work, and carry out your dream, to build your home. The more detailed and
specific your plans, the more these experts can see your vision and help you to achieve it.
The plans you put together should be exact, not subject to interpretation and a floor plan is not
enough to get the job done. So, hiring consultants such an architect or
mechanical/electrical/structural/plumbing may be needed for advice on making your house plans
a reality. Seek advice on how much heating and cooling systems will cost, a civil engineer may
be needed if your property site is uneven, and other consultants should be referred to before you
buy your floor plans.
Lets see some steps to take in order to ensure that you truly end up with the home youve always
dreamed of:

1. Pick a plan that is best suited for your building site. Decide how you want your new home to
be situated on your lot. Your dream home starts with the perfect plans. Your new home should fit
in with the rest of the neighborhood, so take this into consideration right from the start. Using the
power of the Internet you can quickly and easily search house plans online.
2. Find a plan that meets your needs without needing too many changes. So, try to take in
consideration any construction aspect needed, from beginning. Save money by not buying what
you dont need.

Accessibility should also be a consideration. How physically fit are you and your family
members? Can you handle stairs easily? Do you need special feature such as accessibility
for wheelchair?

Bedrooms & Bathrooms You also need to decide how many bedrooms and bathrooms you
need in your new home. Maybe you will need a suite for in-law, or a suite for guests. Are
you planning to have more children? If any of these scenarios are a possibility for you,
youll need to take that into consideration.

Family rooms Think about how your family uses the shared space in the house. Do you
need both a living room and a family room? Do you want a formal dining room or would
you be fine with just an eat-in kitchen? How about an entertainment or media room?

External spaces External spaces also need some consideration. Think about the garage.
How many cars do you have or do you anticipate having? Do you need a workshop or a
shed? How about adding a conservatory? These external spaces also require some
thought when looking for the right house plan.

3. If you already have a style of house in mind then go ahead and click on the following
recommended search links on the Internet but avoid construction mistakes by getting complete
plans. You should present your builder all the information he needs to prepare an accurate cost
estimate. However, you have to know from beginning on what a plan will cost to build.
4. If you want to have a contribution to a Green Planet, choose an energy-efficient design.
5. With the same care and consideration you give to choosing your house plan, you should
choose your home builder. That will make the hole process of house construction much easier.
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How to Measure a Room for Carpeting

Measuring your room can seem daunting but its not too hard.
First of all, you need a pen or pencil, paper, tape measure and calculator.
Depending on the reason that you are measure the room, there are different measurements that
need to be taken.

1] For flooring: you need the area of the room.

2] For painting: you need to know the perimeter of the room, the height of the room and
the area of the ceiling.

3] For baseboard or molding: you need the perimeter measurement of the room.

Rectangular room without recesses or foyers

If your room is square or rectangular with no

recesses or foyers, the job of measuring your room couldnt be simpler. Simply measure the
width and length of the room and multiply one by the other.
i.e.: width = 3.15 meters or 315 cm and the length 4.85 meters or 485 cm. To calculate the area
just multiply width x length; Area = 3.15 x 4.85 = 15.3 sq. meters (rounded up)
NOTE: When measuring it is easy to make a mistake, so always remember measure twice.

Rectangular room with recesses or foyers

1] Make a drawing of the floor plan in the room you are measuring. It doesnt have to be to scale,
but the more accurate it is, the more useful itll be.
2] Then, measure the shortest width and length in the room.
3] Calculate the area of individual recesses.
Square or rectangular recesses:

Measure the width and length (shown in purple) of the recess as if it was a tiny room;

Multiply the width and length to find the area of the recess;

Record it in the recess area of your drawing.

Round recesses:

Measure the longest width and length of the recess (usually through the center) up until
the edge of the main area

Cut the length in half, and multiply your answer by the width, then by pi (3.14).

Divide the area in half

Record this in the recess area of your drawing.

Bay window:

The area in a bay window recess should only be included as part of the area of the room
if it has a floor, rather than a seat.

4] Add all of the areas together to get the total floor area.
L Shape room

This type of room accounts for lots of room styles, including hall-ways, lounge and kitchens etc.
Measuring this room is just as easy.
Split the L into two rectangles. Always draw a little plan of your room, to help when jotting
down measurements.
Very awkward shape rooms
When measuring very awkward rooms, like a hexagonal conservatory, just treat the measurement
as if it were a rectangle, the measures taken at the longest walls.
Measuring the stairs
There is no need to measure the length of the stairs, simply follow the method below for a simple
staircase.

Count the number of stairs.

Measure the tread and the riser

Measure the stair width

Top tips on measuring for Carpet:

Seams should run towards primary light sources where possible and be kept to a
minimum where possible. Carpet should all run in the same direction. Always begin
measurements in the centre of doorways rather than the bottom of walls.

Color is difficult to match between dye batches and different widths so we would
recommend that you purchase all you require at the same time specifying all cuts to come
from the same dye batch.

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How to Design Your Own Home

Designing your dream home can be an overwhelming task.
Architects, engineers, and contractors have the background and years of experience in designing
houses, but even if you contract their services, ultimately, the house you build will be built for
you, so you should be involved closely in the design process.
You should also, understand some of the required knowledge that goes into the planning of the
home of your dreams.
However, whether its building a new home or remodeling an existing one, both processes are
exactly the same.
Planning your new home:
You may have your own ideas about what you have always wanted in a home and then you can
always look at other homes and magazines to see if those designs are a good starting point for
your home. Take advantage of marketing tools, such as online visual tours and interior
renderings, as well as open houses and browsing days.

It is important to create a
vision of what you want your new home to be and do some prep work before your first design
appointment. Make a listing of your familys requirements: how many bedrooms you need, how
large the rooms should be, what floor plan you want in your kitchen, if you want a formal living
room and dining room, and so forth.
- If you only need 2 bedrooms at present, an extra room might be used for an office, storage, or
even left unfinished and unfurnished until such time as it is needed. Remember that: it is simpler
to add a room during initial construction than to remodel or build an addition later.

- For a big family two or more bathrooms make life much easier. I dont have to mention that will
increase the resale value of the house.
- Many people are rediscovering the joy of cooking, and nothing contributes more to this
enjoyable pass-time, hobby, and necessary activity than having a spacious, well designed
kitchen.
- Special function rooms. Consider if your lifestyle requires rooms suitable for special functions,
such as formal dining, office space, a library, recreation room, conservatory or a nursery.
- Dont forget utility areas: laundry room, mud room a garage.

The Site
Part of the design process also, involves gaining all the information you can, not only just about
your site, but also neighboring properties and the locality.

- Ask yourself, where you think your house is going to be built? This is extremely important and
has great influence upon the design decisions you are going to make for your house.
- It should be noted that if your site looks like it may have issues (e.g. unstable rocks, a very
steep gradient, etc.) a geotechnical engineer should be engaged to advise you on the best
location for your new home that will reduce building costs.
- Local councils and others also, will impact on your design and these must be considered at this
time. Restrictions such as height limitations preferred building forms and existing scale of
architecture in the locality are all examples of planning controls that will impact your design.
Call your local council and speak with the building inspector and planner. Tell them you are
designing a new home and ask them if there is anything that will affect the design of your new
home.

Develop the design

Now you have finally reached the point where you can start drafting the initial design drawings
of your home, where dimensions are added to the drawings. Everything must be made to fit at
this phase. You will develop your scheme into a completely dimensioned drawing.
The initial design will be a combination of plans, elevations and form drawings or whatever best
explains the design and how it works. The plans should be easy to understand and will be the
starting point from where the initial design drawings may change before they become the
developed design drawings.
Draw to scale; make a block or an inch equal a specific distance. Common scales are 1 inch = 4
feet and 1 inch = 8 feet.

It is a good idea to consider using some helpful home design software- youll probably find this
easier than drawing. Today, most packages come with 3D templates so you can easily insert
appliances, fixtures and even furniture into your plan.
Once your design has been developed, you can then begin to have the plans drafted by an
architect who will be able to construct your home as you designed it. You can take great pride in
this home because it is your vision and dream.