If you are in a position to build your own home, before you break ground, you will need to work with a building designer to create the blueprints for your new dream home. When it comes to designing a home, it is helpful to understand a little about design so that you can have a great working relationship with your building designer.

Determine What Style of Home You Like

Before you start to work with a designer, it helps to know what style of home you like and want to design. This will help your designer better understand what you are looking for. Knowing what style of home you like will also help you find a designer who is knowledgeable about that style of design and who feels comfortable working on that type of house with you. For example, you could design a modern-style home, ranch-style home, or Victorian home.

Take some time to learn different home styles and figure out what ones you like. Or figure out what elements of different types you like and want to combine together. This will help you design a home you really like and improve your communication with your builder.

Gather Visual Inspiration

When it comes to designing a home, words only go so far. That is why it is helpful to gather some visual inspiration to share with your building designer.

There are lots of ways that you can do this. You can take pictures of homes you like and share them digitally or physically with your designer. You can create a Pinterest board and gather up different visuals that you like. You can bookmark designs you like online and share the links with the designer. Or you can make an old-fashion collage from magazines. The key is to put together visual references that you can use as you work on the plans for your home.

Consider Lot Layout

You want to consider how your lot is laid out in your home plans as the physical property should impact how your home is laid out. For example, you will want to have the front of the home face out towards the road. Perhaps you want to look out at the sunset from your family room. You will want to consider the layout of the lot and how that will impact your life inside of the house as you design it.

Consider Traffic Flow

Consider traffic flow as you design your space. Do you want to walk right into the front room and into the living room? Do you want to walk into a utility-style room? Do you want your kitchen to be near the door so you don't have to carry the groceries very far? How easy do you want the bedrooms to be to access? Be sure to carefully consider how people will flow through the space to direct traffic enjoyably and sensibly.

When designing a home with a building designer, it helps to know what styles you like and to have visual references for what you are looking for. As you work on the actual plans, be sure to consider how the lot will impact the layout of the home and consider how traffic will flow through the space.