Critical Design Choices to Make for Your Custom Home Interior

Creating your new custom home takes a lot of time and money. You should want the best design plan for your household—especially since most people stay in their custom house for 10 years or more. Because of this, there are critical design choices you should be invested in that will change the way you look at your house down the line.

Remember, there are features to your home that might not age particularly well. Think about these decisions with an eye to the future instead of exclusively worrying about designs in the moment. Your home will look better for it.

Carpet or Hard Floor

Most homes will have a combination of carpet and hard floor (such as tile) in their home, but making decisions on rooms specifically should be on your mind. Most bedrooms have carpet, while most kitchens and bathrooms require a hard floor because of their interaction with water.

Both have their own benefits and remedies. Carpet is generally cheaper and quieter to the step than hardwood. It is great if you are raising children. On the other hand, hard flooring is easier to clean and maintains its quality better at the cost of a higher initial price. You can use rugs to mitigate sound problems. Select your preference based on what works best for you.

Light Fixtures

The way your house lights up can be incredibly important to you long-term. You should decide how much natural light you want in your home compared to fluorescent bulbs. Natural light provides excellent health benefits—though may lower your energy efficiency when it comes to cooling your home.

Look at a catalog to see what kinds of chandelier or bulb designs you prefer. Some people enjoy having light dimmers in their main room when they are watching TV or movies. You may want to add fancier lights in your back porch. Talk with your contractor to see what he can do.

Choosing Colors

Picking the perfect colors for your home is one of the most exciting parts of the design process. This initial color will influence what furniture you add to the room. Choose something that will satisfy you for a long time and that has potential to work with many colors. White, black, gray, and dark blue are four popular colors right now.

You should choose furniture tones that complement the color in your home instead of matching it. Contrasting tones pop out more and don’t clash like similar colors do. For example, if you have a dark blue wall, you should go for a lighter color to complement it.

Installing Appliances

While you may be attached to the household appliances you have right now, you should probably plan to buy new ones to match your custom home. This can be stressful since you just bought a new house. Keep in mind that appliances should be in your budget. Check your appliance’s lifespan, then shop around by priority.

New appliances should be your top priority after completing your down payment. If you are getting close to your goal, you might be able to sell the old appliance to cover the difference. You can also use timing to your advantage. For example, if a new refrigerator model is coming out, don’t buy the old model until the new one is released.

High-Quality Material

When you get further in the process, you should look at the quality of materials you can build certain areas of your house with. While it may take a bite out of your savings, you won’t have to pay for renovations later in your home’s life. Paying for quality up front is generally the smarter choice.

For example, countertops can be made of many kinds of material. The cheapest varieties are made out of laminate or wood. However, you may want to go for a granite or marble island in your kitchen. These costs and design choices should be considered before you plan anything else.

Home Layout

The rest of these choices will likely be made earlier on in the development process. Your home layout is something you can’t just alter after the house is built—so you need to get it right the first time. These are the most consequential parts of home design.

Think about your life priorities and what is the most important for your household. Will you hold family gatherings? Get a big living room and kitchen. Spend time watching movies? Make a home theater. Do you plan on having children? Make sure you add enough rooms into your design. These are questions you should consult your contractor about.

Room Size

You will likely spend most of your time at home in your room, so you should make it the perfect size. One of the biggest regrets some homeowners have is not understanding the dimensions of the rooms on paper. People who are hoping they get a bigger room with more free space may come out disappointed if they don’t have a critical eye.

You should make sure that the size of the rooms in your contractor’s design is what you want. If it isn’t, counsel with them and see where you can subtract space to make up the room.

Storage

One often overlooked aspect of home design is storage space. You may have a lot of space to mingle and spend time, but without proper storage your home will look cluttered and over-designed. Make sure you have a room where you can put your extra baggage, boxes, and holiday decorations.

On the flip side, make sure you don’t add too much storage space, otherwise you are paying a lot of money for a part of your home to not do anything. It is all about finding balance when it comes to storage.

Your custom home can become perfect if you make careful planning your priority. Being a designer for your home, you need to make a ton of decisions. Whether it is a broad one like home layouts and storage space, or a specific one like lighting and color design, you need to prioritize what is best for you and your family.

We can help you to design a custom home that fits your vision of the perfect home. Contact us to get started!