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An
architect's job is to make a house fit the clients by measuring
their activities and habits, their wishes and dreams.
A good architect will ask the right questions, ones designed
to encourage clients to take a careful look at who they are
and how they live; what they do when and where; and what they
need and want, like and love.
You can only build a house that "fits"
if you start equipped with answers to the important questions.
You will find what you want in a house if you know what you
are looking for.
Define
Your lifestyle
If
you live a traditional lifestyle, you probably want a formal
home, one with physically defined, separate rooms for the
living, dining, and kitchen areas. Informality suggests an
open plan in which areas for dining, family, TV, and cooking
may be located close to each other or even together in a great
room.
If friends flood through your front door each
weekend, the size of you living room, and kitchen should be
accommodating. Cooking large dinners requires ample counter
space and the dining room must be large enough for your guests,
a sideboard, or a buffet table.
But if you're entertaining consists of Sunday
football gathering, you may want to trade you counter space
for a large pantry with shelves for chips and dip and a wide
refrigerator to stock refreshments.
Keep a design file of snapshots you like, whether
from vacations or neighborhood tours. Elements of architectural
style are easily borrowed, and it will be easier to identify
what it is you like about a plan if you see certain elements
repeated in your selection.
List
the Rooms
This
may seem obvious, but it's important. Go down the list of
rooms to make sure the house plan contains all the areas you
want.
It will help you tremendously to start with the
activities normal to you family and afterward translate these
into rooms that house activities. Breaking your activities
down will help you imagine alternate uses for rooms with specific
labeling on the plans, you review.
Then, think about how you will be using the house,
and how that affects the relationship of the rooms. Some of
these relationships are obvious. For example, the kitchen
should open to the dining room to minimize the number of steps
you'll take carrying hot plates or dirty dishes.
But what about the relationship of the dining
room and other entertainment areas to the bedrooms? If you
entertain at night, should a small child's bedroom be some
distance from the kitchen, dining, and living rooms?
The relationship of you garage to your kitchen
is also important. Position the garage to your kitchen or
incorporate a pass-through so you won't have to haul bags
across the house.
Consider
Building Materials
Details,
details! There are so many elements to think about, but the
materials you choose for constructing your house can mean
the difference between a log cabin and a country charmer.
What will it take to create a home you want? With the following
checklists, you can further pinpoint your ideals.
Are there special amenities you desire? One or
two special features could turn an ordinary home into a dream
house. The book-filled window seat or the rustic stone fireplace
with wood mantel in the corner of the den can be key.
The following
checklist can be filled out here but if you would like a printer
friendly version please click
here.
NOTE: You do not have to fill out all of the checklist
it is for your benefit only. This checklist will not be processed
by this website.
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