Hiring a Home Designer

It is finally the time you have been looking forward to. You have given it quite a bit of thought and planning, made all the sketches and gathered photos and are now are ready to build your new home. The problem is that most builders will not work from sketches and photos. And to aggravate the matter, not only does your local building inspector require specific technical working drawings, but so does the subdivision planning review board.

The solution is to hire a home designer. These professionals are trained to take your ideas and hopes and put them to a working drawing. Not only drawing the plan, but also helping you to put the right design elements into your home to give it a beauty and charm that reflects your personality and taste. A home designer, also known as an architectural designer, is trained with the skills needed to make sure your home meets codes and is functional.

Once you have found a designer, there are several things you will want to discuss with him or her. The first is your budget. An experienced designer will know how to keep you within your spending limits. I personally have met with clients that had elaborate kitchen designs which went well beyond the expected amount of money allowed for its construction. The solution was that we found a cabinet builder who made the same type of cabinets the clients were wanting at a fraction of the cost that the national brand asked for theirs.

Another thing would be your sketches of the proposed layout of the home. Some people do not realize that the single line drawings they made of their plan will loose four inches or better when the wall thicknesses are properly drawn. Space, among many other things is sometimes misunderstood or improperly account for.

For instance, you may be expecting a ten foot by ten foot room but after the wall thickness is added, the room ends up something like nine feet four inches by nine feet eight inches. The designer will posses the skill to gain this lost area back to the planned size but rest assured, it will be at the cost of some other room or area of the home. Make sure to spend time discussing the layout so that you are happy with the finished product and its dimensions.

There are many other things that will be involved in the final design of your home that I am sure your designer will mention. Always try to be available to your designer should they have questions as this will make things flow more smoothly to a finished product.

About the Author

Tim Davis is a fully trained home designer with around thirty years experience as a designer and drafter. His website is at http://customhouseplans.8m.com.