Design Decisions to Make Before Building a New Home

When you’re building a house, you’re making a lot of decisions, and not all of them are of equal importance. A change of paint color is trivial, but moving a bathroom or changing the hidden works can have an effect on a number of trades and the finished surfaces. That’s why the order in which you make your decisions is important.

A good planning process will separate the decisions that are going to have a bearing on the overall layout of the house from those that are purely going to affect the appearance of the house. This allows the owner to concentrate on the decisions that are most likely to cause problems if they’re not properly defined and provides the project team with a much better basis on which to coordinate.

Agree on What the Project Includes

Start by defining the project scope. Work out who is going to provide the structural package, who is going to do the interior, who is going to do the connections, the installation, the inspections and the paperwork. Take the general descriptions and turn them into specific project tasks.

If considering a supplier such as DEEPBLUE SMARTHOUSE, request an inclusions and exclusions schedule for the actual proposed package. Confirm which services and finishes are included and which must be arranged separately. Apply the same approach to local contractors and specialist suppliers.

Ensure it’s clear who is responsible for the approvals and site-specific requirements. Don’t assume that a product description or standard drawing will in fact cover the site. The team need to know what documentation and decisions are still outstanding.

Plan Rooms Around Real Routines

Write down how your household will use the home during a typical week. Think about cooking, working, laundry, guests, quiet time and overnight stays. Use those activities to work out how the rooms will link before you start thinking about the decoration.

Look at privacy and how people move through the home. A route that’s ideal during the day may not be so good when you’ve got guests over or when people’s routines are different. Bathrooms need to be easily accessible from the bedrooms and the other shared areas.

Draw the furniture in at actual size on your floor plan. Make sure you show open doors, pulled-out chairs, and the space required around any storage. All of these little things can help you spot potential layout problems prior to construction actually starting.

Resolve Kitchens and Bathrooms Early

Kitchens and bathrooms are all about water, drainage, electricity, ventilation and special finishes. The layouts have to be considered as a package rather than just individual products being selected.

Check the fixture locations, the service routes and the maintenance access with the right people. Ask whether the proposed walls and floors will be able to support your choices. Note down any requirements that may impact on the earlier work.

Think through the whole bathroom routine from start to finish. Is there enough space to use the fixtures, get your supplies, dry off and get dressed? It may all fit on the page but the room could still end up awkward to use.

Choose Installation-Dependent Equipment

Some fixtures must be selected before walls are closed. For concealed shower systems, obtain the technical information for the exact model under consideration. Confirm installation depth, connections, compatible components, and the servicing method.

Ask the installer to check those details against the wall construction and the water system. A catalog picture won’t tell you whether the equipment will actually fit or how it’s going to be maintained.

Apply that same careful approach to all the other built-in equipment as well. Work out which of the product options will have an effect on the openings, the supports, the outlets and the access panels. Set deadlines for those decisions in line with the construction schedule.

Make Storage and Electrical Planning Specific

Storage is far more useful if you plan it around the actual items you have. Where are you going to store your luggage? Your cleaning equipment? Your laundry? Your pantry? Your clothes? You need to think about both the amount of space you’ll require and the level of accessibility you need.

Plan your electrical outlets according to where your furniture and activities will be. Think about bedside charging, desk gear, kitchen appliances and cleaning tools when you’re deciding where the outlets go. Make sure that doors or furniture don’t end up blocking access.

Think about lighting for different tasks and at different times of day. Cooking, reading or just walking around the house at night are all going to have different lighting requirements and you’ll need different switches and different light placement to cater for those. Make sure that all of that is catered for in the design and the installation.

Review the Plan Against a Full Day

Talking about each room in isolation is likely to miss the point when a number of people are using the house at the same time. Walk through a typical day (a typical morning and a typical evening) with your household in mind. Who needs the bathroom? Where does breakfast take place? Is one person working while the others are moving around the house?

Think about the less obvious scenarios too. People may need a place to sleep, you’ll need to get in groceries and you may at some stage need to replace some of the big kit. Check the routes and doorways with your project team as these sorts of things can highlight practical requirements that a simple list of rooms would never pick up.

Talk about any changes that may occur as you’re living in the property. You may well end up needing a new work setup or more storage. Work out which of those changes are trivial and which would have an impact on the building or the services. Don’t assume you’re going to need to buy any extra equipment at this stage as a good layout can often provide the flexibility you need.

Just document the decisions and any open issues. Assign the technical bits to the appropriate person and set a deadline for them to get back to you. That turns the generic chat into actual information for the drawings, the specs and the purchases so that the team knows what you’re after. Always have a review with all the people who are responsible for the design, supply and installation prior to final drawings being signed off. That gives you the opportunity to resolve any questions around size, access, product fit and delivery before the work is actually completed.

Keep a Shared Decision Record

Make one approved list for products, finishes, sizes and responsibilities. Include a version number and date so everyone knows what’s current. Record the decisions as and when they are made rather than relying on message threads.

If someone is proposing a substitute, then look at it in terms of more than just appearance and price. Look at whether it alters installation, compatibility, delivery time, maintenance etc. Get confirmation from everyone that will be impacted by the change.

Before each major stage of construction, go through any open decisions with the project team. Deal with the items that impact the next stage first. That way you’re focused on the important stuff rather than having the most obvious decisions take over every single meeting.

A clear decision process enables the owner to focus on the details that are important to them and allows the contractor to work with good information. The end result is a home where the layout, the services, and the finishes all work in harmony.