Blueprints, or House Plans
, are easy to read once you have your bearings, and know what to look for. it's fun to swing by an Open house,
or three, on a Sunday afternoon, in a New Housing Development, pick up copies of
their house plans (the free spec sheets), then you can walk through the houses as you're looking at the house plans... an easy way to get to know your house plans :)
(And you're gonna love these Home Plan books -- I loove them! I could while away manys an hour looking at these beautiful Home Plans, dreaming of my next build... you'll love, that, too... lots of dreamy fun!)
These are the House Plans for the last house I built -- a very, very comfortable, beautiful home, and one I laid out carefully to make it just right for my little family. I designed this house specifically to fit on our 1.23 Acre Lot in an Estate Acreage. It would be very simple to adapt it to a differently shaped Lot, if necessary. Most House Plans can easily be modified to fit your own Lot Shape or Price Range, by changing the Size of the Footprint of the house making each room smaller or larger, or redesigning it to move the Garage around until it suits your Building Lot.
Blueprints. House Plans. Home Plans... Pretty much the same thing. For the most part, only the paper is different. Your Contractors won't be worried about which ones you have -- in fact, there are only a few of your Trades, if you're hiring out, who really need to see the Full-Scale Drawings, so make sure you get at least 10 Sets of smaller versions of your house plans -- 10" X 17" is standard. You can hand these out for quotes, your banker, and for most of your tradesmen.
The large copies of the Prints are so big that they're too cumbersome to bring into the job-site, especially if it's particularly windy, like our property. Also, Blueprints are really expensive, especially if they're Custom (anywhere from $3,000.00 - this is a minimum amount, just in case someone out there actually sells their work for this price -- and way,
waaay up! It's not uncommon to spend $15,000. or more on Blueprints for a high-end home...), so you're not going to be giving them out like candy! The
least expensive way to get great House Plans is to buy them online, which I highly recommend. The costs usually run around $500 to $5,000 (and waaay up), depending on how Big and Fancy your house will be. It's a great deal and well worth checking out.
If you are new to the world of Blueprints, you'll quickly get a handle on reading them. You'll know instantly whether you are attracted to the Exterior, but always be sure to check through the Interior Floor Plan. Some houses look fantastic on the Outside, but they're painfully dark and squishy on the inside. A choppy lay-out is difficult to live in, since you'll feel like you're living in a maze. Dwight and I were in a Show Home a while ago where we literally got lost a few times! How can that be?! That's
craaazy! You should never get lost in your own house...lol :)
When you're reading the Floor Plans, pretend that you are actually moving from room to room. If the Garage is located at one end of the house and the kitchen at the other end, you can imagine all the hassle of dragging all the groceries through the whole house to get to the kitchen. Check the size of each Bedroom, and note the location. A 10' X 10' (stands for 10 foot X 10 foot) is not a bad size, but it can be pretty squishy. It's a common size for many kid's bedrooms. For a Master Bedroom, you're going to want at least a 12' X 12' Bedroom -- bigger is better, so if you are building on your own, increase the Master to 16' X 16' or more -- you'll love the space!
Think about how close you want your Master Bedroom to your childrens' rooms. There's a new style where the Master Bedroom is all on it's own on the upper level, and the childrens' bedrooms are on a separate level. That's fine if your children are older, but not particularly practical if they are still little, and you need to be close enough to easily tend to them. My daughter was 13
(man, I didn't realize I wrote this part so long ago -- Cara is 22, now!), and although she's old enough to be on another floor, this isn't useful for me, since I'm the one who has to go in to wake her up for school -- over and over, again! I can't be bothered with that! ha,ha,ha!
I like to have both of the childrens' main rooms on the same floor as the Master Bedroom, with a Bathroom in between for privacy... Speaking of Bathrooms, be sure there as many bathrooms in the plan as you will require. Always add an extra Bathroom at the planning stages of a house, if you need another one, since 'popping another bathroom in later' is really expensive, may require demolition of previously- done work, or may not be possible at all. 'Live' in the house in your head for a while before you make any final decisions.
Imagine driving up to the house. Where do you want to park? How big does the Garage need to be, or do you require one at all? Will the Architectural Controls allow any placement of the Garage, or can it only be in the front? Do you want a big Front Entry, or will a small one suffice? Once you're in the house, think about walking through the Front Foyer. Which way would you like to go to get to the kitchen? The bedrooms? Do you need a separate Dining Area, or do you prefer an Open Concept arrangement? If you go for the Open Concept Plan, will there be a separate place for children to play and/or watch T.V.? There's nothing more annoying than trying to have an adult conversation with the T.V. blaring right beside you, so this is something to consider right at the start.
Do you like a really sunny house, or does a house with fewer windows appeal? There's another new trend that you may want to look for when you're looking at the House Plans, in case you want to change it -- an open archway into the Master Ensuite Bathroom. That's too much information for me! I always want to have a lockable door in the bathroom, and I hope my husband will always be kind enough to use it! ha,ha! Make sure you'll have the room in the bathroom that you'll need to acquire the Tub that you want, especially if you have a model in mind, already. (Quick update: I'm divorced, now, so now I'll need a
new husband to keep the door closed inthe bathroom (!) lol!, and the bath I
really wanted was the round,
yes, completely round, tub... jetted, of course, and absolutely gorgeous... would look great in a rounded window area, hopefully overlooking a very, very nice view! haha!)
Think about where you would like your deck(s) or patio(s), and a pool, if you're lucky enough to get one...I'm still working on that one! ha,ha,ha! Make sure you and your spouse (or spousal equivalent!) like the house equally -- it'll make the building process much more enjoyable if you're both thinking about the same thing!
When you find House Plans on-line that you really like, check to see if the Company has in-house Architects who can make some moderate changes (fees apply, of course -- any change to any project will have a cost attached to it...), or you can take the Plans to a local Architect to ensure that the house meets with local Building Codes and Architectural Controls.
Here are the House Plans for our house. I designed this house specifically to fit on our 1.23 Acre Lot in an Estate Acreage. It would be very simple to adapt it to a differently shaped Lot, if necessary. Most House Plans can easily be modified to fit your own Lot Shape or Price Range, by changing the Size of the Footprint of the house or redesigning it to move the Garage around until it suits you.
Photo Gallery
This Gorgeous Walk-Out Bungalow has over 5,000 square feet of comfortably elegant living space! Nice, huh?? It's 2714 Up, and another 2500 sq. ft. on the Walk-Out Level.
There are Three Bedrooms Up, including a
Huuuge Master Bedroom with a spectacular Ensuite and gorgeous Sunroom. There's even a Hot Tub Deck right off the Sunroom! The two Childrens' Bedrooms both have Bow Windows, because that's just nice in a kid's room!
There's a nice big Front Entry, stunning Vaulted Ceiling in the Over-sized Living Room, Kitchen and Dining Room. There's a nice Deck off the Dining Room, and a Patio area at the Walk-Out Area.
I added in a 5' X 9' Walk-In Pantry -- and I use every inch of it! Can't imagine trying to squish everything into a smaller space, now! The Kitchen is huge, too...it's always nice to have lots of space in the Kitchen!
There are Two Fireplaces, an enormous Triple Car Garage with lots of extra space for all our 'Projects', a Billiard Room, Bar, Fantastic Office (where I spend a tremendous amount of time!), a Steam Room, 3 1/2 Bathrooms, and an Exercise Room.
I don't like wasted space, so the whole house was carefully designed around what any family would need to make life easy and great! Let me know what you think!.
I'll put some pictures, here, so you can match the Finished House to the Plans. That way, if you happen to be new to this game, you'll quickly learn how to read Blue Prints!
Purchasing Your House Plans is through the Internet Saves Time and Money. If you love our House Plans, but have would prefer the Garage on the Front, Back, or completely removed, you can hire a local Architect or Draftsman to make the slight change. If you have a regular city lot, you could have the house scaled back to suit the lot size. There's a substantial savings, here, since all the kinks will have been worked out and you can buy House Plans for waaay less than you would ever pay a Draftsman or an Architect to start from scratch.
Order Your Full Set of House Plans, Here...
Full Set includes 2 Full Size Drawings and 10 Working Size Prints
$888.95 (U.S. Funds) -- Shipping, Handling and Taxes Included
Tiny Houses are HUUUGE, ironically enough, right now!
Ha! I have an article called this... will go link it for you! lol!: )
, yet?? It's my favorite 'new-to-me' show on TV... I looove it. I just can't get enough of it! Thank God for DVR (like TiVo
), because I DVR all the House Hunters International I can find (and they seem to have a marathon every Friday night, so that gives you tons of International House Hunters to watch over the weekend, and into the following week -- yippee!!).
, but check your local guide, see what channel HGTV is for you in your area, and start having some fun dreaming about where your next home could be!!
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