It would help if you narrow down the question by attaching a floor plan in jpeg file showing what you have so far with the design.

built ins as often as possible.

and do better than builder basic mouldings. your house will look prettier if you start with a prettier base.

things that would be important to me: floor outlets for lamps behind floating sofas ... laundry room near the bedrooms ... think through HVAC vent locations so that they won't interfere with furniture placement ... prewire the entire house for speakers and a security system (even if you're not sure you want those things) before the drywall goes up ... don't say things like "I don't need a broom closet -- I'll find a place for that stuff", because you won't ... minimum ceiling height of 10' ... if you are near the beach in south Florida then an outdoor shower ...

watch alot off grand designs(channel 4 in the uk), build my dream home and other self build projects the information is useful. Depending on the spec of your build have an architect or designer create a visual representation of your final look as throwing away paper is alot easier than knocking down walls.

We are a brand new company out of Charleston, SC and we just launched our brand new product.. Colorful, Patterned Hardwood Floor Tiles which would be a beautiful addition to anyones dream home! Our products were inspired by our founder, Sally Bennett, while she was designing her very own dream house. She wanted to have the beauty of hand painted hardwood floors without the backbreaking labor. We have over 100 customizable designs to help you find the perfect tile that fits your personality and space! We even offer the option to use our tiles as backsplashes. The possibilities are endless!

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These are my (very rough) drawings. The idea is to build a reverse floor plan house ( bedrooms on ground floor, living spaces up top) to take advantage of gulf views. The lot is one off Caxambas bay and the Gulf of Mexico is about a mile away. A large, deep two storied, covered porch will run along the west side with open air deck along the roof of the porch. My husband's big three are professional style kitchen, big (diving and lap)pool and private office. My big three are lots of outdoor living, big dining room for a big table and four guest bedrooms. Currently the house is set up with four guest rooms (three in main house on ground floor and one guest suite above garage), a master suite on the ground floor, five full bathrooms plus a powder room, living room, library, dining room, kitchen (two islands), wine room, and butler's pantry. I am thinking about 10' ceilings on bedroom level with 12' ceilings on second floor. There is a 35' height limit ( height of center of main roof line above average elevation of unmodified lot). I looks at a number of three story designs with game rooms and such on the third floor but the only way to fit them under the height limit would be to have short ceilings and we much prefer high ceilings (though not the two story ceilings found in some formal living rooms).

Sigh *looked

The best advice I can offer for your plan is this: incorporate accessible design into the plan. I don't know how your site is oriented to the views, in terms of direction, but a key element would be to work with an architect to make certain that accessibility and room orientation are addressed early in the design process. Why is this important? Whether accommodating a child of 8 or a grandparent of 88, access into, out of and throughout the inside of your home are equally important to getting the right natural light in the right rooms at the right time of the day. Extremely important to your design when the "living" areas are not on the ground floor. Happy Houzzing!

Yes, indeed. We are putting in an elevator that'll be big enough for our friends scooter.

As a technology design professional the most desired and valued features by our customers is Lighting Control, House Audio, and Custom Home Theaters. There are several other modern home tech features that will bring a home to life, create ease of living and enjoyment from your dream home. Lighting control should be addressed during the pre construction phase as well as structurally wiring (AV, Networking, Automation, Security, Surveillance, Shading, Climate & Lighting Control) your home for any desired and potential future features you would like. Often times these things are not addresses or thought of and becomes costly and pain point for builder and clients when addresses too late in the process.

Tekkease is design and consulting firm that works with homeowners such as you to work through the education process, designing systems into the home, proper planning and documentation, accessing budgets and delivering a clear vision and scope. We do not sell products so our focus can be 100% on our clients and ensuring we are designing specifically for them and aiding them through the process in a smooth, professional and effective manner without the pressure of "sales". Tekkease's passion is modern home technology

1) Is this the first home you are having custom built? If so, consider building a "not you dream home" first to better understand the home building design and construction process. If this is your second or third home that you have built then you know to plan, plan and then plan more!

before we started building our house I went online to various spots and got lists off suggestions people have posted and then I reviewed them and had my list of what was important to me. If I could do one thing over again, I would etch out more room for the fridge - so I could get a regular size one instead of a counter depth. I didnt think about that until it was to late. I would also make sure I had a nice size mudd room, the one I am getting is lame. I doubled my electirican bill, and made sure the basement and outside had plenty of outlets, as well as prewired for a generator in case of power outage. If you have a fireplace you will want an outlet on that as well. You may want an outlet under all windows in case you put lights on them. Make sure you get enough soap dishes and/or a bench in the shower, espeicailly if you tile it - everyone always says to make sure you have built in's, but I am not a fan of those...personal reasons. good luck

Find a builder that works well with a designer and architect and that you can trust. If you are building your dream home it should come down to quality, trust and knowledge of building products and gen. construction questions(Not just a paper pusher) and that the builder has been in business for sometime!!! It should never just come down to price!!! if it needs to come down to price do your homework

Hey shalune! Check out a great new home connectivity gadget; it would be perfect for your new home! We recently introduced the MyQ Garage Smartphone Garage Door Controller allows you to control and monitor your garage door from anywhere, at any time. Regardless of manufacturer, the MyQ Garage works with the majority of garage door openers manufactured after 1993. It is such a neat gadget; no need to turn around and second guess whether or not you closed the door! Here is a link for more information: http://www.chamberlain.com/smartphone-control-products/myq-garage. Let us know if you have any questions!

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