To The Draftsman

The day arrived. Months of drawings, several 2b pencils, numerous pieces of scrap paper, hours googling different ideas, endless conversations over early morning coffee, mid morning coffee, afternoon coffee and finally........ we arrived at a point where we can nit pick no more. The plan is complete.

I have to say, that the builder (aka hubby) has done amazingly well. As with all people intending to build, we are conscious of budget vs our wish list. We've managed to design a home that (a) suits our needs for now (b) can be very easily and with little cost to new owners, suit a larger family - ALWAYS keep in mind a resale factor - and (c) can be built in three stages so that we can build as we feel comfortable to do so.

Off to Brett we went. Brett Turner of Design Plus Group, has been our draftsman for as long as we've been in business. It's exciting sitting and discussing ideas with someone who shares the enthusiasm, understands what your are trying to do, and shares ideals concerning designing for the climate, environment and the family living in the home. Now I will admit that I do tend to glaze over when the boys get excited talking Ibeams, portals, purlons and rafters. Lets face it, while I appreciate that all of this is very important to the structural integrity to the home, I want to talk about design factors, which way to run Linea Boards and Axon, layouts of rooms, positions of windows, and then put me in a room with laminate samples and tiles I'm a little like a kid in a lollie shop.

BUT when I hear words relating to financial savings, and ideas like, no posts on the back verandah, I sit up and take more notice!

So here's some tips on what to take to your draftsman.

Budget - You need to be upfront with these guys. They have a fair idea on cost of construction. You have to be realistic. You cant build a 400m2 house when you only have money for a 280m2 house.

Wishlist - make a list of what are must haves, and what are wish lists the latter being the items you can be flexible about.

Address or site plan. If you don't have a plan of your block of land (it should be in the contract you received when you bought it) have the address. The draftsman can look it up on various sites. They need this info for many things apart from the obvious of where to site the house. Your local council will have zonings over various areas of your region. Some of these zonings can have an impact on how and what you can build on your land. The easiest example is a bushfire zoning. Low, medium and high all have different construction requirements.

Your ideas, I'm using Pinterest to help me put my thoughts, ideas and colours together for the new home. It's Steampunk, so now she's looking on Pinterest for steampunk bathroom ideas..... and she founds some!! She also wants a chandelier in the bathroom.... not going to happen kiddo
amazing what you can find on there. I have told the daughter that she can pick tiles and colours for her ensuite, and suggested she use pinterest to give her ideas. She loves

Also have a look at the house you're leaving. What works in it that you'd like to replicate, what doesn't work that you'd like to change. Measure the bedrooms so you understand sizes. Have a good look at your kitchen. is it too small, is it big but useless when it comes to workspace? Do you need drawers rather than cupboards. Laundries are the most spectacularly overlooked room I find. A good working laundry MUST have bench space. If you don't have room for a good sized laundry, look up. Can overhead cupboards help? Would a front loader washer free up bench space?

There are so many aspect of designing a new home it can make your head spin, but a bit of forethought and trusting the professional people around you, makes life so much easier.