How to Find Amazing Ideas to Start Designing Your Dream Home

                So you’ve decided to build your dream home – congratulations! Now its time to design your floor plan, room sizes, kitchen needs, and well – EVERYTHING!  Maybe you already have the perfect kitchen in mind or know that you just can’t live without an office for your home business. But do you really know what you want it to look like? Have you seen any of your ideas in person? Do you need to bring your abstract ideas into real world realities?  If so, then I’m here to help!

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It can feel a bit overwhelming when you get started on building your dream home. There are a lot of questions to answer and decisions to make. Part of the process is to make sure you have a system of finding ideas and then a way to organize them once you’ve began gathering your thoughts. Below are some tips for getting ideas and then options for organizing them.

Visit Open Houses

Search Zillow, Trulia, Realtor, etc. for open houses. Ask your realtor to notify you of available ones in your area. Drive neighborhoods you’ve noticed have lots of houses for sale on Saturdays and Sundays; they will often have signs out directing you to the open houses. Visiting these homes will give you and your partner (if you have one) a chance to discuss details you both like or don’t like. This is a great step to finding ideas and must haves you can implement in your new home.  Same philosophy applies when you are buying a house: you should look at several options before deciding.  You never know what idea you might be surprised by!

 

Model Home Viewing

Head to neighborhoods that are still in the building stage. Often times they contain model homes that you can browse through at your own pace. Take pictures or write down ideas you find that you want to be sure to include in your dream. It doesn’t hurt to have a list of things you don’t want either. Be wary of trends that may or may not fit your style in these models homes. Take note of how big or small rooms are and if you think your furniture will fit or not. Many times these homes are staged so you can determine what type and size of furniture may be ideal. Check out these revisions we decided on for our dream home for additional ideas.

 

Utilize Search Websites

Zillow, Trulia, Realtor, etc. are great options to view pictures for houses in all sorts of price ranges; this will help you gather 100s of ideas. We found a couple of ideas in houses that were above our price range that can easily be implemented in a lower cost build. Houzz is another website worth taking a look at for ideas. When you find ideas you like, save them to your dream home board on Pinterest.

 

Pinterest

Speaking of Pinterest; It’s a great idea generator! Search for ideas from floor plans to color schemes to home hacks and more. You can find ideas for themes, decor, furniture arrangements, and pretty much any other idea that’s been thought of for home design. It’s also a great place to find blogs on home design and decor. Pinterest has definitely been my favorite way to find ideas and organize them for future reference.

Once you’ve gotten your ideas, you’ll need a way to organize them. Keep reading for tips on organizing your dream home on paper and online.

 

Essential Tips to Organize Your Dream Home Ideas

Take pictures

Then take more. I wish I had taken more pictures in homes we visited before we decided to build. It’s hard to remember everything after you’ve seen 20+ homes. This is a great tip whether you are building or buying (or still deciding). It will help you remember what you enjoyed most and keep track of your dream home must-haves.  After taking the pics save them to folders on your computer or to Pinterest boards. What’s that saying about pictures speaking a thousand words? When it’s time to share your ideas with your architect those pictures are really going to come in handy.

 

Measure Square Footage

Write down the type of room and how large you think it should be for your needs. We kept a notebook when we were tracking this for our dream home. They make a handy device to measure square footage and I highly recommend getting one if you are building.  We change the size of our garage and Master bedroom several times before our final floor plan was finished. A space looks much larger when its empty but once a king-sized bed is in there all-of-a-sudden you need a larger room! You may also take note of how long of a bar/island you want in the kitchen or the size of that amazing walk-in closet you visited.

 

Write Things Down

Carry a notebook with you to keep all your ideas organized. You want shutters on the windows or beams above the kitchen? Take little notes. There were a few pictures I took and when sorting through them later I had to rack my brain on why I took them. You can jot down color schemes you love or hate or window treatments you want to add. Write down deal-breakers or things you really don’t want in your dream home. This will help you to be sure to avoid them when designing or purchasing your new home. Don’t fool yourself into believing you’ll remember what the kitchen looked like in the first house you visited after seeing 5 more houses that day. They all start to run together.

 

Organize Your Pinterest

Create boards for each main room or area in your home. If you just use one board for every idea it becomes cluttered and difficult to sort through.Visiting my pinterest profile for board ideas. Consider these board options or pick ones that work best for your family and style:

1. Master bedroom
2. Master bath
3. Kitchen/pantry
4. Dining
5. Living room
6. Great room
7. Laundry
8. Guest room
9. Boys room
10. Girls room
11. Mudroom (Ultimate Guide)
12. Nursery
13. Playroom
14. Music room
15. Office
16. Foyer
17. Exterior view
18. Backyard
19. Decorating Ideas
20. Home Organization (How to Organize it all)

I would love to hear any additional tips you have for finding ideas for your dream home, please comment them below!

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