How to Design Homes & Gardens

Review home design books and gardening magazines to get ideas. Don't begin your home planning in detail until you've examined various floor plans, architectural features and roof lines that appeal to you. Keep in mind that the roof line determines a great deal about the style of any home. Plan the garden around the home. Envision how landscaping and garden space will look from inside, as well as outside, the house. Plan window views accordingly.

Determine how much square footage you can afford. Don't plan a home based on more square footage than the budget will allow. Begin the planning process with 2,500 square feet, for example. Plan the basic layout by writing down how many bedrooms, bathrooms and standard living spaces you need. Design the floor layout by experimenting with various ways to use floor space. Sketch one bathroom to serve two bedrooms, if you desire bigger bedrooms, for example.

Draw a bird's-eye view of the house on graph paper. Sketch the foyer, living room and kitchen as central floor space. Draw the front facade of the home and its windows, so you can figure out how this will impact wall placement inside the home. Develop the basic exterior look of the home, along with its windows, to define the interior details further. Plan to install a bay window with a seating area in the kitchen, for example.

Develop a garden and lawn around the house dimensions. Don't finalize the house plans until you create the driveway, patios and basic garden layout. Plan any property-line fences to determine the height of plants and shrubs. Draw stone paths, walkways filled with pebbles and sitting areas for tables and chairs. Sketch a set of double French doors in your master bedroom that will let you walk onto a deck overlooking a garden space.

Refine your drawings using software, if you desire. Make sure all dimensions of your home, including kitchen cabinets and all closets, are well-defined on graph paper first. Include bath fixtures, shelving in laundry rooms, all staircases and vaulted ceilings. Sketch interior walls from every angle on the graph paper, including wall units and wall light fixtures. Create garden space in detail on graph paper. Transfer your drawings and dimensions for the house and garden to the software.