Ideas to Design Your Own House

Start With Roof Shape

• Investigate many types of roof shapes. The roof lines of a house determine a lot about its design. For example, a home with multiple roof lines offers many options for adding visual interest. A simple ranch roof in a basic A-shape limits the look of the house. Keep in mind that building a home with multiple roof lines also calls for a higher budget, because of labor costs and the time invested in these details.

Plan Building Materials

• Exterior construction materials are important to the design. Figure out if you want brick, stone, stucco, siding or any combination of these materials. Designing a house with a stacked stone foundation and a stucco exterior will look great with a roof of cedar shakes, for example. A brick colonial with black shutters and large front-porch columns is a standard choice that's still popular. Make sure the materials you select for the home's exterior fit well with the neighborhood, however.

Envision a Good Floor Plan

• Design a floor plan based on square footage. For example, you might wish to build a two-story home with 2,800 square feet. A smaller home -- say, 1,800 square feet -- would better fit a one-story design. Look at various floor plan layouts online to create the front entry and living room space as the starting point. Envision actually entering the home and how the rooms will look in front of you. Plan the kitchen as the heart of the home.

Create Ample Space

• Make sure hallways, closets and bedrooms are large enough. You may need to borrow an extra foot from a bedroom, for example, to enlarge a hallway or a closet. If possible, visit the homes of friends to see actual size of rooms in specific dimensions. It's easier to visualize your own master bedroom suite if you can see one in reality. Just planning an interior layout on paper might not yield the results you expect.

Study Interior Materials

• Educate yourself about interior materials and fixtures. Look at various types of hardwood flooring, sinks, vanities, faucets and tile work in a home-improvement store. Get ideas for light fixtures, furnishings and wall paint by looking through home design books and current home-remodeling magazines. Keep in mind that you can clip ideas to store in a folder over time. Designing a house is not a weekend project, so collect ideas to incorporate and review them in detail before creating final home building plans.