How to Build Your Dream Home
By Keith Kingston 

Building your dream home is a process that takes some individuals a lifetime. Hardly anyone knows early in life what exactly constitutes "dream home" in her eyes. Pinning down the details that you want may take years of "starter" homes and building mistakes to learn what truly works for you. It is helpful to keep a list of likes and dislikes about each house that you live in. Consider everything from major aspects like size and layout to minor details like cabinet space and tile colouring. It is hard to remember everything that you have learned from previous living situations when faced with the stress and endless choices involved with building a new home. Keeping detailed records is a good way to stay level headed under pressure.

One good way to get good ideas for your dream home is to do active research. Any time you see a house for sale, stop and take a walk through to add to your likes and dislikes list. Steal ideas- it is allowed! Model homes are another great way to check out floor plans and housing designers. Home shows are one of the best ways to get ideas. These homes are fully decorated, and decorating the house well is almost more important in creating a dream home that the actual layout. Often these homes provide great inspiration for wall colouring, wood colour, counter tops and furniture ideas. Be open minded, and home shows may provide a whole new perspective.

The next step is choosing a location for the building of the dream home to take place. The whole atmosphere of the house depends on whether you are located in the woods or a subdivision, on lots of acres or in a city. Work with your atmosphere instead of against it. Once your have ideas for what type of home you want, consider what type of backdrop makes the most sense for your tastes.

Choosing a builder is one of the hardest steps in choosing a dream home. Get recommendations from friends whose homes you admire and visit several projects completed by the builder.

Before any contracting takes place, you and the builder should have extensive conversation to be sure your ideas and his skills will coincide. Take your time with decisions. Make initial choices, but allow two weeks to think about your choice before it is finalized. It is important to visit your work-in-progress dream home frequently in order to be sure you and the builder are on the same page. Sometimes mistakes get made in the funnelling of messages from builder to crew heads to crewmembers. Staying in close contact with the builder and crews helps ensure that your home is erected according to plan.