New House Plans Ideas

Small House Plans Offers Many Money Saving Benefits to Homeowners

Owning a small house plan can come with many different incentives. Small homes are very convenient when building on inner city lots. With gas prices rising, many people have found that they can save money by moving back into the city to be closer to work while still having an amazing home design. You can still create a home that uses its space efficiently with rooms that are designed to entertain friends and family. There are several techniques that can be used to make the home look bigger that can be very appealing.

Small Homes within City Limits Will Save You Money

Gas prices are becoming a major concern for many families. Those that have to travel into the nearest city for work know that gas money is eating into funds that could be spent on other bills or for entertainment with your family. For those who are growing tired of not being able to go to the movies, dinner, or bar with friends and family there can be a simple solution. Moving back into the inner city will reduce the amount of gas you have to pay for while still having a fabulous home. Small homes that are designed properly will not feel cramped, but instead bright and airy.

Not only will you save money on gas, but small homes are cheaper to maintain as well. You won’t have to spend as much time painting the exterior or cleaning the interior because there is less area to need to uphold. You will save money on bills because you won’t have larger rooms that need to be kept cool or warm throughout the year. Furniture can be expensive as well, but smaller rooms can mean less furnishings that takes up valuable space.

Southern Living House Plans Ideas

Found throughout the American South, the shotgun house floor plan has its roots in West Africa and the Caribbean. Fleeing the revolution in the 1800s, Hatians introduced the long, narrow houses to New Orleans and their popularity quickly spread to mill towns and cotten plantations all over the South.

The shotgun house floor plan may the the only African American house plan that exists. Although the name sounds as though it was dreamed up by the National Rifle Association, the shotgun house was so named because of the liner arrangement of its rooms. In theroy, you should be able to fire a bullet through the front door and it would go through the house and straight out the back door.

Long associated with poverty, the shotgun house floor plan is now becoming respectable and even chic in some cities older districts. Architects, artists and community groups are working hard to restore the old homes into designer homes as symbols of both black and local heritage and pride. The shotgun house floor plan is the latest cause in the fight to preserve and restore some inner city communities.

With their typical one room wide and 3 or 4 rooms deep design uninterrupted by hallways, shotgun house floor plans can be as simplistic as a child's drawing while retaining the integrity than many other floor plans don't possess. Raised on piers, shotgun house floor plans allow for air circulation both under the house and as a cross-ventilating breeze. This design is well suited for the Southern climate. Porches provide much needed shade from the sun and encourage interaction between neighbors.

House Floor Plans Ideas

Nowdays the computer age is making software for a dazzling array of uses. One such genre is house floor plan software. With this type of program, you can quite literally be your own architect! Whether you're a home hobbyist or a trained professional, anyone can now use software to do everything from create house floor plans to landscaping the back yard of your dreams. Home design software ideas can go from dreams to reality with the touch of a button.

Creating house floor plans from home design software can be accomplished in just a few easy steps. Most programs have a number of notable features.

1. Design, publish and print completed designs in 3D for yourself, family and customers.

2. Customize the home's exterior by adding dormer windows, skylights, sun decks, balconies, terraces, and patios. Door styles and window types can also be customized.

3. Calculate and manage the cost of materials. This feature makes it easy to keep your house floor plan design withing you housing budget.

4. Lighting effects and shifting patterns of sunlight and moonlight can be created in order to see what effect the placement of windows will have on a room via 3D movies.

5. A built-in interior design program and furniture gallery can be used to create different themes before money is spent on interior decor.

6. Some software programs offer an optional landscape and garden program which allows the user to create a detailed design of yard desired right down to the flowers and ornaments. The landscape created can then be viewed through the change of seasons in order to create a colorful landscape year round. Most programs offer drag-and-drop capabilities that make designing your dream yard easy and fun.

Dog House Plans Ideas

Maintain your dog comfy by building him his very own dog house. This can be a enjoyable weekend endeavor the entire family can share in.

Before you begin, pick a good site. Wind, rain, snow, etc.. are factors to take into factor when you pick and choose a spot for the dog house. Look for an area that is fairly leveled, and will not puddle when it rains.

Know that you have chosen a site, measure your dog to get an idea of the dimension of house to build. You might need to make adjustments to your dog house plans to obtain the correct size house for your dog.

Make sure you are aware of the size you will be building. You do not want to build it and after that notice it is too undersized. You as well do not want to oversize the house. In the wintry weather, the dog's body heat is what helps to heat up the house. If the dog is small and the dog house is to big, the dog can not heat the area. The house needs to be sized just large enough for the dog to turn around. Average, this is an extra twelve inches in width, height, and depth to your dog's size. You can adjust the size to fit your needs.

Now you will want to choose your dog house plans. You can choose to sketch your own plans. With a little experience in construction, this is a pretty simple thing to do. Researching how-to books on building dog houses will also be of allot of help when sketching your own plans. This way your dog house is customized to exactly what your pet needs. If this is more of a challenge than you wish for, there are an abundance of websites that offer free plans. Simply go online and search for the plan that meets your needs. If this still is not what you are looking for, there are a variety of websites that have plans for sale.

Last but not least will be the construction of the dog house. This is a rather easy project, that in most cases can be done with ordinary household tools. Several of these tools will probably consist of a tape measure, saw, and a hammer. Having power tools will make this task easier and quicker. The plans you have selected should give you a material list, this will give you a good hint on what materials you will need to acquire.

The whole family can be involved in building this project for your pet. With a little forethought, some plans, and a little labor, your family pet can have a home of his own.

House Plans

In today’s world of knowledge share, information on anything is easily available. Many do-it-yourself architectural design tutorials are out there, promising to guide you in building your customized house plan. Like everybody, you must be having a long cherished dream of having a home that best suits your taste and attitude. However, they don’t tell you the perils and complexities involved with custom house plans.

Despite the costs involved, an experienced and competent architecture firm would be the best investment in getting you the best house plan design. The architecture company understands the nuances of house design and will employ CAD services or 3D Modeling services to achieve your dream home. Architectural design is something that only architecture firms should actually do.

An architectural company will do the essential architectural drawings and will also give you architectural drafting services. The process can involve CAD drafting as well as 3D BIM drafting. A builder can thereafter take the design blueprint and actually construct your house based upon it.

A professional architecture firm can employ different software platforms to give you the accurate architectural house plan. Also, you can be doubly sure that the house plans will get approved by the local building regulatory body. The architectural company will deal with compliance to building compliance codes. You won’t have to deal with fire and safety codes. Wouldn’t you want to have a home that is safe, along with being aesthetically beautiful? You can just sit back and relax while availing the best architectural services possible.

The best part about hiring the services of an architecture firm is that they can show you how your building would look like, before any construction activity begins on the site. Yes, this architectural service is called architectural rendering. Even better is that by employing 3D rendering services, you can see your home virtually standing erect. You may even like to take an architectural walkthrough. Isn’t it great to take a sneak peek of your drawing room or the bathroom, complete with the interior colors, fittings and accessories? All this is possible through 3D rendering.

Cabin House Plans Ideas

Log cabin floor plans - how to find special log cabin floor plans that are just right for you? You can try and create brand new plans from the beginning. However, you will save considerably if you can find log cabin plans that have been built successfully already. That's important, because that means the plans will work. Even if you need to make changes to the plans, it will still be cheaper and faster for you.

Here are tips on finding log cabin planbs that may be just right for you:

• Buy Cabin Plans Books - whether online or in stores, you can find books of log cabin and log home plans. Look through the plans to see which ones you like. If you find one or more, you could order the log cabin plan you wanted by telephone or mail.

• Locate Log Cabin Manufacturers - you will find the manufacturers of log cabin homes in log home magazines. Contact several, get their brochures and review their log cabin floor plans. And at some point, you should visit the companies that have log cabin floor plans that interest you. Speak with the sales people - are they friendly, flexible and able to offer suggestions? Or are they high-pressure and full of claims about the superiority of their log cabin homes? You do want to be comfortable with any log cabin manufacturer that you may do business with.

• View Log Cabin Floor Plans Online - use the speed of the internet to find cabin plans online. Search online by putting quotation marks around your search terms so you will get the best results, like "log cabin plans" or "log cabin floor plans". See what criteria you can enter so you only get the plans that interest you. You should be able to search by cabin size, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms and so on. See what plans are shown.

Beach House Plans Ideas

We have several beach house plans that offer residents amenable, full-time living space combined with all the rich enjoyments of life on the beach.

Chief among these is a fantastic view of the water, which is the first thing that everyone who purchases a Jack Preston Wood beach house sees when they peer out of a window over an ocean populated by sailboats, ships coming home to port, happy families playing in the sand, and coastal wildlife of all varieties. Our homes are carefully planned to combine the best in human comforts with the most beautiful elements of Nature, creating a living experience that is removed from urban bustle without losing the better comforts of civilization in the process.

Most of our beach houses are planned as three-story structures, with the garage conveniently located on the ground level.

Imagine the feeling of luxury you will experience every evening when you pull through a stately Porte Cochere into a spacious two car garage nestled under your home. This ground level parking area offers plenty of room for two vehicles and reasonable amounts of light storage. Next to the parking area is a separate room that can be used as a main storage area, tool room, personal office, or downstairs apartment. Imagination defines this space beyond the simple blue print, so start thinking both practically and creatively the day you move in.

The first story of every beach house is planned as a special event and activity space that fully accommodates both daily life and entertainment.

Narrow House Plans Ideas

Narrow House Plans Provide Endless Possibilities

If you’re planning on building a home in a high-density zone where homes are being built close together, narrow house plans are available to help construct the layout of the home so every room efficiently and economically uses the space available. Architects will learn what you want from the house and create a design that gives you a floor plan that won’t make the space feel small or confined. While narrow home plans can be made for single story houses, many people will find that they must build up in order to be given the amount of rooms their family requires.

A Narrow Home is a Perfect Solution for Urban Living

With the cost of living on the rise, many people are choosing to live in the same city where they work to cut down on the cost of gas. They may also find that it’s more affordable for them to buy a narrow lot and build a custom home to replace a pre-built house in an old city or town. If you are looking to build in an area where there is a high demand for land, you may find that your only option is to build a narrow home. Narrow home plans can be built using one of the many different types of architectural home styles. You can choose to build a country floor plan just as easily as deciding on a modern design.

An experienced architect will have techniques in order to create a narrow home plan that isn’t cramped or unattractive. They will work with you to design your dream home even if it has a restrictive lot size. Extravagant or simple narrow house plans are available to suit your needs so the house matches your personal style. Working with a designer will help solve any problems you might have, including deciding on the amount of space you need a room to cover for furniture or determining where the location of your garage can be.

Houses Plans Ideas

So you are planning to throw a party for your Childs birthday, now you need to work out how you plan to entertain them.

From my own experience I have learnt that for most children between the ages of two and ten an inflatable bouncing house or moon jump is a fantastic party idea!

For those of you that don’t know what they are or have never come across this concept I will explain. An inflatable bouncing house is a large inflatable structure generally with an area for bouncing on. In the UK they are called bouncy castles, they are so called because the first bouncing houses in the UK were actually shaped like castles with turrets and towers. Nowadays the shapes and designs are very varied, you can find bouncing houses with inflatable slides attached to them, or with other inflatable structures inside for climbing on.

The artwork themes of bouncing houses can really thrill a child who is fanatical about a television character, as you can find many units with specific themes.

The great thing about having a bouncing house at your party is that while you are busy preparing food and decorating your home, the rental company will come and erect the structure for you, so all you need to do is switch the electric plug on and you are ready to go.

No need to worry about party games as once the children get on the bouncer you will have a hard job getting them off!

House Design Plans Ideas

By providing birds with the right bird house design, you are sure to attract the type of bird you want to your property. Different variety of birds will require different styles of shelter. Along with the proper shelter, also be sure to provide clean water and food.

Giving birds shelter will keep them safe from the outside temperature. By building a safe haven the birds will be able to nest, and be safe from predators.

Before you begin building, research the variety of birds known to migrate to your area. Be aware of the bird house size and location that will meet the birds need.

Once you are aware of the types of bird in your area, you can look for bird house plans that will meet their needs. The most common wood used for building bird houses is cedar. Cedar makes an excellent material to use, it doesn't need to be treated, stained, or painted. Always try to avoid painting, especially around the entrance hole.

Drill the proper entrance hole. It is important to know the size of the entrance hole for the birds you are attracting. Researching online for information on birds is a great place to start. Another good place for information is your local library.

Adding a perch to the bird house is not a good idea. Having a perch will give predator birds a place to wait for the bird to come out. This can result in the bird becoming trapped inside, with fear.

It is important to place the bird house in a good location. When choosing a location, keep in mind how weather and predators such as cats will affect your new guest. Choose a place where there is not to much human activity. Make sure you will be able to see and enjoy the bird house from the location you have chosen. The height should be around three to ten feet high. The bird house can be hung on a tree, or mounted to a pole or tree limb.

Craftsman House Plans Ideas

Craftsman House Plans Feature True American Style

If you’re looking for an architectural design that displays a unique American look, a craftsman home might be exactly what you want. This type of home has numerous features that distinguish it from other house designs. Most craftsman houses are smaller in size than other styles, but each room uses its space efficiently and provides the family with a more functional area. You’ll give yourself a house that projects a natural feel both inside and out with a craftsman house plan, while having the diversity you want to design the inside to match your personal touch.

Craftsman Homes Exhibit Intricate Details with Beautiful Wood

The interior of a craftsman house plan showcases simplicity in an elegant fashion in order to give homeowners and their guests a comfortable atmosphere. A rustic feel often continues inside with exposed roof beams and cross-members. Small windows are usually grouped together so you can bring natural light in the home and give those that are inside an open view of the surrounding landscape. A thick masonry wall is another frequently used element that craftsman houses comprise of.

The interior of the home will typically have a lot of wood detailing. This distinctive feature allows homeowners to work with custom home builders to design the wood work in a way that they choose. While there will be styles already made that you can select, having the option of customizing the interior is thoroughly enjoyed by those that want to be involved in the process to ensure they’re happy with every aspect of the home. Simplicity is highly desired with craftsman homes. The combination of simple doors and recessed windows, as well as the beautiful woodwork, gives owners a chance to achieve an outdoor look throughout the interior of their home.

Architectural House Plans Ideas

Two Story Homes Give Homeowners Plenty of Options

Two story homes are enjoyed by families of any size. However, you won’t only find two story houses in the suburbs. Many people are deciding to build new homes within city limits that are ranging in size from cozy cottages to large modern designs. Pricing can also be a surprise to some. Two story homes can be cheaper to construct than one story homes when compared by square foot. Custom home designs are found in various prices since homeowners are able to have more of an input on what characteristics they want their home to display.

More Spacious Common Living Areas are found in Two Story Houses

You can easily create a two story home on a smaller plot of land without losing the interior space you want. Since you’re building on more than one level, you don’t have to find a piece of land that is large enough to handle each room to be spread out on one layer. Instead of having the rooms stretch out on a single level, two story houses give you the chance to place some rooms upstairs.

The most common trait two story floor plans have in common is to have bedrooms located on the upper floor. This creates a larger area on the first floor for entertaining guests and to accommodate regular living activities. Many floor plans will bring the master suite to the lower floor for various reasons. One benefit of doing this is that older adults are able to access their room easier than if it were located upstairs. Plus, older children and adults may enjoy the division of bedrooms so everyone has a better sense of privacy.

Victorian House Plans Ideas

From the many styles and time periods to reflect upon when considering residential architecture, the sky’s the limit! Contemporary, Modern, Traditional – these styles of construction are commonly used within the new home construction market; but, when you visualize these styles in your mind, not many specific characteristics come to thought. Then, we have the Victorian style who sits in a class all its own. We may not know all of the correct words to use to describe the style itself, but the vivid and detailed portrayal of a Victorian home is effortless to imagine.

Victorian home plans contain welcoming wrap-around porches, towers, spindles, exposed brackets under eaves, fanciful ornamental elements and other ornate characteristics. During the Victorian Era (approximately 1840 to 1900), a variety of new styles emerged, each containing its own distinctive features. New building materials and techniques were created and the popularity of the Victorian style became attainable to homeowners due to industrialization and the ability of mass production.

The most widely known of the Victorian home plans are those that boast the characteristics of the Queen Anne style. Unbeknownst to many people, there are actually (historically) ten time-period styles within the Victorian Era:

1840 – 1880: Gothic Revival (Masonry) – these homes were typically constructed of stone and were inspired by medieval cathedrals and castles. Most common features of this style contain pointed windows with decorative tracery, pinnacles, grouped chimneys, flat roofs with battlements or gabled roofs with parapets, leaded glass and quatrefoil (clover) shaped windows.

Bungalow House Plans Ideas

Bungalow House Plans Provide Homeowners with an Affordable Home Design

If you want a home that has plenty of creativity and functionality without paying the price, bungalow house plans are the way to go. The name originally comes from a housing style for a single family home found in India, called a bangla or bangala. However, it is designed with certain style elements to match the modern American lifestyle. Combinations of the English arts and crafts movement with the far Eastern wooden architecture are what make this design highly desired. The final look of the home provides homeowners with a simple, yet efficient home plan. The exterior is often created to give a welcoming feel that carries on throughout the interior of the home.

Bungalow Home Designs Bring Laid Back Living to You

Although bungalow houses are known to be more affordable than other architectural styles, they will still display the details that you would normally find in the more expensive homes. The exterior will generally be made of rustic wood or stucco with a stone-based porch. The porches are usually deep in design and open to the street to provide an additional living area where homeowners and their guests can enjoy throughout the day and night. Porches include tapered square columns to further enhance the easy living atmosphere.

Roofs are typically low-pitched and shingled with exposed eave brackets. Many windows are found throughout the exterior walls to give the exterior a welcoming look for neighbors and guests. Leaded or stained glass windows are features that bungalow home owners can incorporate into their design to give it a little something extra. Exposed rafters and ridge beams are other common elements that bungalow houses are designed with. When put together, you’re given a warm and charming exterior of a home for not only the family, but also for those that are simply driving by.

Modern House Plans

Modern Town House Plans feature Constantly Changing Designs

Modern town homes generally match the current technology trends and usually attract young adults. Architects are constantly changing plans to reinterpret what the idea of modern is. You will also find townhomes that are designed to work with the latest gadgets and appliances. Modern town homes are generally simple and box like as the walls don’t curve like other home designs. There are a few common features that modern houses usually follow, one of which is to not mix multiple design elements together.

Parallel Lines and Geometrical Designs are Popular among Modern Town Homes

Modern town house plans provide homeowners with rooms that are in simple proportions and offer a lot of natural light through the use of large pieces of glass. Modern town houses take advantage of the outdoor world by having the large open windows or walls to bring in the natural surroundings. The property that the home sits on can be included in the design so that it becomes an alternative living room.

The roof of a modern home is usually flat or shallow-pitched while the walls are known to be stone or stucco with a smooth texture. Construction materials can use various types of resources, including glass, stone, concrete, and tree. Of course, designing a custom modern home can incorporate the type of material you want to get the look you desire. A few other examples that are common in modern houses are streamlined metal railings, glass blocks, concrete foundations, and smooth finishes.

Interior Characteristics Allow Spacious Rooms While Maintaining Privacy

While large, asymmetrical windows are common in modern town house plans, they are usually restricted to dining rooms and hallways. These windows can stretch from the floor to the ceiling and not only allow a great amount of sunlight, but can also showcase a spectacular view. In order to keep the rest of the house concealed for privacy, bedrooms and bathrooms consist of smaller windows that can still give the room an adequate amount of natural light without exposing too much to the outdoors.

Colonial House Plans Ideas

Some people thought that owning a house is the best big investment they could ever have. In fact, according to the recent survey conducted in the U.S., 90% of the primary wealth of the people. They never knew that there is something more than what the house can offer — the house plans.

What people never knew is that house plans are the better investment.

Why? It is because the foundation, the structure, and the beauty of a house depend on the creation and assumption of house plans.

Therefore, it is important to spend some time contemplating on making and analyzing house plans. If ever the plan was not made in such a way that it would provided the optimum protection for the family, then that is not an investment after all.

Hence, it is extremely important to pay close attention to the house plan. Factors that are to be considered when making house plans should be well taken into account. Here are five things to consider when making house plans:

1. Location

Before making house plans, it is important to contemplate first on the location of the lot where the house will be built. Is it near the schools? The market? Or is it located in an area where transportations are scarce?

The point here is that it is important to consider the location when creating house plans. The design and structure of the house should match the kind of environment the neighborhood has.

2. Lifestyle

Do you prefer to live in the city, or the quiet suburban subdivision living? You definitely do not want to dig yourself a debt hole just to build a new house that conflict with your lifestyle.

When creating house plans, it is also important to consider the lifestyle. The total impression that the house will have on its visitors should greatly reflect the kind of lifestyle the family has.

Building House Plans Ideas

Most house plans include everything you need to build your home; however, additional items may be needed to obtain a building permit. You will need a site plan which shows the location of your house on the property, the property line, and the setbacks. Other items may or may not include a septic tank system design if your lot is not serviced by the city or county sewer system.

Depending on the part of the country you live in, you will need to insure your house plans are in compliance with local codes. Many areas have specific energy codes and/ or special engineering requirements that are to be followed. For instance, the west coast area have strict engineering requirements for areas subject to earthquakes. Areas such as Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, and the southeast coast line are areas with high risk of hurricanes requiring special engineering to withstand such risk. North east areas such as New York, New Jersey, Baltimore and surounding areas require houseplans to stamp by a local licensed professional such as an architect or engineer. Building in these areas, will likely require the need to hire a local licensed structural engineer to analyze the house plans and provide additional drawings and calculations required by your building department. If you are unsure as to what is required in you area, check with your building department. They usually have some form of written instructions listing all of the items they require to submit for and obtain a building permit.

Contemporary House Plans Ideas

By the time you are ready to purchase your house plans, it is assumed that you have done all of the necessary preparation to get to that point. Notice that I said "assumed". There are several things that must be considered before you decide on a house plan and surprisingly many people just do not come prepared. Below you will find a small checklist that can be used as a guideline in the process of finding the right house plan for your specific needs.

(1) Select and purchase land to build on

It is important that you know your land restrictions (set backs, maximum size of house plan footprint), soil conditions (land suitable for building on), topography (if suitable for basement or slab foundation), easements, neighborhood (covenants), taxes, cost for site preparations, and other factors that may affect your decision on selecting house plans.

(2) Choose a builder

Take the time to find a home builder that you feel comfortable with. Get referrals from friends and family, check the Builder's background, and talk with previous customers of the builder. Talk to the builder about your needs and wants where both parties can understand what's expected of each.

Cottage House Plans Ideas

Few homes stir the typical notion of lush gardens that an English cottage house plan can invoke. English cottage house plans bring to mind storybook fantasies of roses covering a trellis and climbing on thatched roofs. However, thatched roofs aren't practical or allowed construction material in many places. But for those who think the best part of the home is the garden, an English cottage house could be a dream home.

Beautiful English cottage house plans cry out for well designed landscaping plans that match the cottage feel you are trying to attain. Custom gardens designed by a professional landscaper will complete the English cottage charm. Professional landscaping plans will assure you that the garden plants are well suited to the climate and housing style. However, cost may be a stumbling block as landscapers tend to be quite expensive.

Pre-designed garden plans can be adjusted for your property and this type of approach is more affordable. The downside is that pre-designed garden plans won't give you the customized look you are seeking. But, if gardening is a beloved hobby for you, then consider designing custom garden plans yourself to match your English cottage house plans. Designing your own custom garden plan would be a time consuming task, but no one else would have a garden like yours.

Begin with an aerial drawing the property. Use the house placement as your starting point. Gardening magazines and books can give you lots of ideas. Study garden themes such as rock gardens, herb gardens and shade gardens. You can also research design principles such as symmetry, color and height coordination.

Ranch House Plans Ideas

The ranch house floor plan is a shining example of the American Dream in its purest form. It was then, and remains today, the most widely built housing style ever seen in America. This house plan style had its heyday from 1949 to 1965 for several reasons.

Prevailing loan programs of the day made getting a home loan with no money down easier than it ever had been in previous years. Soldiers returning from World War II wanted to settle down and begin raising families. With the demand for homes at an all time high, the simple form and lack of detail made the ranch house floor plan much faster to build than a stately Tudor style home. Formal foyers and spiral staircases were discarded and replaced by level entries and single story plans.

The availability and increasing popularity of the automobile also defined the heyday of the ranch house floor plan. For the first time, the garage was moved to the front of the home. This was the first generation of home owners to have a highly prized freedom and mobility to work and shop in the city and then retreat to the suburbs to live. Because the suburbs removed the need to build houses close together, lots became increasingly larger and the square footage of the average house floor plan expanded accordingly. Ranch house floor plans generally accentuated the width of the lot.

The informal lifestyle of California became popular as early as the late 1940s and magazines began to promote casual living as the ideal. Influences such as courtyards, patios and other Spanish colonial architectural details were embraced and played upon. What was known as the front porch or veranda, was moved from the front to the back of the house and heralded the arrival of a significant lifestyle change. Families now preferred the privacy of their back yard rather than sitting on the front porch watching traffic.

Small House Plans Ideas

Small house plans are small home plans or floor plans. Small house plans are popular but are not a style of home. Small house plans make sense for many people and families because they are more affordable. Small house plans can be anything from a cottage, ranch style or even cabin or almost any other style home. If you choose these types of plans, you will save money and cost of material. It is also less expensive to build a small house than a large home.

Some small homes have two floors and come with or without a basement. Some more common small homes have crawlspaces for extra storage. Traditionally they have a room off the kitchen which you can place a washer and dryer. These house are frequently Cottage or Bungalow style.

More about small house plans

Some other small house plans consist of homes that keep the kitchen, bathroom, and bedrooms to the end of the house and the living room in its center. This gives more simplicity and also a sense of luxury to the house.

Small house plans are normally defined as houses with less than 1800 square feet, excluding a basement. These house are also space efficient and less expensive to build on a small plot of land.

Where to find small house plans

If you are interested in small house plans you should always look for the best deals on blueprints. Blueprints or plans are available from a variety of sources and at many different prices. Two of my favorites are coolhouseplans.com and dongardner.com. Plans from coolhouseplans have prices ranging from $585 for five sets of blueprints up to $1,175 for CAD files. If you are not familiar with CAD files, these are Computer Aided Drawing files, meaning that they provide all the information needed to build the house on CD-ROM and have blueprints that can be printed and as often as needed and in any quantity.

Luxury House Plans Ideas

If you are looking for luxury house plans, perhaps you are looking for extra bedrooms, or maybe extra rooms for entertaining. Perhaps you enjoy hosting dinner parties and need some extra entertaining space for socializing with your friends. Maybe you just like to have a lot of space to yourself, and are looking for luxury house plans to build a home where you can quietly enjoy your time in your own space. Before choosing your home plan, you'll definitely want to consider the use of the space, and what you hope to get from your house.

In the process of looking for luxury house plans, you're going to need to decide which luxuries suit your preferences. Will you be looking for a large number of bedrooms, in order to house a large family, or perhaps to have several rooms available as guest rooms or multi-purpose rooms? Is there someone musically inclined in the family, so that you may be choosing to include a music room in the luxury house plans? Are you considering rooms such as a library or conservatory? Are you hoping to build your home on acreage, or are you hoping to avoid yard work demands, and looking for a smaller lot size? All of these are possibilities, and once you know what it is you want in your home, you are one step closer to getting the home of your dreams.

Luxury house plans may include extras such as a family home theater as part of a basement or family room area. Plan to host the next big Super Bowl party, or just relax in front of the big screen TV, watching your favorite movie while sprawled across the theater seating. These house plans may include full wet bars, as well, and can definitely be well-suited for entertaining a crowd. Luxury house plans may also include a butler's pantry, where you can hide away some of the mess of the party prep, or just a super-sized kitchen with upgraded appliances. You may expect to find assorted extras throughout the house, too. Large closets and other storage locations are a definite plus in home plans. A three-car garage may give you room for three vehicles, or perhaps you'd like to use two spaces for cars, and the third space as a workspace.

Custom House Plans Ideas

Custom house plans may be in your future if you've decided exactly what you'd like from your next home. If you know just what you're looking for in a house and have some difficulty finding it in the existing housing inventory, you might want to have your house built to your own exacting standards. Maybe you're tired of your house being just like the neighbors' houses, or maybe there are some features that you really want, or really don't want. A custom house plan can be the key to getting your dream house plan.

If you consult with a residential designer, instead of buying an stock home plan, you may have the added advantage of getting to discuss with the designer just what details are particularly important to you. Along the same lines, you may receive guidance and advice about some things you haven't thought about before, and be guided in the right direction regarding attributes of the house. With your custom house plans, you get to decide just what you want to go where in your home, and you don't have to be willing to settle for second best with a pre-built home being sold by the last family who lived there.

You'll need to speak with your residential designer to see what the design guidelines are regarding preparing custom house plans. Once you decide on initial plans, you may change your mind on things you want or don't want in the house. You'll want to be sure how you go about addressing that with your designer, and what expenses may be assessed for any changes you choose to make.

Have you always wanted a full wet bar in your basement? Or maybe a bright sunny breakfast nook in your kitchen? Maybe you've had your heart set on a music room for your "someday" house. Now's the time to make "someday" today. With custom house plans you can make all those decisions on your own, based on your priorities and budget. You aren't simply stuck with having to settle from the best of the bunch of the existing housing inventory.

Unique House Plans Ideas

Once you have decided to build your own house get someone to review your plans in case you draw your own plans, it is usually a good idea to get some experienced builder to look them over to help you get most of the "bugs" out of it before you start to build.

These could be wastespace, awkward corners, poor circulation through the house, freakish features, unusual methods of building which increase the labor involved, crowded places, or inconsistencies.

Getting an experienced house designer to double check your plans would usually be a profitable investment, which might keep you from making absurd mistakes. After they are built, things do not always look the same as they do on paper. If you do not believe that people make many queer mistakes, drive up any residential street and take a critical look at the houses people have built in the mistaken notion that they were creating works of art.

There are many good planners who will work for a modest fee. Although they have not had the experience on large buildings to qualify as architects, they are willing to take time to give careful, personal thought to your house and to draw you a good plan. Since you are the one who has to decide what you want anyway, find someone who can help you and who is interested in seeing that you get just the house you really want.

Some contractors and builders are good at planning and some of them are not. Most contractors are good at the details of construction, even though they may be poor or indifferent planners as far as room arrangement, convenience, and appearance are concerned.

Although you might be wise to leave many of the construction details to the judgment of the contractor, insist on the room arrangement you want and any special features you consider important. If you want a screened porch, do not let anyone talkyou out of it. You are building the house to get what you want, not what someone else thinks you ought to want.

Duplex House Plans Ideas

There is a lot of talk about getting your first house. It’s part of the American Dream to get a house and maybe get a dog named Rover. But maybe someone’s first home should instead be a duplex. Why would I propose such a thing? Is it possible I am a secret Russian spy that hates American pie? No, there are simply too many advantages to buying a duplex first.

Buying a duplex has a number of financial advantages over buying a house. A lot of people assume that duplexes would sell for about twice of what a house sells for in the same neighborhood. This is rarely the case. Duplexes are more frequently about 1.5 times the price of a house in a given area. So to pick an easy number if a house is selling for 100k then a duplex should be selling for 150k.

So let’s compare buying a house to a duplex. To keep things the same let’s assume we have 20k to put down and we are looking in the Austin real estate market so that the taxes are 2.5 percent of the purchase price and insurance is 0.4 percent of the purchase price.

1. Lower Monthly Payment

To start off with let’s look at the house. For the house we are going to have a 6.5 percent interest rate.

100k house price
20k down payment

Monthly Payment = $747.32

Moving on to the duplex. Since duplexes usually have higher interest rates we are going to assume a 7 percent interest rate. We are also going to assume that the other side of the duplex is being rented for $650.

150k duplex price
20k down payment
Monthly Payment = $1184.18
Rent Payment minus 5 percent vacancy = $617.50
Monthly Payment minus rent = $566.68

The monthly payment on the duplex comes out to be 31.8 less than on a house. You might get different numbers based on your area. In most areas a duplex leads to a lower monthly payment but there are a few real estate markets where the opposite is true do always run the numbers.

Dream House Plans Ideas

Modular Homes are not those old trailers you see in mobile home parks or low income housing shelters. Gone are the early days of temporary looking structures, modular housing construction has undergone a designing renaissance over the last decade. Today, modular homes are the latest trendy way to own an exclusive home in a style that you will enjoy - all at a fraction of the cost of a traditional home.

Modular homes are built in a factory in different sections and built so that they conform to all state, local or regional building codes of where you wish to live. The main reason that modular homes are becoming more and more popular every day is that you can purchase these homes at a much lower price per square foot than an equivalent site built home. When your new home arrives at its destination professional contractors will put the sections of your home together and it will then be inspected to ensure it meets local codes in the area and that all work was finished properly.

Since all modular factories have to build according to certain codes, your home will last just as long as any other custom built home, and sometimes even longer. With the need to transport the home segments to the site, the factory design actually creates a stronger and sturdier structure to accommodate the transportation segment of the building process. In addition, modular homes are built under constant environmental conditions inside a factory, which will reduce your chances of mold and mildew problems in the future when compared to traditional site built homes build outdoors.