best site for house design?

Answer 1

Before focusing on a design site, I'd suggest thinking about your own lifestyle, family, pets, climate, age, price, land and whether you plan to stay in one place or move on.

I remodel homes for a living and have built new in the past. When homeowners call, I have about 200 questions I need them to answer before even thinking about the design of their house.

Some of those questions include
1. Are you building from the ground up or remodeling an existing residence?
2. New, then what is the lot size?
3. Remodeling, then what is the septic/sewer availability, electrical and plumbing age?
4. What are you hoping to achieve? Meaning is this an entry level home, vacation home, primary residence? Are you looking to flip it, rent it or live in it?
5. Are there special considerations for the property? Do you live in California or Florida, the two states with the most strict building codes in the country or in Georgia where pretty much anything goes? Do you live in NH where granite may have to be blasted away to make way for the foundation? Do you live in Wisconsin or Idaho where the frost line extends down several feet?
6. Who comprises your family? Do you have several children or want to? A third bathroom would be nice and where do you store toys/bikes and sports equipment for three kids? Do you have an elderly relative you anticipate caring for? Then making the house universally accessible is a good choice. Is there a second floor? Can you stack a closet with the eventual use an elevator?
7. Do you have pets? No carpet makes caring for the animals easier.
8. Is a yard important to you?
9. Do you do a lot of entertaining or is it just your family watching the game?
10. A big kitchen is a nice showpiece, but would upgraded doors and baseboards make you happier?
11. A 4000 SF house makes for a lot of maintenance, utilities and taxes. Would a better designed 2700 SF make more sense? Realistically, what is your budget?
12. What is the rest of the neighborhood like? You don't want to be the most expensive house on the block unless everyone is remodeling.
13. What code restrictions do you have? A four bedroom house requires a septic drain field of 1200 sf. Do you have that much area available and still fit the pool?
14. Do you want to take advantage of any specific technologies like wind or solar? Do you want to build green? Are you recycling any building materials?
15. If you are remodeling, where will you live during construction? Are there hazardous conditions in your house like asbestos tiles and lead paint. (The manufacture of leaded paint was stopped in 1978, but I've found it in houses built as recently as 1982.)
16. Do you want a safe room to protect you from intruders, hurricanes, earthquakes and/or tornadoes?
17. Is there a homeowners association or historical association or architectural review board that has to approve your selections?
18. Do you and anyone else involved in the decision process have any idea about building or remodeling? There are several thousand decisions you will have to make. I'm not exaggerating when I say thousands. Are you good decision-makers or do you question your own choices. If you are the latter, be prepared for lots of cost overruns and change-order charges.
19. Do you know what to look for in a builder/remodeler. A new home builder will not have the same skills as a remodeler. Those are very different skills with different trades. Is s/he licensed? What work has been done? How are problems handled? What insurance is required? What permits are required? How is this paid?
20. Build or remodel the house for the life you have, not the one you want. Spending $40K on a gourmet kitchen is a waste if you eat out four times a week with sandwiches the other nights. If you entertain often though, a small commercial ice maker and second dishwasher can really make things easier. A second laundry room makes laundry that much easier if folks are living/sleeping on two levels. A laundry tub/shower base in the garage makes washing the dog a whole lot easier than trying to capture the lab in the tub.

These are just some basic questions off the top of my head. I'd really think about what you want and how you live before designing anything.

Answer 2

Can you be more specific? Architectural? Interior decor? HGTV.com is a good resource.

Answer 3

sherwinwilliams.com