Home Design Plans, Factors and Economic Principles that Affect Residential Design

The best home design plans have the purpose of a structure and its limitations in mind. One and two story home plans are so plentiful, that home design trends have become increasingly more important.

Building a home is one of the most important events in your life. Think back to your marriage or the birth of your child. Building a house for the first time can be as emotional an event as these two previously mentioned for many people.

Choosing which home design plans most suits your personality and desires can be quite challenging. Especially if your spouse wishes for the best selling home plan available.

I will teach you some basics of good architecture and design, so your family can come to a better decision on which home floor plans suit you the best.

Purpose - Always remember that a house should fulfill the physical and emotional needs of your family. Think about these needs:
- Does the plan provide shelter and security?
- Does it provide comfort and privacy?
- Does it provide recreation and entertainment?
- Does it provide storage?
- Does it express one's personality?
- Does it provide a place to work?
Your home should be a machine for living.
Appearance - The home design should appeal to your aesthetic sense. The key issues related to your home's appearance are:
- Style - not just decoration but how a home fits your personal style
- Proportion - a home with unsuitably proportioned wall spacing, ceiling height, floor area, small windows, etc., may be decorated in a given style but because of the proportions are not true to that style.
Symmetry - One side of the home is a mirror image of the other. When Style and proportion come together, symmetry holds everything in the design together

Other Design and Appearance Issues -

Texture - the feeling a design attempts to give its potential owner
Patterns - Different forms of angles, shapes, and commonly expected repetition
Colors - The contrast and blending of colors of a home or room can be used to convey different types of feelings

It is important to remember that, yes there is always the emotional attachment to everything that is first; first car, first date, and even first home. This is why most people want that house to have a special touch. When choosing what will be the best layout, especially if the house is not yet built, can be complicated. The best selling home plan and home design plans vary in size and styles, and of course location.

On another note, some retirees will decide to down grade from a large, often multiple story home for a smaller place. Yet, letting go of that big home can be a heartbreaking affair. It is for this reason that many residential designs tend to have an emotional appeal for many people. A lot of house designs have character, others have, convenience, yet many others have conventionality. Regardless of the reason or reasons for choosing certain home design plans, the role of emotional appeal in residential design is evident.

Emotional appeal can be categorized into three types:

Visceral - A visceral emotion is the initial reaction or "gut reaction" to a particular design or design style. Ask yourself, what is your gut reaction when you see a design you like or don't like? That is your visceral emotional reaction!

Behavioral - A behavioral emotion is based on experience and knowledge. The thought process occurs at a higher level than the visceral reaction (but still a subconscious reaction) because it's based on past experiences and knowledge of the particular design. What additional behavioral thinking do you do after your initial reaction to a particular design?

Reflective - A reflective emotion is the conscious contemplation of trying to improve upon the behavioral response by learning from it. You like the interior of the design, but will offer less for the plans because of potential design flaws, in your opinion. This is an example of the reflective emotion at work.

When looking at home design plans people should take into consideration home design trends at the time they're considering buying, as well as the houses in the neighborhood. This is especially necessary to determine whether or not the house plan you are considering to buy is priced well or above its value.

You also want to make sure that the house you build will not be the most expensive home in the area because if it is, the law of decreasing returns starts to take effect. The law of decreasing returns tries to balance the cost, price, and value of a property's design.

Cost - is a fact, but has significant influence on value (which may coincide with cost)

Price - is the amount asked or the amount offered or paid.

Value - is based on the economic concept (what is this worth?). Value is never a fact and is always an opinion at a specified time

The cost of building the most expensive home in a neighborhood will not match the value it's worth when you are finished building the house. You can ask for the amount your paid to build it when you sell (price), but there is no guarantee that you will get that asking price.

More often than not houses within the same neighborhoods tend to have similar design layouts. This is particularly true for gated communities and new housing developments, which will often have between two or three different home design plans, among which you can sometimes find:

one story home plans

And

two story home plans.

Three story home plans are more commonly found in urban areas which have a need for multiple family homes. Needless to say that the single family three story home plans are more often than not for the upper middle class and are harder to find. I have only seen them when older apartment buildings in cities are converted to a one unit residence.

Today's home design trends favor open concept floor plans. The new generation of professionals, look more towards having open model plans because of the likelihood it poses for entertaining. However, one must not forget that, home design trends change over the years, and what is popular today may have not been so two decades ago.

Just as times progress, people mature, generations change, so does fashion, what is in and out, and with it which homes are trendy, or in. So, it is important that when deciding which home design plans to buy, and beginning the construction of your home, think about what features in the design plan will give you a good turnaround in the future.

There are four value factors that create good design:

Utility - The ability of a to satisfy a human want, need, or desire. Utility is often found in features called amenities.

Scarcity - The present or anticipated undersupply of a certain home design plan relative to its demand for it.

Desire - A purchaser's wish for an item to satisfy human needs (shelter).

Effective Purchasing Power - The ability to pay or participate in the market. Often tied to one's ability to obtain financing.

It is important for anyone looking to buy a house, existent or not, to visualize themselves in their home. Analyze what they love, what they dislike, what they need and what they can live without in a home. Yes, having an emotional longing for a house can be a driving force to buy that house or the plans for a home, but it should not be the deciding factor.

Many things need to be taken into consideration, among them, home design plans, the budget, location, the style and the local amenities. These are all things that will allow you to live comfortably, without worries and well beyond the initial emotional attraction.

Finally, do not forget that it is important to consult construction engineers or an architect so you understand what specific home design plans will cost you, in regards to materials and labor.

You also need to know if the extension you are planning to add to the house may be feasible or not. You do not want to buy on impulse just because those home design plans are the latest in home design trends. You want to be an educated buyer and a proud home owner.