More than 9.5 million Canadians are homeowners, many of them working on making their dream homes. 

Being a homeowner means having the freedom to update and alter your home into something more suitable for you. Or it could mean starting from the very beginning and creating your dream home design in a custom build. 

Custom building your home allows you to have the home look and function how you want it to from the very first day you move in. 

But designing a home can be complicated! Follow these seven tips to design your dream home with less stress and more fun!

1. Create a List of Must-Haves

The very first thing you should do before starting to design your dream home is to make a list of your must-have items. This can include anything you want but it should be limited to things you actually don’t want to live without. 

There are countless things we all want to have in our homes but getting every single thing we want just isn’t realistic. 

Try to make this list as realistic as possible (especially regarding your budget). But it should make it so that if your home has these things on it, you’ll be satisfied. Having this list ready to go will keep you on track as you start to sort through ideas and inspiration. 

2. Look for Long-Lasting Choices

The trends in home design and decor are continually changing. Every season there’s something new that’s in and popular. Designing your home around current trends may not be your best option. 

If you are custom building a home, it’s likely that you’re planning on staying in it for a long time. You don’t want everything to be outdated in just a few seasons. 

Instead, it’s a better choice to make the bones and permanent fixture in your home more timeless. Then you can layer on more trendy or in-style pieces of furniture, accent pieces, and decor. 

Focusing on the longevity of your home will help it evolve and work for you for many years to come. 

3. Define Your Style 

While you want to stay away from trying to be super trendy in your home design, you should also define your style before starting. 

There are so many different styles in home design and each has timeless elements within them. When you know which style you prefer, you can make a choice that will withstand the test of time but also fit you. 

An easy way to define your style is to look at several different inspiration sources. Save the images that stand out to you and pay attention to what is drawing you in. 

After you’ve got a good collection of photos, it will be more obvious where your style lands. 

4. Keep Functionality in Mind

We all want our homes to be stunning and beautifully designed, we also want to be able to live comfortably and easily within them as well. This means that we need to keep the functionality in mind as well. 

The functionality of a home includes the movement patterns throughout, where things will be stored, and if the layout makes sense for your habits. 

Making sure the house will function for you may arguably be the most important aspect of home design. 

If you can make a conscious effort to think about where your issues have been in previous houses you’ve lived in, you can actively work to make design choices to eliminate those sticking points. 

5. Integrate Technology

Over a quarter of all Canadians own at least one piece of smart home technology and that number is continually growing. 

These smart technologies include alarm systems, thermostats, assistants, doorbells, light switches, sound systems, and so much more. They make daily tasks much simpler and even feel a bit more luxurious.

As you’re looking at custom dream home designs, pay attention to where you’d like to add technology in. 

Most smart-home systems can be added later but many are much easier to integrate and install during the building and finishing stages. And many of them save you money in the long run, which is a major bonus!

6. Work with a Professional

One of the most helpful things you can do to ensure you get the home of your dreams is to work with a professional during the design and building phases. 

A custom home builder will have all of the necessary training and experience to bring your vision to life. There are many technical aspects of designing a home, such as architectural plans, following building codes, and safety precautions. 

All of those aspects are crucial to the success of your home but the average person doesn’t know how to handle it all. 

The professional designer will take you suggestions, wants, and needs into account and work with you to get exactly what you’re looking for. 

7. Don’t Compromise Too Much

It’s true, that you most likely can’t get everything you want in your future home. Whether that’s due to the budget or it’s just physically impossible with the space available. 

When you’re designing luxury dream homes there are going to be compromises that have to be made. 

But make sure you don’t compromise away everything that you really wanted. It’s easy to get caught up in all of the decisions you need to make and realize later that you didn’t get what you really wanted. 

If there is something you really want, remember it’s your home and you get to make the ultimate decision. 

Find Your Dream Home Design Plan

We spend so much time in our homes. It’s where some of our most cherished memories are going to be made. You want your home to fit your style and needs so that you can feel comfortable there. 

Working towards your dream home design can sound like an unreachable goal. But not if you have the right team helping you through the process. 

If you want to learn more about custom building your dream home or are ready to get started, contact us today!