Planning Your Dream Exterior
We feel that the key to not being overwhelmed with all the details planning your dream home is to tackle the decision making in bite sized pieces. Now that your floorplan is finalized, we can start focusing on the outside of the house.
We recommend first identifying the style of exterior that appeals to you. We help you understand the style categories first. Whether its Contemporary, Prairie, Craftsman, Heritage, California, Colonial, French Country or more recently Farmhouse Modern, capturing a style you are drawn to is a great first step.
You may come with some inspiration, either from driving around newer communities or from on-line searching. This can really help lead our discussions around an architectural style. We will identify which parts of a specific style that is drawing your attention. Is it the rooflines, window groupings or features such as a full veranda that are the key factors?
We will then engage our Drafting Designer to come up with an initial front elevation idea and from there can identify the characteristics of the style and see it come together. Once we have finalized a 2-D front elevation, we can get into further details with more realistic renderings and start incorporating colours.
Each style will lend itself to the most suitable materials for the exterior. For example, Farmhouse Modern exteriors that are becoming more popular now are most suited to a James Hardie Siding and either stone or brick accents. Choosing the materials first and then narrowing it down to colour and location of accents will tie the exterior together. Visualizing these choices through renderings ensures that you feel confident about your decisions.
We will work our way around the house, drawing all 4 sides of the exterior. As the elevations are drawn, we can further look at window sizes and placement and cross reference those to the interior layout of the home to ensure we have the best windows (groupings and sizes) chosen for your home.
This stage truly is exciting, as it brings the house to life and shows the street appeal of your design. Once we have the elevations complete we can move into full blueprints and begin the process of putting together the permitting package! In our next journal entry, we will discuss the permitting process and stages leading up to construction including site preparation. This another area where enlisting a trusted builder with infill experience will come into play.
If you're looking for more information on the process of building an infill home, give Amanda a call! 825.510.2298
Comments