Contemporary House Plan: 5 Questions o Ask Before You Start

If you want your home to be expressive of your style and personality, a contemporary house plan might be the best for you. Contemporary designs are a combination of different yet complementing styles, and they are easier to work with if you want your house to show inventiveness and uniqueness.

Similar to any other architectural style, a contemporary house plan entails visualization, preparation, and consideration of several factors. If you’ve been meaning to remodel your home or you’re just about to plan your first house from scratch, then today is a great time to visualize what you want and start planning from there.

To guide you, here are five important questions that should help you detail the general and specific features that you want. When these are answered, it’ll be a lot easier for you to discuss, negotiate, and work with professionals who can help build your dream home.

1. Considering my surroundings, how do I want my house to look?

A common house planning error is the failure to consider the surroundings—a step that’s very important, especially if you don’t want issues to arise with your neighbors or your property is close to busy roads and public infrastructure that aren’t exactly home-friendly.

If your land is near busy streets, you’ll have to be strategic with where you install windows and how large your windows will be. You might also need some soundproofing measures or build a fence to protect your privacy. If your area is prone to flooding and other natural hazards, your home design should take these into consideration as well. 

2. What are my non-negotiables?

What features are absolute musts? Defining these will help not only in planning your home but also in making adjustments when needed. For example, if certain resources run short, you immediately know which areas of your plan can and cannot be adjusted. 

Additionally, your non-negotiables will also define your dealbreakers when you’re ready to scan different contractors to work with.

3. Am I financially prepared?

Building a house is costly. That’s an established fact. What’s more, contemporary houses are generally more expensive than usual designs, particularly because of their material requirements.

If you’ve read this far, you probably have a budget already or you’re close to reaching your target budget. If you aren’t sure how much you should prepare, there are tons of online resources that can provide an estimate of the cost-to-build value of different designs. Finding the right budget guide should give you an idea of how much you’ll need and whether you should proceed with your plans or wait until you have more savings and emergency fund.

If you’ve decided to wait for now, then you have more time to consider your options and create images of the home features you like. You don’t have to be an expert architect to do that; you can create thumbnail sketches just so your ideas are recorded. To help you, you can check out this beginner-level architectural drawing guide.

4. What sustainable features are attainable for the target location?

Some of the most attractive features of contemporary designs are their environment-friendly elements as well as their designs’ integration with the natural surroundings.

Unfortunately, some eco-friendly home features are difficult to access. With that, it helps to do your own research on what options are available, how much they cost, and if they’re feasible for your property’s location.

5. How can I start inviting contractors to bid?

When should you start? What strategies are doable to attract reputable contractors? What are your qualifications?

Your choice of contractor will make or break your dream home, so it makes sense to put a lot of attention in the application and bidding process. Additionally, if you have friends who’ve had contractors work for them, you might also want to solicit their feedback and advice.

Answering all these questions will give you a clearer picture of what you want and how and when you can get there. The entire process could be daunting, but isn’t your dream home worth it?