When choosing luxury home plans many people focus on their budget or on a particular design that they find aesthetically pleasing. This can result in regrets down the road. A lot of folks simply don't know what kinds of questions they should ask or what things could affect their home owning experience. Here are some things to think about that will ensure you have the best experience possible with your new custom home.

Living Needs and Family Lifestyles
     Families can have a wide spectrum of needs depending on age, lifestyle, and future plans. Obviously newly weds and retirement age couples don't look for the same features in a home. To ensure that you are happy with the finished product, it is critical to evaluate your situation by asking yourself some lifestyle future plans questions.

     Are you starting a family? Do you think you might have more children in the future? Do you frequently have overnight guests? Will you be having lots of parties? Does the house plan you're considering allow for easy expansion later if you want to make the house bigger? Will placement on the lot allow for expansion later? Etc.

     Think about the way you live in your current home, about where you spend most of your time and why. Think about your family dynamic and how you interact with each other. Plans with large, open, connected designs are more conducive to a social atmosphere, while other plans provide more solitude and privacy.

Aesthetics
     Obviously this is very important. Why build a custom home that you can't stand to look at? Do you like how the home looks on the outside? If not, can you change the exterior to suit your preferences? Don't overlook a good plan if the exterior is the only thing you don't like. A home's exterior is often the easiest thing to change.

Resale Value
     Is there anything about your house plan that would make it difficult to sell your home in the future? If so, how difficult would it be to change it to improve the resale value of the home? Don’t make your home so “custom” that you create obstacles for future sales.

Budget
     The costs of building your own home can vary greatly. Is there a plan you like that is slightly outside your range? Can you reduce the size or features of the home to make it affordable? Sometimes you can put off finishing some parts of the home or add some features later. Perhaps reducing the size of some areas will make the home affordable. The interior finishing of a home is often what drives up the cost. If the plan calls for mahogany baseboards and casing, changing it to oak can reduce your cost by thousands.

Functional Space
     Think about your current and future space needs. A room should have space to comfortably accommodate the furniture and allow traffic flow. The size, shape, and layout of a room mostly determine it's usability. A square room tends to be more usable than a narrow-rectangular room of equal square footage and having the door towards the corner of a room tends to produce more usable wall space in a room.

Storage Space
     Does the plan you are considering have enough storage space? Where will you put cleaning supplies like brooms and vacuums? Are linen closets conveniently located near the bathrooms? Do you need storage for seasonal or hobby equipment? Where will you store the coats and shoes of guests? Are there plenty of cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms? Is the kitchen pantry large enough? Also consider your future needs. Will the home be able to support your storage needs as your family grows?

Work Space
     Do you have any hobbies or special interests that might require additional space or rooms to enjoy them? Do you enjoy lawn and garden work? Do you enjoy working in the garage? You might want to put in a utility room with a half-bath for quick and easy cleanup.

Wasted Space
     Try to minimize wasted space. Unusable space still costs money to build, heat, and cool. Hallways tend to waste space. Plans with fewer or shorter hallways tend to have more useable space. Walk-in closets may not provide much additional storage then a smaller closet would. The area used to walk into a closet provides no storage space. Are there rooms you will rarely use? If so, perhaps the functions of those rooms could be replaced by other rooms. For example, instead of having a formal living room perhaps you might prefer a larger den.

Outdoor Living Space
     The usability of your outdoor spaces will be determined by the shape of your house. A home with a square or rectangular shape will create a large open outdoor area. This is good if you need lots of space to do things in the yard.

     An L-shaped house or a house with rooms that extend out from the house's main shapes can create a more enclosed or private outdoor space. If you want private deck with a hot tub then you may want rooms that extend out from the home to help create a more private deck.

Exterior Views
     If you live in a scenic area then you should consider from what rooms you'd like to see those views. A plan with rooms at angles or rooms clustered around the view may allow more rooms to take advantage of certain points on the landscape. Keep in mind you can often change the window sizes to suit your needs.

Orientation
     How energy efficient your home is will depend largely on orientation towards the sun and wind. In North America, the longest side of a home should face south. The north side of a home receives less sunlight and more cold wind It is better suited for storage rooms, garages, utility rooms, lesser used rooms, and rooms with fewer windows.

     The best place to have windows is on the southern wall of a home. The living areas of the home should be towards the south. You may want to have the rooms oriented to follow the sun. For example, if there are rooms you mainly use in the morning you may want those on the east side of the home. The rooms you use in the afternoon or evening could be to the south or west.

Traffic Flow
     Think about what areas are likely to be high traffic or subject to congestion. Are there any areas where doors placement or room orientation will create traffic flow problems? Are there any places where doors can open and hit each other? If you have to turn lots of corners the traffic will not flow as well.

     How wide are the hallways and stairways? Wider hallways and stairways are more convenient and easier to use. Also look at how the rooms are connected. Can you carry groceries from the garage to the kitchen without having to go through other rooms? Are bathrooms easily accessible from any bedroom? Can guests easily get to the back yard without having to go through several rooms?

Multi-Purpose Rooms
     Having rooms that can serve a variety of purposes allows for flexibility in your lifestyle and helps protect the resale value of your home. For example, by putting a closet in the office you could use the office as a bedroom. A future home buyer might not need an office but having an extra bedroom might be appealing to them.

Furniture
     When planning room sizes, carefully consider the seating arrangements and how furniture placement will affect the overall dynamic of the room. Do you want separate seating areas or one larger conversation area? How will the room flow into other rooms? There should be at least 36 inches to walk around furniture and clearance for doors to swing.

     Will your furniture block any windows? Is there enough wall space, nooks and areas for art and decorations? Look at the paths you'll use to move furniture into the rooms. How easy will it be for you to move the furniture to the places you want? Sometimes sharp corners and narrow hallways can make it impossible to move large furniture into a room.

Light Patterns
     Look at the placement of windows and visualize how light will come into the home. Are there any areas that won't receive light? Also, think about how you will be placing the home on your lot and how solar orientation will affect the home and your activities during different parts of the day. Do you keep houseplants that require lots of sun? Do you want the morning sun to reach your kitchen? If you don't have sufficient outdoor light can you add a window or skylight or move an interior wall?

Sight Patterns
     Sight patterns affect how large the home feels. Open designs make spaces seem larger, while walls or anything else that blocks line of sight gives more privacy but makes a room feel smaller. Windows placed at the end of halls or doorways will let you look outdoors. This makes the home feel larger. Using larger windows can also help a room feel larger.

     Line of sight also affects the acoustics of a home. Open areas will let sound travel more easily. Adding buffer areas in a home can help give privacy by reducing the sound flow from noisy rooms. For example, clothes closets between bedrooms and living areas can help deaden the noise coming from the living area.

Privacy
     How private do you want your home to be in general? Are there areas you want to be more private? Generally people care about privacy in bathrooms, the master bedroom and the office or den. Consider privacy from occupants, guests and neighbors. Are your windows visible from a neighbor's windows? Does a neighbor's second floor window overlook your back yard? Landscaping, and the layout of your lot are important in how much privacy your outdoor spaces will have.

Romance
     Sometimes you can't beat a romantic evening at home. Where would you like to spend time with your spouse or significant other? Naturally the master bedroom comes to mind, but what about the master bath? Do you want a large whirlpool tub or 2-person shower? Perhaps you'd like a private area outside with a pool or hot tub.

     Do the relationship of other bedrooms in the home give you enough privacy? Maybe you'd enjoy a fireplace in the master bedroom. Keep in mind that features such as decks, porches, fireplaces, and whirlpool tubs can be added to most plans. Don't rule out a plan if you don't see some features you want. You can usually add more features to most luxury home plans.