Creating Your Dream Home

How to design your own personalised abode.

Here is a practical list of requirements you should acknowledge when you decide to map out your own home. This table is only a guideline that I found useful, and that I hope you do to.

1. Location.

What do you want your home to be located near?

Employment, public transport, schools/nurseries, friends/relatives, medical care, shops, night life, parks/playgrounds, youth clubs, sports facilities, libraries, countryside or sea of recreation?

2. Space.

How many rooms? 

How many bedrooms? Do you want a separate kitchen and dining room or a combined one? Do you want more than one living room? Do you want more that one bathroom? Do you want optional rooms? A nursery, garage, workshop, study, laundry, guest room, store room, porch, garden shed, conservatory, greenhouse, dressing room, games room, swimming pool, sauna, Jacuzzi?

What size rooms?

Which rooms do you want to be spacious? Do you want high ceilings? How much and what size furniture do you want in each room? How much storage space do you need in each room?

What position?

Which rooms do you want to be close to each other? Which rooms do you want to be kept apart? What time of day would you prefer sunlight in each room? Which rooms do you want to have access to the garden? If you have a view, from which rooms would you like to see it? Are there rooms which need to be on the ground floor?

3. Services and fittings.

Heating.

What type of fuel do you want? 

Gas? Electricity? Oil? Solid fuel? Solar?

Do you want?

Open fires, radiators, storage heaters, gas or electric fires, air conditioning, warm-air ducts, a solid-fuel kitchen range with a boiler?

What level of insulation do you want?

Cavity wall? Draught stopping? Loft lining? Double glazing?

How many electric sockets do you need in each room? How many wall or ceiling lights do you need in each room? Do you need high-voltage circuits for cooking immersion heaters etc? do you want a separate meter for off-peek electricity? Do you wan an exterior electricity meter? Do you need a separate meter for rented accommodation?

Gas and Oil.

How many gas points do you want in each room and in what position? Do you want an exterior gas meter? Do you need a tank of oil or liquid gas storage: above ground/below ground?

Plumbing.

How many water outlets, hot and cold, do you need in which rooms? Do you want: water points for a washing machine or dishwasher? An external tap? A water softening unit? A waste disposal unit on sinks? A direct mains water supply?

4. Light and Noise.

Do you want areas with lots of natural light? Do you want areas that are quiet? Do you want to insulate rooms against noise?

5. Access.

How many access points do you need? Do you want a separate access point to different areas? Do you want direct access to the garden or patio and from which rooms? Do you want covered access to the garage? Do you need access to attic, roof or cellar? Do you need access to fire escapes? Should any access areas not have steps? Do you need doors and halls that are wide enough for a wheelchair? Do you need access for bulky furniture? Do you need an elevator? Do you need access for fuel delivery or rubbish collection?

6. Security.

Do you want?

To be close to a police station? An alarm system, if so what type? Dead locks on all exterior doors? Locks on internal doors? Locks or bars on windows? Unbreakable glass in doors and windows? Lockable garage? A wall safe? Secure boundaries around your property?

7. Safety. 

Do you need?

Child-proof windows and doors? Child-proof electric sockets? Heating outlets that are safe for children? Storage areas out of reach of children? Garden gates and fences to protect children? Lighting on stairs and steps? Handrails for elderly or disabled persons? An alarm for summoning help?

8. Miscellaneous.

Do you need space or access for pets? How many telephones do you need and where? 

Do you need an external TV aerial? A satellite receiver? Provisions for cable TV? Facilities for a home computer?