Thoughts on Custom Home Design

We're about half-way through building our custom home, and it has been a bit over one year since we started this project. The process has taken longer than we expected, and has produced some unexpected challenges. Permitting and major parts of design are done, and construction will be starting shortly. It is a good time to reflect on the process so far. We'll provide some general thoughts here, and explore some other areas in more detail in future posts.

The process has been hard at times. Our schedule was already full with our regular jobs and frequent activities with friends and family. We've sometimes had to stretch to fit design into our schedule. Permitting complications and delays, both before and after submission, have put us significantly behind schedule. With those and some of the other difficulties, we've felt discouraged and frustrated at times, with that frustration sometimes turning into arguments. We started to semi-seriously look at homes to purchase when things were really grim.

Through it all, we've always return to a positive view. Our design fits us better than anything we've seen for sale. As it has slowly come together on paper and in our minds, we've become more realistic about what our house will and won't be. It won't be perfect, but we like how the design is turning out.

The thought of turning that design into a physical structure intimidates us. We've been planning and designing, in some form or another, for over a year. But so far it has all been on paper. Once construction starts, the design will be locked; we can't add another room or rearrange things. As it progresses, more and more details will be fixed in place. So we have to hope that things will turn out how we hope, and that we don't have too many regrets once it is done.

But our hesitation is mixed with excitement. Whenever we visit the house currently under construction, we see the potential of our own. We will finally see the physical realization of what we've spent so much time and energy designing.

We are only half-way through, and there is still lots left to do. We have plenty of design details to decide on, and we'll spend quite a bit of time following the construction progress. We'll drastically increase our spending, and it will probably be a bit of a shock to spend so much money so quickly. Despite everything so far, we're looking forward to the next stage of our house.