Direct from the Designers
Posts tagged Floor Plans
You're ready to build your dream home. (Congratulations!) | floor plans
1 month ago
You’ve sifted through architecture and design books, looked at models and developed a sense of what you like and don’t like. But now comes the important question – should you design a custom home from scratch or stick to a stock floor plan?
Overall, stock floor plans are an excellent choice. Why?
This best-selling ranch floor plan features fabulous curb appeal with a mix of Boral® Bricks and Cultured Stone®.
Variety: Looking for ranch house plans? Two-story Victorian-style plans? You may think pre-made plans will limit your choices, but you’d be surprised. Unlike many years ago, there are many different types of floor plans available from architects, designers and builders. With so many choices out there, you’re sure to find the perfect plan to suit you and your family’s needs.
Details: What if you find a pre-designed plan you like, but you want to make minor tweaks? No worries – most stock floor plans can be easily modified to your desires. Common changes include making a mirror image of the plan, moving walls and adding small features such as a fireplace.
Cost: Having an architect create a custom floor plan is typically a pricy endeavor that can set you back thousands of dollars. Stock home plans, on the other hand, are far more budget-friendly. You get the advantage of using a professionally designed plan for a fraction of the price.
Time: If you’re on a tight schedule, stock floor plans are an excellent option. These plans are ready as soon as you buy it – whereas custom house plans can take weeks (or even months) to create and approve. You may go through several versions of a custom-designed plan before you are comfortable with the final version.
Reassurance: Building a custom-designed home means doing things no one has done before. Even the smallest details and decisions can be nerve-racking. When you purchase pre-designed stock home plans, you may be able to find an identical home that’s already been finished, so you can easily see how your home will look. You can also visit online forums to talk to others who are using the same plan.
Tips to remember:
- Find out if your neighborhood has any building restrictions or requires your home to meet any specifications.
- Be sure your stock floor plans are in accordance with local building codes.
- Ask about the credentials of the planner who created your stock house plans.
- You want your home to be unique, but not to stick out like a sore thumb – choose a stock floor plan that suits your home’s surroundings.
House Plans: Her Dream Home from Direct from the Designers features House Plans with Great Curb Appeal
1 year ago
Her Dream Home from Direct from the Designers features great Fall decorating ideas that will inspire you to dress up your porch, light up your home’s exterior, carve a pumpkin, roll out the welcome mat, make a homemade pie and showcase your fireplace. You’ll find some hot, new house plans featuring innovative floor plans and plenty of curb appeal.
This latest issue of Her Dream Home from Direct from the Designers House Plans features great fall decorating ideas & tips that will inspire homeowners to dress up the porch, light up the home’s exterior, carve a pumpkin, roll out the welcome mat, make a homemade pie and showcase the fireplace. Homeowners will find some of Direct from the Designers newest house plans featuring innovative house plans with plenty of curb appeal.
With the holidays right around the corner, it’s the perfect time to dress your home in seasonal décor. There’s also an article on Creating an Authentic Craftsman Home, which highlights the key design elements to look for in a Craftsman house plan, particularly the front porch and entry.
“This new issue features some of Direct from the Designers most popular house plans based on curb appeal and interior design,” said Christine Sears, Managing Director of Direct from the Designers. “Readers will see spectacular homes with large open kitchens and living spaces and gorgeous outdoor living spaces to make entertaining easy.”
One of the homes featured in the new issue, The Fireglow Home Plan, captures the charm of homes from the French countryside. An offset entry featuring a fiberglass door from Therma-Tru’s® Classic-Craft® Rustic Collection™ opens to an impressive two-story foyer and a formal living room with fireplace lead to a formal dining room.
Another gorgeous home readers can take an inside peek of is The Chatham House Plan which embodies the essence of New England luxury and charm with its shingle-style gables, gambrels, columns, turrets, balconies and verandas. Inside is a spectacular grand circular rotunda with domed stained-glass ceiling and compass rose floor. The two-story great room with a curved bay window anchors the expansive family living space, which is great for entertaining.
For a selection of over 6,000 innovative house plans in a wide range of architectural styles and sizes, as well as their exclusive collection of ENERGY STAR house plans visit Direct from the Designers.
Let us know what you think about our Favorite Apple Pie Recipe, which is on page 8 by sending us a Tweet or sharing a photo of your homemade apple pie or favorite holiday dessert on Facebook.
Introducing New House Plan Website | house plans
2 years ago
Welcome to Dream House Plans, Home Plans and Floor Plans. This new website is dedicated to giving consumers and homebuilders the most innovative and best-selling collection of green house plans online. We have assembled a group of the leading architects and designers to bring you their most popular house plans, in a wide range of architectural styles and sizes to make building your dream home an easy and enjoyable process. All of these stock house plans have been built hundreds of times so you don’t have to worry about incurring additional costs associated with hiring a designer to build a custom home. As an additional service, all of these plans can be modified to fit your exact needs and specifications. Once you’ve purchased a house plan from us, you can keep coming back to our Green Building section to find all the necessary information about the products and services you will need to build your home. We welcome your feedback about Dream House Plans, Home Plans and Floor Plans, so please contact us.
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House Floor Plans Should Stand the Test of Time
3 years ago
by admin
in House Plans
It used to be that aesthetics were the primary focus of home design, but these days functionality is equally, if not more, important. And, of course, the structural integrity of the home is also a crucial component of modern house plans regardless of the particular style of the architecture. A new concern has come into play regarding house floor plans, though. Sustainability and eco friendliness are integral components of contemporary homes. Features like large windows for natural light, extra insulation to keep heat in and cut back on electricity usage, energy efficient appliances and solar panels are all commonplace these days. But what is most important is whether the home will stand the test of time.
Whether you are building a home utilizing craftsman house plans or Tuscan style architecture, it is exceedingly important that your home will be able to endure in terms of durability, functionality and style. Everyone has seen homes from certain eras, like the 1970s, that are no longer in style by any sense of the word. Other homes from bygone eras, such as Victorians, are still perfectly pleasing to the eye today. The key is to utilize house blueprints that are of the times without being too trendy. This is why styles such as craftsman house plans are still desirable today, even though they are not ultra-modern. They use features and aesthetics that are universal enough to remain a stylish design for eras to come.
Structural integrity will ensure that homes stand up to that test of time just as much as a good home design plan does. A good foundation, fortified walls and a strong roofing system are the basic components of structurally sound house floor plans. Sustainable home designing is also important in the house blueprints of today, and these features will also make the home more architecturally sound if implemented properly. Sunshades, louvers and light colored roofing materials help to reduce the heat gain in the southwest, for example. Sustainable home design also means providing plenty of access to outside views with natural light and natural ventilation.
Whether you are looking at small home plans or blueprints for massive estates, it is important to consider whether or not the finished home can stand the test of time. This means a style that is not too trendy, structural integrity and, for many people, it also means sustainable living. With all these elements combined, the home should provide a desirable place to live for many generations to come.
Cottage Home Floor Plans
3 years ago
by admin
in House Plans
If you want to build a home but you’re not creative enough to draw your own blueprints, there are plenty of floor plans you can choose from that perfectly capture the kind of style you’re looking for. If you want a cottage, there are numerous home plans for sale on the Internet that fit the bill. These house plans include cozy cabins, bungalows and even larger informal designs. Some of these plans are designed to be the only home on a property, while others are designed to be a second home on a ranch or estate.
With 1-story, 1½-story and 2-story plans to choose from, you can plan and build virtually any kind of cottage you desire. There are countless different cottage house floor plans on the market, but they tend to fit into one of four different categories. These include vacation cottages, Victorian-style cottages, bungalows and hillside cottages. It is important to understand these different styles to be sure you’re planning the ideal cottage for your wants and needs.
Despite the name, vacation cottage home floor plans can either be used for holiday retreats or for permanent residences. These homes tend to have a spacious living room, veranda in front, screened porch in back, cozy dining room, modern kitchen, two to three bedrooms with balconies, separate shower rooms, a parking area and lobby. The floor plans for Victorian-style cottages usually feature high ceilings, round windows, a covered front porch, galley kitchen, dining room, bedrooms overlooking the backyard, a laundry room, and a separate dressing room all in one story. Bungalow house plans, on the other hand, are usually designed for warmer climates with features such as hipped roofs that deflect the summer heat, windows grouped together for greater sunlight and ventilation, wide overhanging eaves and large porches. And finally, hillside cottages are designed to sit on sharp or steady inclines as the name implies, with features such as large balconies in the bedrooms, walkout basements, daylight basements, underground garages, spacious living rooms with fireplaces and cozy bedrooms.
There are many cottage house plans to choose from in all sizes, styles and designs. Whether you are planning the construction of a vacation home, building a second house on your ranch or building your permanent residence, the right cottage is out there waiting for you. It’s just a matter of deciding how big you want the home to be, what features you need and what kind of exterior and interior design you prefer.
