Take a moment to ask yourself
these seemingly simple questions. The answers will be useful as you begin
talking with your architect and planning your project.
1. Describe your current home.
What do you like about it? What's missing?
What don't you
like?
2. Do you want to change the
space you have?
3. Do you want to build a new
home?
4. Why do you want to build a
house or add to or renovate your current
home? Do you need
more room? Are children grown and moving on? Is
your life-style
changing?
5. What is your life-style?
Are you at home a great deal? Do you work at
home? Do you
entertain often? How much time do you spend in the living
areas, bedrooms,
kitchen, den or office, utility space, etc.? Do you have
disabilities that
might affect the design of your home?
6. How much time and energy
are willing to invest to maintain your home?
7. If you are thinking of
adding on, what functions/activities will be housed in
a new space?
8. What kind of spaces do you
need, e.g., bedrooms, expanded kitchen,
bathrooms, etc?
9. How many of those spaces do
you think you need?
10. What do you think the
addition/renovation/new home should look like?
11. If planning on a new home,
what do you envision in this home that you
don't
have now?
12. How much can you
realistically afford to spend?
13. How soon would you like to
be settled into your new home or addition?
Are
there rigid time constraints?
14. If you are contemplating
building a home do you have a site selected?
15. Do you have strong ideas
about design styles? What are you design
preferences?
16. Who will be the primary
contact with the architect, contractor and others
involved in designing and building your project? (It is good to have one
point
of contact to prevent confusion and mixed messages.)
17. What qualities are you
looking for in an architect?
18. How much time do you have
to be involved in the design and construction
process?
19. Do you plan to do any of
the work yourself?
20. How much disruption in
your life can you tolerate to add on to or renovate
your home?
