There has been a noticeable rise in the popularity of renovating and rebuilding homes in 2020.

It could be because we’ve all been spending more time at home of late, or maybe because there’s $25,000 on offer from the government’s HomeBuilder scheme, but whatever the reason behind it there has been a lot of people looking to make major changes to their home.

While this has led some to have some amazing new and improved homes, others might still be struggling as they try to get a good house plan together.

Good designs take time

If you’ve engaged a building designer or architect to help put your dream home down on paper then be prepared for it to take some time.

Even if all goes smoothly it could take upwards of 6 months to have plans that you are happy with, and ready for your builder to use.

Apart from the design work itself, which generally takes a lot of back and forth between you and a designer, you might need to obtain site surveys, engineering reports, certifications and council approval, depending on what you’re looking to get done, meaning there is a lot of places where your designs can get held up.

Try not to get disheartened if your design isn’t coming together as quickly as you initially hoped, particularly if you have a difficult site or there are a number of constraints with the original building on your property. It is quite normal for it to take time to nail a good design that encompasses everything you’re looking for.

Make sure you communicate

Your design outcome will turn out better if you’re upfront at the very start about the things that are important to you in your home.

Ask yourself the reasons you’re renovating to help you get a clear idea of what you want to portray to your designer.

Do you want a better indoor/outdoor connection? Or perhaps you’re hoping to create a more open plan living space that’s suitable for entertaining?

Think carefully about your design brief from the very start and make sure you communicate what you want.

It’s also important to be upfront about what you’re willing to spend on creating your dream home.

It’s easy for costs to blow out so you may need to reign in the ideas of an architect or a building designer if their plans are getting beyond what you’re willing to spend.

Know when to cut your losses

Getting design plans drawn up for a home aren’t exactly cheap, but going ahead with a bad design is going to cost a lot more.

If you go through the process of getting house plans done and you aren’t happy with the end result then it would be foolish to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars because you don’t want to have wasted a few thousand on getting the plans drawn up.

Designing a home is often a learning curve and it’s not uncommon for people to use multiple designers or architects until they find a plan they’re finally happy with.

In some cases the design process may even help home owners realise that renovating or rebuilding isn’t for them after all and they are better off finding a more suitable block of land, or perhaps just moving somewhere where all the hard work has already been done.