Building your Modern House

Are you considering building a new home? Maybe the idea of living in an eco-friendly living space is high on your priority list. Then building your modern home is the next step to achieve this. So before you start, there are some things you need to consider before actually building your home.

Where Do You Start With Your Modern Home

When building a new home, you need to set a process before actually laying down the foundation. While seeing the construction rise and develop is exciting, you need a good plan to start with. Here are some steps to help.

_{You Finally Want to Start Building Your Dream Home}

Great you have an idea of how your modern house design should look. Super, as it is a start. But there are other aspects to consider as seen here:

_{Start With a Project Brief}

The first steps to set up a project brief. Doing this sets out the important requirements for your building project. You set it up before meeting with your design team and helps to attain accurate fee proposals.

Further, it remains an evolving document you can use throughout your project. But before you start setting it up, always remember why you want to build your home instead of buying one. As a result, when using your brief, it provides you with the following:

• First, it keeps reminding you why you want your dream house built.
• Second, when preparing your brief with the next steps mentioned later on helps keep you on track.
• Third, your brief helps the architecture and design team know what you need and expect from them.
• Further, it provides information on the room layouts and the style you want.
• Fourth, you can use it to set up a realistic budget to determine the end costs.
• Lastly, it helps to set a realistic time frame and provides the architect with added information.

Using your project brief, you can apply the following steps to it.

_{Do You Want Ready Made Or Original House Plans}

Many new homeowners grapple with this choice to choose the right house plan. Do you want to use a ready-made one presented by architects online? Or do you want your modern home to be unique, creating an original design?

Well, for a start, you can browse through the wide selections available presented by Modlust to view the construction and end process. However, we recommend getting in professional advice from the designers to help make that choice.

Many of them have the expertise to provide you with ready-made or uniquely designed house plans. In addition, they can help you with your specific needs, from planning, space to appearance.

_{Understand Your Needs}

Start by creating your checklist to decide what is important to have in your new contemporary house. You want your living space to feel like home, right! Then if you work with architects, provide them with your ideas to get feedback.

These include:

• The size of your living space.
• Who will be living there?
• Do you need excess rooms?
• Is it important to have a home office?
• Do you need a guest bedroom, basement, laundry room, pantry, sunroom, and more?

_{Always Plan Your Space}

Here you can follow some basic principles:

• When planning your dining room and living room, the placement is important, and your designer will help determine the best place. The important thing is it needs loads of light to enter your living space.
• Consider using huge windows acting as solar power providing heat in winter and coolness in summer.
• Another consideration is to divide your living space into zones. Doing this allows your night zone, such as bedrooms and bathrooms, to be separate from your day zones.
• Another night zone consideration is the family bath, kid’s bedroom, playroom, home gym, and more.

_{Set Your Budget}

Now that you have looked at your plans and discussed them with a designer, it’s time to look at the money. Then, with your research done and checklist, it is time to add up the costs.

Do not forget to add your down payments, property tax, labor for the construction, and the materials builders will use. Now is the time to prioritize moving things to a wish list if your budget is limited. Or you can discuss it with your bank when applying for a construction loan to cover the basics.

These may include but not cover all costs:

• Furnishing
• Decking
• Driveways
• Fencing
• The down payment
• Internet or media wiring
• Your landscaping
• Window covering
• Or any other upgrades needed

So you will have a building budget covering the land cost, down payment, and the construction—the furnishing budget to fit in with your newly designed contemporary house.

These are window coverings, sofas, appliances, to decorations. Lastly, once the builder completes the magics, you need a finishing budget.

With the money, you can remove all the dirt, install a driveway, a deck with fencing.

_{Factors to Consider Before Developing Your Modern House}

Great, now you have your plans and budget set up. Now you need to hire the architect that helped you with your house design. Here are some things you should do when you build a modern house.

_{Hire The Right Architect}

The most crucial part of a modern house design is the architect. They bring everything together, from the floor plan to building your modern home. As mentioned, you need to discuss your project with them.

Further, they help you with hiring the best contractors, plumbers, electricians, to interior designers. Finally, they help inspect the building side and work together to advise on fixtures, finishes, and the end costs.

The correct modern architecture designer determines the services you need and provides you with research in their specialties. So check their region to help with your project. Also, look at their portfolio and recommendations.

Most importantly, meet with them in person to help build your modern dream house.

_{Make Sure to Understand The Government Regulations}

You have your architect, right! Next are the building rules and regulations you need to follow. When it comes to contemporary homes or any other construction, there are building codes to adhere to. These include the material, paint color, and more.

Some states even have specific safety measures when starting a construction. These building codes oversee the design, maintenance, and alterations of the structure in your area. While the architect, contractors, and designers know these codes, it helps if you’re updated with them as well.

Also, read through your contracts before signing to understand the details included. Make sure to keep an eye on your payment schedule not to be caught off-guard. Lastly, check the construction schedule and the plans as well.

_{Thing About The Resale}

Yes, many people build their modern homes without considering the resale. While selling is not on top of your list, for now, you still need to consider the real estate market. Anything can happen when living in your modern home.

You may need to relocate for work, and the advantage of selling is important. So look at the real estate market and consult with an agent about how the home market is doing in the area you want to build. Discuss your resale value and how much land you need to keep available for a yard.

Also, discuss with them what homeowners look for when buying a house. Doing this helps to avoid additional upgrades that lead to overpricing your home.

_{Cater for That Hidden Costs}

So many new homeowners forget to do this. You have your land, house plans, hired contractors, and ready to start your new construction. But before you get started, set up a buffer account. It is the same as when you do remodeling. First, start with providing the crucial material with a constant supply of electricity and water. While saving money, your plans can change throughout the construction, and setting aside some money helps.

_{What Time of The Year Is The Best Time to Build Your Modern House}

Great now that we have all the important aspects out of the way. When should you start building your modern home? The best time is spring to start with the construction. You get faster timelines, optimal landscape installation, fewer delays, and improved weather conditions.

Further, it includes your location as well. Here is a breakdown for you to consider:

_{Start Before the Building Rush}

The typical time to start with a new modern architecture building is in summer. Unfortunately, summer is the busiest time of the year. So builders find it difficult to schedule electricians, plumbers, and contractors. So starting late in spring leaves you backlogged with your construction project. Start your new construction at the beginning of spring to give you a headstart.

_{You Get Undivided Attention}

Starting at the beginning of spring with your modern house design provides you with all the attention needed. Builders and other contractors have fewer jobs and can concentrate on creating your modern house. In addition, you have no weather delays, and builders can hone in on all your concerns.

_{As The Weather Improves Costs Remain Low}

When summer arrives, the demand for supplies and labor goes up. In turn, the costs are higher. So early spring leaves you with an advantage for building in the best weather before the costs rise. Now, spring storms can become a problem depending on where you live. But it remains the perfect condition for working outside. As a result, you have longer workdays, and your modern house will be completed in lesser time.

_{You Can Extend the Building Season}

If your modern house design is huge and elaborate, it may need a long time to build. Using spring as your starting point helps construction workers to make the best of the weather for a couple of months. Then, they will be able to work from spring right through to fall to complete your modern home.

The above-mentioned contemporary home tips will help you start creating a modern living space you can call home.

What Are The Characteristics of a Modern House Design

A modern house design is high on the list of styles for building construction these days. You get a refined architecture from the exterior to the interior. Your contemporary homes follow ecological constraints but apply the rule of light, space, and volume. Further, it needs to meet specific standards as set out here.

Provide Natural Lighting

Light needs to flood through all the rooms naturally. These include large bay windows to bathe the interior all year round with natural light. In addition, you need not light up the room during the day as they use glazing on the facades. Further, it helps save power as less electricity is wasted, considering the environment.

_{Open Floor Plans Providing Space}

Here form and volume play a crucial part in the construction from the exterior to the interior. You have great amounts of attention in planning the living room, walls, windows, glass doors, roof to your outdoor living with open floor plans. Therefore, your home design provides you with a pleasant yet spacious place to live without lacking style. The architecture designs the living space with a focal point of view on the material used right through to durability as one room flows into another.

_{Natural Materials In the Whole Construction}

From the exterior to the interior of the home, the design comprises modern materials from steel columns, concrete blocks, concrete floors to steel trusses with open column spaces. In addition, they use traditional materials differently, from wood on the inside panels to the outside structural design.

Brick walls or stone while clapboard siding replaces your vertical board cladding in large spaces for smooth planes. The brickwork is simple, and there is no ornament in the planes. Instead of painting wood, they stain it to bring out the natural character.

You see huge expanses of glass to bring in daylight connecting the inside to the outside. Further, all the materials used are sustainable, considering the environment.

_{You Get Close to the Outdoors}

Elements in the home design include sliding glass doors or big pivot doors with oversized windows to connect you with your surroundings. By simply opening a door, your living space flows out to the deck or patio for entertaining.

_{You Have Flat Roofing}

Another highlight of a sustainable modern home is the roof. You mostly find a flat roof or a terrace roof for added living space. It provides a clean yet cubic side to your home and uses less material.

_{The Home is Energy Efficient}

Your modern house design uses a bioclimatic concept to save power. The living space needs to be in harmony with the environment and climate. Therefore, architects take advantage of using resources of the environment to reduce power consumption. So you can enjoy the use of solar power throughout the year to keep your place warm or cool. In turn, it saves you a lot on your utility bill.

Top 5 Benefits of Building a Modern House

When you start to build your modern house, you will benefit from the following:

_{Your Contemporary Homes are Environment Friendly}

You can feel assured that the living room, bedroom, bathroom, right through to the kitchen, is earth-friendly. Nothing is wasted in the construction from materials, AC, airflow, to the insulation.

Builders maximize the waste of power and recycle energy to reach their goal. These include water-saving plumbing, LED lights, using recycled and sustainable material.

Combined with the natural light levels with ample airflow, you save money and help the planet.

_{Natural Lighting}

The modern house design provides enough room to provide natural light inside. These include huge windows with smaller ones placed on multiple sides of the home. With the natural light levels, you have enough light to see without using electricity.

_{Comfort and Spacious To Move Around}

With the utilized space, it complements the whole structure. One thing is sure you will not bump into each other passing by. The ceilings are high, while the corridors and hallways provide airflow for comfortable living and moving. Your living space is limited to the inside and connects with the outside, bringing nature into your home.

_{You Get a Minimalist Design}

Modern homes shine as it provides a balance between the structural efficiency and design. So you get an aesthetically pleasing view inside and out.

The exterior is bold with flat roofing elements, natural wood/stone/metal, with glass, and has sharp yet clean lines.

So you get no add ons making your modern homes look like ornament. Thus, when you look at the minimalist design, it all comes down to a living space that is:

• Reductive
• Uncluttered
• Monochromatic
• Simplicity

When designing your modern living space, it all comes down to keeping things simple yet uncluttered while accentuating the architectural features of your space.

_{Saving Power Costs}

When planning on building your new home, one thing you will save is your power costs. Your home is optimized with energy efficiency in mind. These include the appliances in your home, insulation, air sealing, lighting, space heating, cooling, water heating, to the windows/doors and skylights used.

So if you are already living in a home without saving electricity, why not check out this handy auditor to check your power use score. It is a national rating system provided by the U.S. Department of Energy. With it, you can determine your rating of the current efficiency in the house.

Further, it helps with a list where you can make improvements for saving. Finally, when viewing your score, it reflects the efficiency of power based on the structure, cooling, heating, and hot water system you use.

_{Customization Is Plentiful}

Whether built or pre-owned, choosing modern homes leaves you with plenty of room to customize them according to your needs. For example, if you want to do future expansion to build more outdoor features or include a pantry, it is possible with a modern floor plan.

Final Thoughts Modlust

We hope that the steps to building your first home help create a modern living space that is comfortable for you and your family. When done building your home, the last thing is to have it inspected as you cannot move in yet.

So it helps if you had the certified go-ahead that it is inspected and approved. While your modern homes are periodically inspected during construction, it still needs a final inspection. You cannot occupy your home before this is done.

So make sure to get your Certificate of Completion and Occupancy. It helps if you had this done by a local government building department or a state-licensed inspector. It is your duty to schedule the inspection and not the builder’s responsibility.

Once you have the certification, you can move in to enjoy your new modern home with your family. So are you going to make that journey? Or do you prefer buying your modern home from a real estate listing?

Whether you decide to build or want to buy a home, check out the architects, listing of homes for sale, and builders available on our site.