Building Your Forever Home: 5 Tips For Future-Proofing This Momentous Investment
Building your forever home often requires a different approach than buying your stepping-stone home. You’re not only thinking about your current needs and budget but also your future needs and whether the house and its location will suit them without extensive modification.
Building a house you intend on living in forever can be nerve-wracking as it feels like you’re being asked to predict the future without knowing what could happen. Though this is certainly daunting, you’ll find future-proofing your investment far easier if you take these actions:
Don’t Rush into a Design Decision
When you’re eager to kick off construction, you can rush into approving a design and breaking ground. However, this can sometimes be a costly mistake. You need time to consider what you like, what you don’t like, and what you truly need.
Review different house plans, visit the best display homes, and browse online listings to consider layouts that suit your needs. The more house plans and designs you expose yourself to, the easier it’ll be to discover features and styles that suit all future life stages.
Use Trusted Experts
Quality products last the distance, and the same goes for quality homes. Use a design and build team you trust, with an excellent reputation for quality workmanship and materials to stand the test of time. You might pay a little more for the privilege, but you’ll enjoy peace of mind knowing your home is made to last.
Incorporate Universal Design Features
There’s no saying what life may throw at you and your family. Mobility can change, or you might welcome aging relatives into your home. With that in mind, consider incorporating universal design features.
These features revolve around making your property accessible to people of all ages and abilities. For example, you might make doorways wider than average to accommodate wheelchair users and make one home entrance accessible via a ramp. These features can become even more critical if you see your new home as one you plan on living in after retirement.
Create Flexible Rooms
Your current needs might see you needing to incorporate a nursery into your floor plan. Nurseries can be convenient and safe rooms for children to play and keep their toys in one place. However, building your house to become your ‘forever’ home means you won’t need a nursery forever. Children grow up and leave home, meaning those rooms can become empty spaces that are no longer fit for purpose.
Work with a designer or architect to ensure your floor plan will suit your current and future needs. This might mean adding design elements to a nursery that would see it become a suitable office or recreational room once the kids have grown up.
Prioritize Storage
You might pride yourself on not having too many possessions now, but that could change in the future. You might plan to have children, work from home, or create a multi-generational home. Whichever path you choose, storage will be crucial for enjoying a clutter-free space.
Utilize the rooms that do not have a specific purpose and create dynamic, adaptable spaces that cater to your lifestyle. A flex room offers endless possibilities, whether you transform it into a cozy reading nook, a vibrant playroom for the kids, or a serene yoga studio. Its versatility allows you to seamlessly transition between different activities, making it the heart of your home's functionality.
Don’t underestimate the importance of including more storage in your home design than you think you’ll need. This could include a dedicated storage room, closets in all bedrooms, and a large garage with built-in cabinets and shelving. You might not fill these spaces as soon as you move in, but they’ll be there when you need them later on.
Building a home can be challenging when you have to consider things that haven’t yet happened. However, by prioritizing user-friendliness, storage, and flexible room design, you should find that your new purpose-built home can serve your current and future needs perfectly.