Design Research

Although you may not quite be at the stage of designing and drawing up plans for your project, there's plenty of design research that you can (and should) do now, earlier on in your project.

Making decisions based on the research you carry out at this stage can help by

giving your home design direction
providing guidance on home design decisions
enabling you to include the implications of the decisions you make in your budget.

Decisions you make now can be included in your goals and your design brief which in turn means they'll be represented in your design and in your home when it's built.

Time spent doing research also means that you'll be better equiped to engage with your project team and make decisions collaboratively and in line with your project budget.

In particular it's time to start researching and making decisions about...

House Styles

You may have ambitions for your home design to be very unique, or you may have your eye on a particular style for your home.

Either way, getting to know some house styles will give you a bit of a design education. You'll start to appreciate how different design elements work together to make up the style of a home.

Home Design Philosophies

In addition to your site, your project delivery strategy, and the functional and aesthetic aspects of your new home, you might also be thinking about other design philosophies or approaches (values / qualities - wasn't sure what to call it!) for your new home such as...

Sustainable home design
Healthy home design
Universal home design
Eastern traditions in home design

Sustainable home design

Most building codes and regulations now stipulate a standard which new builds or renovations must meet, so your new home is bound to be somewhat sustainable. But there are benefits to the environment and to you if you choose to design and build your home to a standard above and beyond the basic sustainable home requirements.

Be sure to spend some time researching sustainable home design to find out more about the benefits and standards and what's right for you and your home project.

Healthy home design

We spend lots of time living and breathing in our homes so it makes sense to make them a healthy environment.

It's a common saying to be happy that you have your health. It's well worth putting in the effort to learn about healthy home design to make sure that your future home supports your health rather than working against it.

Universal home design

Universal home design can be known by other names such as accessible home design or aging in place design.

Essentially it's all about making your home design functional for you when you're less mobile or use a mobility aid.

This will be more important for your if you're aiming to live in your home as you become elderly.

A good designer will be well versed in the principles of universal home design and, as always any research you do yourself will pay dividends towards designing your home so that it suits your lifestyle, now and into your future.

Eastern traditions in home design

Fung shui and other eastern traditions in home design aren't for everyone. My own personal experience in researching eastern traditions is that they have much in common with good design principles used in the west, with one exception and that is the dimension of what home design means to your prosperity - might be worth looking into after all!

Construction Methods

Many of you will be sticking with traditional wooden frame or brick homes. Others of you may be looking to build using a more unconventional construction method. Now's the time to start learning a bit more about how your home will be built, particularly if you might need a speciality builder.

Home Systems

Here's a list of systems to start researching (in no particular order)...

HVAC
Fireplaces
Plumbing
Air Quality
Ventilation
Water filtration
Water conservation
Internet and wi-fi
Security systems
Detetectors

TV - cable / satellite
Home theater
Sound system
Land line phone
Lighting controls
Central vacuum
Outdoor irrigation]
Pool
Electricty - production and storage

Building Science

Building science isn't a topic you'll see raised very often in the likes of decorating magazines. HousePlansHelper has always been about the design under the decoration. You want your home to be comfortable, at the right temperature, not damp and free of drafts or with a lovely breeze depending on your climate.

Learning a bit about air and moisture control might seem a bit like going back to high school, but believe me, if you say just a few knowledgable words about it to your contractor, they'll think twice before short changing you on membranes or insulation knowing that you're on the ball.

Keep a record

When you're gonig through your research, make notes. Take a look back at Getting Organized for advice on good research apps for note taking and keeping.
Is any decision you've made big enough that you need to go back and amend your goals?
It's very likely that you've made some decisions that should be included in your design brief.
Do any decisions that you've made during this design research step have implications for your role on the project, your team or choosing your design professional? Getting the right people with knowledge in any specialist construction methods, design philosophies, home systems etc is key.