A "Small Home" Primer
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Article by: Thomas Hewitt Introduction Smaller houses , The History of Refrigerators are very popular and there are many reasons that people are looking for the "right-sized" home. , Phantom Loads Draw More Current Than You Think Empty nesters, those people whose children have now moved out on their own, have too much house , Memory Foam History...Astronauts, Racehorses and Bed Sores to take care of and may want to use their equity for more enjoyable purposes. Small houses , Artificial Flowers: A Great Alternative are popular for first-time buyers as well because it is easier to qualify for a loan (and make the payments!) when affordability is an issue. Whatever your reason to choose a smaller house, , Kitchen Remodelling: Seven Tips for DIY Kitchen Makeovers there are things to look for that will allow you to live much more comfortably in your home , The Quick and Easy Formula For Hammock Buying and bring the resale value to a premium. In this article, we will touch on the design, , Eclectic Patio Furniture Shows Your Style usability, and resale of your home. , Gyms Can Be Made More Effective Home Ownership Although your thoughts are focused on the purchase or construction of your new home, , and Garden decorating it is necessary to look at the full picture of the ownership lifecycle. With this perspective in mind, you have several questions to ask, including: What are my current needs? What are the likely changes , Artificial Flowers: A Great Alternative that will occur during the time I plan , Who Invented Wall Fountains? to live in this house? How should my house , The Top Five Do It Yourself Home-improvement Tips be designed to accommodate my changing needs? How do I retain the value and maximize my ability to sell the house , The History of Refrigerators in the future? Asking these questions will lead to many other questions that will help you to pinpoint and address the specific requirements of your new home , Improve Your Kitchen With Better Lighting and heavily influence your choice in design. , The History of Refrigerators Current Needs Assessing your current needs and wants is a fun process. Deciding on how you are going to use your home , Attic Ventilation Benefits: Turn Down The Heat! and anticipating the style and features , Low Cost Home Improvement Project you want takes a lot of thought and personal exploration. Don't stop at determining the "must haves". Continue your list with the "it-would-be-nice-to-haves". Your nice-to-haves may not make it to the final design, , Spring Is Here - Give Your Interiors a Lift (and Lend a Helping Hand) but maybe some will. Get it all out onto the table. Let's take an example. We have a couple who is retiring and wanting to move to a smaller home , Why Can't We Kill Too? that is easier to maintain and has lower operating costs. They have equity in their current home , The Quick and Easy Formula For Hammock Buying and will live comfortably off their retirement savings. Mom wants to continue working part-time from a home , The Quick and Easy Formula For Hammock Buying office and Dad always has some project he's working on. What might their current needs look like? To start, since they want to lower utility and operating costs, some thought may go into solar , Why Can't We Kill Too? applications and good insulating materials; maybe alternative building , Eclectic Patio Furniture Shows Your Style materials, like straw bale. , Decorating On A Dime (Straw bale has great insulating qualities!) Proper orientation of the home , Air Conditioner Reviews on the lot and providing efficient exposure and shading to solar , Pole Barns: Eco-Friendly And Simplistic radiation will help cut heating and cooling costs tremendously. Since they have equity to roll over into their new home, , 10 Tips to Know Before Buying your Rug they might consider installing photovoltaic cells tied to the community grid system and virtually eliminate their electric , 7 Tips For A Better Kitchen bill. There are many other energy , 7 Tips For A Better Kitchen saving items that they might consider in the design , Storage Shed Plans of their new home. , Installing Vinyl Replacement Sliding Glass Doors Their space requirements are fairly straight forward. They need an area for the home , Gyms Can Be Made More Effective office and they prefer an open floor , Improve Your Kitchen With Better Lighting plan that doesn't require formal dining and living rooms. , Solar Projects Should You Do Them Yourself? The office area should be located so that the occasional client doesn't have to walk through the whole house , Choosing the Right Flooring - Comfort and Styles to get to the office. Also, a secondary bathroom , Storage Shed Plans should be located near the office. This bathroom , Designer sinks and basins could also serve a guest bedroom. Dad is considering a little extra room , The Top Five Do It Yourself Home-improvement Tips in the garage , Rainbow Vacuum Cleaners - For A Unique Clean for tools , Who Invented Wall Fountains? and storage. This home , What are the True Benefits of a Sauna? is beginning to take form! This is also the point where many people will make their biggest mistake and stop the thought process. It's easy to take this info and begin laying out rooms, , Choosing the Right Flooring - Comfort and Styles but there are some very important questions that are left unanswered. Consideration has yet to be given to the future needs of this couple. Future Needs Every bit as important as your current requirements is assessing your future needs. Are we a family starting out and planning to have a child or are we retiring and want to maintain our independence and stay in our home , Pole Barns: Eco-Friendly And Simplistic as long as possible? Regardless of the current scenario, it's important to understand that your needs will change , Choosing The Right Extension Ladder and that finding solutions up-front to accommodate those needs will benefit you greatly in the future. Let's get back to our previous example. Mom and Dad have retired and they intend to live out their lives in their new home. , Kitchen Magic As we age, our functional abilities decline and our homes , Is Paneling Walls good for Improvement? must be designed in such a way to accommodate those changing needs. This is where the application of "universal" and "adaptable" design , Constructing Your Own Hammocks criteria becomes very important. For this home , Constructing Your Own Hammocks to adequately serve Mom and Dad's future needs, a professional designer , Cheap Faux Wood Blinds - An Alternative to Wooden Blinds? that is trained in comprehensive client assessment and the application of universal and adaptable design , The History of Refrigerators solutions is required. Seek this person out! One more note on future needs. Anytime we have areas dedicated to specialized activities, it's important that these rooms , Rainbow Vacuum Cleaners - For A Unique Clean are easily converted to serve other purposes. For instance, Mom will, at some point, discontinue her work and wish to give up her home , The Quick and Easy Formula For Hammock Buying office. If designed properly, this area could be easily converted to a study, library, sitting room , Pole Barns: Eco-Friendly And Simplistic or even a secondary bedroom and blend seamlessly with the rest of the house. , Pole Barns: Eco-Friendly And Simplistic Resale of Your Home Eventually you will want to sell your home, , Artificial Flowers: A Great Alternative give it to your children, or maybe even use it as an investment property , Hurricanes, Appliances and Back Up Power and rent it out. Whatever the case, your home , Cheap Faux Wood Blinds - An Alternative to Wooden Blinds? must have the features , The Quick and Easy Formula For Hammock Buying that other people will want. Again, a good design , Things To Consider When Buying An Intercom will sell. A person walking into a universal designed home , Bathroom Remodeling For the Luxury of Style will not see anything "different" about the home. , Low Cost Improvement Project Universal features , Choosing The Perfect Home Plans will typically go unnoticed until it's pointed out. But it can be used as a strong selling tool. , 7 Tips For A Better Kitchen Because of the nature , Choosing The Right Extension Ladder of universal design, , What are the True Benefits of a Sauna? the home , The Top Five Do It Yourself -improvement Tips will simplify life for everyone and benefit people regardless of age or ability. This really serves a win-win situation! Even though you are designing the smaller home, , The Pros And Cons Of Buying Appliances From A Discount Retailer: Shopping In The Brick And Mort you want to keep in mind what the market will accept! In general, a home , Installing Vinyl Replacement Sliding Glass Doors with a single car garage , Improve Your Kitchen With Better Lighting loses market appeal, although it may work in certain areas. Also, a home , Designer bathroom sinks and basins that has a bedroom or bathroom door , Memory Foam History...Astronauts, Racehorses and Bed Sores directly off the main living area is very undesirable. You want your home , Is Paneling Walls good for Improvement? to complement your neighborhood, so be careful not to under-build (or over-build for that matter). Typically, three bedrooms and two baths is about as small as you should go, but the third bedroom may actually be a multipurpose room, , Who Invented Wall Fountains? like the home , The Quick and Easy Formula For Hammock Buying office in our example. Summary Designing a large, fancy custom home , Choosing The Right Extension Ladder is not nearly as challenging as designing a small home , The Quick and Easy Formula For Hammock Buying that lives great and has broad appeal. The important thing to keep in mind when designing your home , 10 Tips to Know Before Buying your Rug is the ownership lifecycle. If you carefully assess your future needs, as well as your current needs, and you apply the design , Kitchen Remodeling criteria necessary to meet those needs, you will live much more comfortably and independently in your new home. , Memory Foam History...Astronauts, Racehorses and Bed Sores Find out about universal design , The Pros And Cons Of Buying Home Appliances From A Discount Retailer: Shopping In The Brick And Mort and how it will greatly benefit your family's lifestyle. It will change , Eclectic Patio Furniture Shows Your Style the way you look at home , 10 Tips to Know Before Buying your Rug design forever!Thomas Hewitt is the President of Falcon Homes, , 7 Tips For A Better Kitchen Inc., a home , Rainbow Vacuum Cleaners - For A Unique Clean design company located in Albuquerque, NM. Thomas is an aging-in-place specialist certified by the National Association of Home , Attic Ventilation Benefits: Turn Down The Heat! Builders and specializes in universal and adaptable design. , Attic Ventilation Benefits: Turn Down The Heat! The company's website can be found at http://www.FalconHomesInc.com |
  
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