Part of the delight of building a home from the ground up is picking out the design and style yourself. You can bring in elements from your favorite childhood homes and have bathrooms any place you want. Before meeting with an architect you should have a good idea about the style and design you want. Here are some ideas on how to decide what you want your home to look like inside and out.

1. Go for a drive- Drive through different neighborhoods in your town and look at all the different styles of homes. When you see a feature you like, stop and take a picture and write down what you like about the home. If you see a feature you hate take a picture of it as well so you will be sure that the architect does not include something similar when building your home.

2. Go to the library- Check out the big coffee table style books that have pictures of homes in them and photocopy your favorite pages. Also remodel books have excellent pictures of home interior designs that can help you decide on interior features.

3. Talk to other home owners- Talk to friends, family, co-workers or anyone who owns their own home. Ask them what they like best about their house, what they would change or what they have changed. This will give you good insight on what features are most necessary and which ones are fun indulgences.

Once you’ve done your homework, bring together all your photos and notes and organize them into a folder to take with you to the architect. Doing all this will help you to clarify what is really important to you and will provide a good starting point for the architect. Once he understands what kind of home you want, you can work together to achieve your dream design.