How to design your own home

Sketch design

Now you have finally reached the point where you can start drafting the initial design drawings of your home. Drawing at a scale of 1:100 is the usual practice because it is big enough to understand, and you can use a regular rule (1cm = 1000mm or 1 metre).

The initial design will be a combination of plans, elevations and form drawings or what ever best explains the design and how it works. The plans should be easy to understand and will be the starting point from where the initial design drawings may change before they become the "developed design drawings". Remember to ask for feedback from family and friends, another point of view is often helpful.

In turning the Design Diagram into a Sketch Design, one of the main tasks is to think about the functions of each area and providing spaces which can accommodate them. This may involve doing separate studies.

For example: Furniture or equipment layouts for individual spaces in order to discover room shapes, door and window positions, and other features which will ensure spaces have a 'good fit' to the purposes for which they are intended.