by Alison Moore Smith | Mar 20, 2009 | Design Your Own House, for Home
I just picked up the final blueprints from the engineer. These incorporated the custom engineering done by the truss manufacturer. Finally, we are on our way. Next stop, Lindon City Hall.
by Alison Moore Smith | Dec 9, 2008 | Design Your Own House, for Home
The conventional wisdom about building a home seems to be to choose your house plans and then find a lot that fits. Even though I'm far from a building expert, I'm going to completely disagree. I say find your perfect piece of land for your custom home, then choose a...
by Alison Moore Smith | Nov 7, 2008 | Design Your Own House, for Home
When we began to build our first custom home in 2002, I was very excited. Finally the project was underway. But in many ways, we had no idea what we were getting into. Choosing paint colors was fun. Deciding on kitchen cabinets was great. But when it got down to...
by Alison Moore Smith | Oct 9, 2008 | Design Your Own House, for Home
In 1992, we concocted a lease-to-own deal with a moderately desperate homeowner for our first home. In June 1997, we signed a contract with a builder for our second home. They called it “semi-custom,” which really meant, you pick one of the three models...
by Alison Moore Smith | Sep 23, 2008 | Design Your Own House, for Home
Three moves are as good as a fire. And as we moved to the rental home to be closer to the build site, we probably did lighten our load of about a third of all our stuff. Two of those things were the small entertainment unit and the television from the master bedroom....
by Alison Moore Smith | Sep 20, 2008 | Design Your Own House, for Home
Focal point. That was the big debate. While I agree that it's silly to position all the furniture in a room so that you have to crane your neck to see the television, the thought of building a family room all around a TV set makes me cringe. It's about family, right?...
