When you have been a custom home builder for as long as we have here at Harden Custom Homes you start to notice a pattern in what clients are looking for when they come to you with custom ideas.
We thought it would be fun to ring in the new year of 2018 by sharing the top 5 most common requests that home buyers are looking for.
#1 - Storage space - Conventional home design has a severe lack of space to store belongings, especially here in Florida. We have no attics that are accessible for storage, just crawl spaces for ventilation. We also are without basements due to the fact that we are only a dozen feet above sea level. You would be surprised just how much-wasted space can be made into storage in a custom home. Under staircases, slide out shelving where a solid wall might normally be, custom in wall cabinetry and shelving, the ideas just keep on coming.
#2 - Enlarged Master Bath - Many layouts give you a larger master bedroom, yet still a rather piddly master bathroom. Enlarging the main bath can give your home a luxurious feel and allow you to pamper yourself after a long hard day at the office. More space means the ability to add in dual sinks, showers, jacuzzi tubs, separated water closets and other features that won't fit into a standard bath.
#3 - Electric Outlets and J-Boxes where you actually need them - This may seem trivial but once you go to move into your new home, placement of electricity suddenly seems way more important than it had in the design phase. No one wants cords running down walls or across floors or worse right in the path of high traffic areas. Lighting your home properly ads to the feel and ambiance. Having cords running to your floor lamp does not. Outlets can be installed even in the floor during the build phase so you can have a reading lamp right by your favorite lounge chair, cord hidden. This is also important for surround sound systems and much more.
#4 Lighting Design and Audio Video Control - these all can be controlled with just the touch of a button. Access music in any room of the house and control individually your light settings as well as pre-programmed settings, timed and ready for any mood or occasion. Building these into the initial design phase can make the install seamless.
#5 Adding the laundry room on the same floor as the bedrooms - If you happen to build a two or multi-story home, keeping the laundry room on the same floor as the bedrooms can save you time and hassle. No one enjoys carrying heavy baskets up and down flights of stairs, especially as we age.
For more ideas for your new home build, come see us at Harden Custom Homes - you can visit our model center located at 2818 Tropicana Pkwy W, Cape Coral, FL 33993. Visit us online by going to www.hardencustomhomes.com or call us at 239-205-5075.