Introduction

In the Spring of 1986, my husband and I were out camping at our favorite spot on the lake in the Ozark Mountains. The weather had turned cold and gray, so we decided to go into town for a change of scenery. We were walking down the plaza, window shopping along the way, when we came to a real estate office. There, front and center, was a breathtaking picture of a lake front lot with Dogwood trees in full bloom. We were hooked. We went in the office right then and there and asked if we could see that very property.

We signed a contract that afternoon and closed a couple of months later, without even looking at any other properties. We felt like we suddenly owned a piece of heaven! We had always intended to someday build our retirement home at the lake, so now we had taken the first step. I think I began sketching floor plan ideas before we ever even got home from that camping trip!

That was in 1986. In the Spring of 2011 (25 years later), we were retired and living in that lake house! Awesome doesn't begin to describe the experience of building the house that I created from my own imagination on a piece of paper (in reality, it was probably more like thousands of pieces of paper)! I did have help from an awesome builder and a drafting firm in Springfield, plus some input from my wonderful husband and kids, but the design was all mine!

I grew up in Oklahoma, with a father who was a Realtor and builder/developer. I worked in his office nearly every summer from age 14 to college graduation. Therefore, I have always been interested in all things real estate and the "American Dream" of home ownership. My dad also remodeled all three of our family homes over the years to suit our family's specific needs. He was always excited when he could pull off something to "just fit" in an available space, or make unique changes that customized the house to fit our family.

One of the Jones family's favorite Sunday afternoon activities was to go see Dad's latest building, remodeling or development project(s). Maybe that makes us one of the original "Sunday Drivers", who had such a bad reputation back in the day. We really did drive slowly through his building developments, gawking at whatever progress Dad had to show us!

My dad's problem–solving skills and creativity must have rubbed off on me, because I have also been involved in remodeling or upgrading all four of the houses I have owned in my lifetime, before building this one, my dream home. I didn't even realize that fact until looking back on all my previous experiences while writing this book! I guess I never have been satisfied with any house just the way it was!

I have enjoyed sketching out different versions of my "dream home" since I was in junior high school. I think I have always had some version of what I thought was the perfect floor plan floating around in my head. But I really got into it when we bought the lake lot.

To those who say, "Why not just hire an architect? That's what they do!" My advice is to go for it! They will help you design your home, see the project through to completion, and save you lots of time and trouble. I also highly recommend an architect if you are not very knowledgeable about the subject of real estate and design. Hiring an architect is a wonderful idea if you can afford it.

But if you are like me, you would rather design your own home. That's why you are reading this book, right? And not everyone can afford an architect. Even if you do decide to go with an architect, you still need some idea of what you want in the house before they can design it for you. They will also want some input from you on your style and tastes. The more of these kinds of decisions you can make and agree on before getting started, the better.

If you are going to use an architect and/or a designer, you might want to visit with them briefly before you begin planning. You can usually have a first consultation, with little or no charge, just to get an idea of what you are getting yourself into. You can also visit with several firms to find the one you feel you can work with best. There are good architects and not-so-good ones, and some are easier to work with than others, so look around at your options.

My purpose in writing this book is twofold. One, to share what I learned (including my mistakes) over the past 25 years. Two, to help pay off the mortgage on said dream home with whatever meager proceeds I may make from this book in the process. Building plans will also be available for purchase, for those who would rather use my plans than create their own (see Chapter 16).

Choosing a floor plan (from the millions already out there in books and magazines), coming up with your own design, or narrowing down the choices with an architect, is not as easy as it sounds. It is a very complex process. There are just too many choices and infinite possibilities! And you want to make sure that you are happy with the finished product, as there are no "do–overs" here! I just hope this book doesn't turn you into one of those customers who drives the professionals crazy because you know too much (or not nearly enough)!

Anyone who has house–hunted with a Realtor (or on their own), or watched "House Hunters" on HGTV, knows that no house is perfect. Unless you have all the money in the world, the one you buy is just the one in your price range that has the most things on your "want list." You can avoid this if you design your own house, right? Wrong!

I have known many people who have custom built a house and were then disappointed in how it turned out. Mostly, they've said it was smaller than what they had pictured. Or they said, "if only our house had ...," "looking back, I wish we had ...," or "I didn't even think about ..." So I was determined that this would not happen to me.

For more than 25 years, I measured living rooms, kitchens, motel rooms, cabins, friends' houses, decks, cabinets, countertops, garages, furniture, etc. I had to get an idea what ten feet or twenty–five feet really looked like in real life, and what that measurement would hold in the way of furniture, people and traffic. I also wanted the best layout and the most efficient use of space possible.

I have never seen any published floor plan that I liked just the way it was. I may have liked one thing about this one, or thought that one had a good idea in a few rooms, but none were ever just right all the way through. That's why it never occurred to me NOT to design my own floor plan! Therefore, I am sharing what I learned throughout the whole process in hopes of preventing someone from having regrets after it is...