How Long Should My Home Design Take
Good design takes time; allow more than you think to create your dream home and avoid making poor and bad decisions and avoid the stress that goes with that additional pressure of catching up.
A common question asked by home builders is how long does the home design process take? Well, the answer is not as clear cut as it may seem because every homeowner and home design are different.
Here we outline a reasonable timeline for the design process and what you should consider and allow for. In addition, we will explain what variables and factors you should consider in making allowances for your circumstances.
How long should my home design take?
Stages of the Design Process
What time variable should you consider
Practical advice
Stages Of The Design Process
The design process comprises several stages, all of which differ in the scope of work involved and the time required to achieve a good output. These stages are generally referred to as.
Pre Design
Schematic Design
Design Development
Construction Drawings
Detail Documentation
The Pre Design - allow 2 - 3 weeks
It is the first step of the journey and covers the planning and preparation of your brief to help guide your team to the final design and achieve your goals. If you are prepared, have done your homework upfront, and have a brief, this time may be less. The reason for the time allowance is you need to summarise your needs and wants and then revisit them several times to refine them. The less time you spend on the brief, the less likely it will be a true reflection of your goals and will lead to the team becoming unsure of what you want, especially if you begin to constantly change your mind as they make progress.
Schematic Design - allow 6 - 8 weeks
This stage covers the overall design process, and from experience, I suggest a two week turnaround for both yourself and the Designer. Why, two weeks will generally give you, as the client, two weekends to spend purposefully considering the information presented to you and then collating questions and ideas to respond to the designer.
Two weeks would give the designer time to digest your feedback and prepare the return design though this is highly variable on the designer and their workload. This process would take several times to refine and lock down the design.
This stage generally covers the home's overall design, whereas the next stage will start addressing some more detailed design aspects.
Design Development - allow 4 - 6 weeks
This stage will refine the design from the previous stage and incorporate the preparation of plans for submission for town planning approval if applicable. It will also start addressing the design of the internal features such as the kitchen, bathrooms and the like.
NOTE: If you require a town planning application, there will be a break between this stage and the next until you have the approval. Make sure you factor in time for your approval.
Construction Drawings - allow 4 - 6 weeks
Once you have your town planning approval, you can commence the construction drawings. It requires the designer to coordinate documentation with other consultants, such as the engineer, to produce the drawings necessary to submit for relevant approvals and the builder to price accurately.
Detail Documentation - allow 2 - 4 weeks
Depending on what you have engaged your designer to do, this stage will include the selection and scheduling of materials and products. In addition, it may consist of the documentation and detailing (not to be confused with design in the Design Development stage)of internal features such as Kitchens, bathrooms, robes and the like.
Overall it is my opinion that you should allow, from start to finish, about 18 - 24 weeks which, from experience, is a comfortable timeline to achieve a well considered design that will meet your needs and Goals. If any less, you are potentially rushing, and things can and will be missed.
DDDreamhouses’ signature course has a template to help you work through creating a detailed and comprehensive design brief and infographics to help you understand your possible timelines.
What Time Variables Should You Consider
Consider these when estimating how long it may take to design your home:
How much time can you realistically apply to the project to consider the information and make good decisions?
What interruptions are you likely to encounter in your personal life that will take you away from applying time to this project?
Are all interested parties involved going to be able to contribute equally?
Are all interested parties on the same page regarding what is wanted as an outcome?
Have you done some homework to inform yourself before embarking on this journey?
Design brief What types of applications are required, and what time to obtain approvals?
How busy is your Designer?
What scope of work have you engaged with your designer?
How detailed and complex do you envisage your house design?
What may not go to plan that you should make allowances for?
Now that we have outlined a possible timeline to achieve your home design and likely variables write down the weeks you think could apply to your home design and the possible extra weeks you may need to allow.
Practical Advice
Always ask if you are unsure
If your timeline is tight and things don’t go according to plan, you may find yourself constantly chasing your tail, trying to make up time and making bad decisions. It is due to the stress of chasing your tail, which will slowly compound your problems.
By allowing a generous amount of time, you are more likely to enjoy the journey as you will be able to manage time issues and eliminate a major cause of home building stress.
A common sentiment of those who have had a bad experience through their home build journey is not being able to find love for their new home because of all the stress it has brought them. Imagine if you could avoid this.
You should better understand the possible time it takes to design your home. If you need more help navigating your home build journey, check out Dreams to Reality your home build companion course, which is curated to help you navigate your journey from start to finish.
Good luck on your journey. Feel free to drop us a line at Dddreamhouse or join our Facebook group and hit us up with any questions you may have and see if we can help you navigate your home build journey.
