How to design your dream home
Sponsored by The Front Door
Designing your dream home is a huge undertaking that most people only do once in their lives. Ensuring that you start with the right professionals to guide the process is critical to your success.
Dwayne and Trina Carruth have owned The Front Door Design Studio for more than 30 years, working with residential clients to bring their dream homes, both large and small, to life.
The first step in designing your dream home is to have a clear understanding of your goals and your budget. Is this a house that you plan to live in for three years, 15 years, or the rest of your life? Each of those dream homes has unique criteria — and likely budgets — to consider. For example, designing a home that you expect to live in for three years would likely concentrate on resale value but the 15-year home would likely focus on raising a family, encompassing a very different set of criteria.
“We can handle any of those phases and make them work for the client – regardless of the stage of life they’re dealing with – from starter home to last home,” Dwayne Carruth says.
The next step is determining where you’re building. Understanding property limitations, HOA restrictions, and setbacks will greatly affect the type of home that you’re able to construct. Garage locations, views, and topography will all play a part in determining your options.
From this point, considering factors beyond just the number of bedrooms is where the custom design process really takes off. Thinking about all of your family’s special needs and incorporating those needs into the house is what makes your house a home.
“We are very good at planning a functional, livable, comfortable house that keeps things like accessibility, furniture layout, and views incorporated all the way through the process,” Carruth says. “I think we do a pretty nice job of making it both stay on trend and remain timeless.”
Once the design process is complete, The Front Door coordinates with the builder to begin construction. The design process for the average home takes between four to six months to complete, Carruth says. You can’t rush this part of the process – it’s where the most important decisions are made.
Unlike other residential architecture firms, clients have the benefit of working directly with Carruth on their projects – a perk not often experienced at larger operations. “When you hire us, you get me,” he says. “You don’t get farmed off on the associates. You get me – and I think that’s a pretty nice deal.”
Are you ready to build your dream home? Get started at The Front Door. Schedule your appointment today for offices in Baton Rouge or New Orleans.
