Best House Floor Plans

Windows are the accent for any home floor plan, color and design scheme. Windows have a tendency to do double duty shedding light and punctuating a room’s features. But selecting the right window replacements entails several considerations. 

Double hung window replacement design ideas for any - home floor plan.

Best House Floor Plans sought window advice from Home Plans and More.com. Here’s the information that we gleaned. 

In older homes, (in example, Victorian home floor plans, Tudor) picture windows are a charming façade. Available in numerous sizes, shapes and various glass formats, certain brand picture frames are manufactured to enhance a home’s green energy and efficiency.

Maintenance: Window cleaning requirements vary, according to the homeowner’s preferences.

Reminiscent of pre-war architecture, double-hung windows work in almost any home floor plan. In Alaska, the double hung windows may not offer the best climate efficiency during the winter months because they have a tendency to enable air to escape between the sliders. However, in milder climates, double hung windows are adequate.

Maintenance: Since fine particles become trapped in the sliding mechanism of the window, they require cleaning at least twice a year.

As an option that never goes out of style are the casement windows.  Common in windy cities like Chicago and engineered with a crank, these windows swing outwards. When the casement window is shut, it acts as its own shutter, preventing air from leaking in the house. 

Maintenance tip: Casement windows, unlike the double hung window, call for more repairs and gentle care. Crank, seal and hinges are prone to loosen, requiring regular maintenance (for safety and stability).

Green windows shopping tip: Energy efficient windows, brands and other information is available at the federally sponsored ENERGY STAR Web site, where windows are rated by the National Fenestration Rating Council. Also, House Plans and More features a wealth of window replacement plans for any home floor plan.

Maintaining a new or old home exceeds adding a new room or changing the schematics of the home plan. A myriad of small fixes do wonders for giving certain rooms of the home a space-lift. Best House Floor Plans compiled a short list  of design tips:

• Replace outdated or broken kitchen fixtures with new updated, eco-friendly appliances and products.

• When it comes to the floors, use the refresh, repair, or replace rule. Maintaining the floors on a regular basis alleviates the changes of making any major repairs or replacements. However, if there is any damage, taking care of it now will prevent investing in a replacement– later.

• Prior to making new furniture purchases, give the room a space-lift. There are five easy fast-fixes for renovating a room, without hiring a contractor:

• De-clutter – Discard unused, outdated or useless furnishing accents. Relocate any objects, which belong in another room.  Discard worn out items.

Home design tip: Remove each decorative accessory. Then, examine each piece to determine if all components concur with the rest of the design scheme.  Recycle or donate any hodgepodge decorative items.

• Dust baseboards and walls.

• Caulk any holes, gouges or dents in the wall.

• Paint any wall space needing a touch up or complete refreshing

• Reorganize and reset all decorative objects, creating a sense of symmetry among decorative items.

• Punctuate the exterior of the home with a decoratve mailbox that maintains the design scheme and the façade of your home  plan.

• Shuffle artwork. Instead of investing in a new collection of artwork, innovate new ways to showcase framed photography and masterpieces. For additional decorative ideas, visit House Plans and More, where there are more than 17,000 house plans and project ideas to put to work.

Home building financing questions and answers. Discover which financing is ideal for the construction of your new home.

How soon after I start building my new home should I obtain a home loan?
Actually, the first step to building a home is obtaining financing to cover the cost of building your new home. This is referred to as a construction loan.

Why is a construction loan necessary?
As building a home incurs a cornucopia of costs, homebuilders cannot afford to defer the expenses, correlated to building material, equipment and labor.  With a construction loan, the homeowner or borrower can pay for construction costs over the duration of completion.

Is a construction loan the same as a mortgage?
No, a construction loan ranges between six and to 12 months or for the duration of the construction. A separate home loan is needed once the home is built.

Are there any loans that cover the cost of building and financing my home?
Yes, these are known as “all-in-one construction loans.” They cover both the cost of building and maintaining the mortgage.

Is the construction loan less expensive than the all-in-one construction loan?
Actually, construction loans or two-time close construction loans tend to be more expensive than the all-in-one construction loan. Since two-time close construction loans call for several closings, one at the start and conclusion for refinancing the loan into a permanent home loan or mortgage, it accompanies a variation of costs.

Are there any advantages or drawbacks to the all-in-one construction loans?
The all-in-one construction loan is lauded for its convenience, meaning that it reduces overall closing costs. On the other hand, depending on the current interest rate, the all-in-one loan hinders a homeowner from shopping around for a better rate or loan.

If I select the all in one construction loan, do I have to pay interest during the home-build?

From lender-to-lender, the interest responsibility varies. The best all in one construction loan does not have an interest rate.

For additional home building construction click Home Plans and More.com.

Related Articles:

Builder Construction Loan

An Introduction to New Home Construction Loans

Getting A Construction Loan Vs A Mortgage Loan

How Construction Loans Work

Featured Home Plan Style – Cottage Homes

Where to find the best cottage home plans on the Internet? Review these luxurious cottage home plans that we found on three top-rated home floor plan Web site resources.

Cottage home plans are commonly mistaken for domiciles short on style, space and luxury. Although these homes do not have the levels and depth of a Victorian home, these smaller abodes epitomize comfort and coziness. The history of the cottage home plan is traceable to the Middle Ages, where peasant farmers were housed.

Today, the cottage home plan has evolved into the ultimate vacation respite. Ideally, these dwellings are situated in close proximity to a forest, an ocean or even near a lake. But, regardless of the location, the interior features are just as important:

We found the best cottage home plans on the Internet:

At House Plans And More, we fell in love with this sprawling, duplex cottage home plan. An airy atmosphere of French doors, paneled windows and a portico leading to an exterior porch view of the lake, is so picturesque that it looks like a dwelling right out of Architectural Digest.

The “Church Street” Plan that we found at Cottage Home Plans was a manageable with 1470 square feet of space, two bedrooms, an observation sundeck, two covered porches and a built in fireplace. Regardless of what lays outdoors, this cottage house plan exudes eye-popping appeal.

Among the other best cottage home plans that we found on the Internet, the French, Tuscan, and English cottage homes that we found at VCHousePlans.com were to live for…and reminiscent of somewhere else in time.

In the weeks to come, we’ll investigate how to obtain financing for your dream home floor plan.

Related Articles:

Small Cottage House Plans

6 Basics to Cottage Style

Cottage Design Ideas

What is a Cottage-Style House?

Choosing a design for your home building project is an adventure. There are so many different options in building a home. One of the things to choose is your windows. Windows might at first seem like a simple task to accomplish. I mean really, they are plates of glass surrounded by wood or metal. Right? Well this is where we get down to the nitty gritty. Watch out, you are in for a fun ride! In all seriousness though, windows are obviously functional and the add ambiance to a room. There are a few basic things to pay attention to when choosing your windows. I found some great articles online to help me with the task of window placement in a new home. You will find their names and links in the rundown below. 

Window placement has an effect on your home’s appearance, ambiance and comfort. The type of windows you choose for your house will show your taste and frame (no pun intended) the theme of your house. Your windows will also display what is on the outside of them along with what is in the inside. That is a good thing to remember. 

Notes to self:
Ÿ         I love bay windows, I think they are beautiful and let us view the beautiful nature around us. But at the same time they can be a fish bowl. All too often you see a bay window in a kitchen’s dining area. At night you can drive around a neighborhood and see lots of houses with people sitting at the dinner table eating. Do you like people seeing you eat? I don’t, so you might want to rethink putting that bay window around your dinning area. J Remember “Fish bowl” when placing any window in your home.Ÿ
         The debate on windows in a bathroom. Remember that a window is great for venting a bathroom and do the job so much better than most fans. Yet keep in mind privacy is needed. Use skylights, glass blocks or transom windows. These will all let the light in while giving you some privacy.
 Ÿ         Remember to place your windows wisely based on the sun. The sun will hit different windows at different times. Be careful not to overheat your house with windows facing the wrong way. If you want your favorite room to be filled with sunlight in the morning remember that the sun comes up in the east.
             Don’t forget to have fun! Windows frame not only the glass they encase, but the feel of your home. Play around with the different places you can place windows and all the different types. 

The rundown:

Most of my information is from this article from thisoldhouse.com:

Planning Window Placement 
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,702388,00.html

Great article on Window placement for light from home tips.com:
Window Placement for Optimal use of Daylight
http://www.hometips.com/cs-protected/guides/daylighting/window_placement.html  

Wonderful articles on window types and window treatments from houseplansandmore.com

Windows
http://www.houseplansandmore.com/resource_center/window_types.aspx
Window Treatments
http://www.houseplansandmore.com/resource_center/window_treatments.aspx