Americans invested almost $420 billion to improve their existing homes in 2020 with residential design services—about three percent more than they spent the year before. And more people are planning home improvement projects than ever before.
Are you one of them?
Whether you’re planning to remodel, add on, or build from the ground up, someone will need to design your project. You’ll need to hire a residential designer. But do you know what they can do for you?
Here are six residential design services you might need to take your project from idea to reality.
1. Residential Interior Design
Residential interior design refers to the planning of the interior spaces where people live. Residential design services cover single-family homes and condominiums and range from designing the inside of new construction homes to redesigning the interior of an existing home.
For instance, if the layout of your home isn’t functioning for you and your family, remodeling your home can add space, reconfigure rooms, give you a more open floorplan (or a more compartmentalized layout), depending on your needs. A residential interior designer will evaluate your existing space, your budget, and your needs to create plans that can transform your home.
2. Residential Landscape Design
Residential landscape design is focused on arranging the elements of the outside spaces around your home to suit your aesthetic and practical needs. This type of residential design involves arranging exterior elements of your yard so that they look good and function the way you want
Homeowners today want to live in their outdoor spaces. So modern residential landscape design projects often include features like outdoor kitchens, pizza ovens, fire pits, fireplaces, retaining and sitting walls, plus lush, low-maintenance gardens and even waterfalls. Landscape designers can help you create the outdoor oasis of your dreams.
3. Residential House Design
A lot of steps go into building a home or major renovation. Whether it’s a new home, a room addition, or second-floor addition, you can’t start building until you have a plan. That’s where residential house design services come in. Professional residential design services should include:
- a feasibility determination (What’s possible on your property?)
- a design that works with your wishlist, space, and budget
- a 3D rendering so you can visualize the finished project
- the design drawings (blueprints) you need to submit to the city building department
A custom home design offers you the chance to build your house exactly the way you want it done. The residential house design process shouldn’t be rushed. You’ll need to meet with your designer several times so you can review and revise the plans before construction can begin.
4. Residential Building Design
Residential building design is the process of planning and designing new residential living spaces. That can include townhomes, ranch homes, condos, mansions, and more. Whether you’re building a new home or adding a structure to your current home, residential building design is an essential part of the process.
Adding a detached garage or workshop can give you the storage and project space you need. Building an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), or grandma suite, can increase your property value, give you additional living space, and allow you to keep loved ones close.
But any construction project worth doing is worth investing in the skills of independent residential design services to ensure the final results meet your expectations, fill your needs, and measure up to local building code.
5. As-Built Drawings
As-built drawings are the first step in any remodeling project. These specialized drawings start by depicting a representation of the existing layout of your property before renovations or additions.
As-built drawings include the components and systems that make up a building (and sometimes the land that surrounds it). They depict the general layout of the building, including the placement of walls, doors, windows, and stairs.
Contractors use these drawings (often marking them up) to show the changes that will be made as a result of the project. They allow the contractor to trouble-shoot potential construction issues ahead of time and track the progress of the build.
6. CAD Drafting
A professional residential design service must include 2D Computer-aided design (CAD) drafting. This process is how architects and residential designers create digital drawings of your project.
If you have existing blueprints for your home, CAD drafting can be used to trace those plans and create digital blueprints. Other uses of CAD drafting services include:
- drafting per hand sketches
- drafting per field – measurements
- creating schematic drawings
- creating construction documents
- creating plot plans and site plans
Because they’re digital, the 2D CAD drawings used in residential design can be easily edited when needed. And they can be used to create 3D models (including virtual 3D tours) and photo-realistic renderings of the existing home or landscape and the planned changes. That allows you to visualize the finished project as nothing else can.
All Your Residential Design Needs
You want your home to be functional, comfortable, and attractive. It’s your castle, after all. But sometimes it needs a little help to make it all you want it to be.
Whether you want to remodel, add living space with a room addition or garage conversion, or up your property value by building an ADU, good residential design is the foundation of success.
Jay Cad offers the professional residential design services you need. We’ll create the high-quality drawings you need to make your home everything you want it to be. Contact us today to get your residential project started.
