A Custom Home vs Customizing a Home
Not many people get the opportunity to design and build a custom home, but everyone can take steps to customize their home. So now you may be thinking, “what’s the difference?” Well when you start digging into it, there can actually be some pretty significant differences. So let’s dig in because I think the best way to look at this is through some examples – both general and specific. And don’t worry I have pictures… so keep going.
General Differences
Let’s talk about some general differences between a custom home and customizing a home. When working on a custom home you can create rooms for a specific purpose right from the beginning. Let’s say you need a home gym or you need an office to run your business out of. When you’re doing a custom home you can figure that out all at the front end. If you’re looking at customizing a home you already have, this may mean re-purposing room to be what you need. Maybe your best option is to do what I did and take over a guest bedroom for that purpose.
Here’s another example. When you’re doing home that’s custom to your taste and your needs, you have a say in choosing finishes and fixtures from the beginning as opposed to options given to you by a builder. Like choosing this package of light fixtures versus that package of light fixtures. Or if you’re already in your home you can totally customize it by swapping out all the light fixtures to better suit your needs and your style.
What if you have a growing family so you’re looking for a new home that can be designed based off of your specific needs? So let’s say for example so all your kids can have their own bedroom. Then you’re looking at dealing with a custom home. On the other hand, if you love the home you’re in and your family is growing, it may be time to look into building an addition.
Both of these options are great – either a custom home or customizing the home that you’re in or the home that you’re moving to. Either one can work it all just depends on your needs and wants.
Here Comes the Fun Part…
Now we get to the fun part… the pictures. Let’s look at some of the projects that I’ve been able to be a part of in the past few years that fit both of these types. The projects we’re going to look at next are ones that I’m so happy to have had the opportunity to work on with Bynum Design out of Nashville, TN. All these are great homes and great illustrations of these difference home types. And all were modeled in 3D using SketchUp to aid with the design, documentation, and presentation.
12 South Custom
Here’s a good example of a fully custom home. This was a really fun house to work on. When we started this project there was another house on this lot that unfortunately had to be demoed because of the shape it was in. However, that meant we could start from scratch and do a custom home for this client based on their specific needs and wants. a really good example of that is the folding/sliding door systems (3 by the way) on the back of the family room that lead out to a pool deck. This client had a specific number of bedrooms, a specific vibe that they wanted, and a decent list of requirements that we were able to accommodate.
12 South Custom Spec
As of right now this house is actually my favorite project that I’ve worked on with Bynum Design. There are a few different ways that you can actually look at this house. On one hand it’s technically a renovation. We customized an existing house to be something so different. On the other hand this house wasn’t done for a specific client so it was a spec build while at the same time being extremely custom. This house in 12 South was a single story, smaller brick home that was expanded and built up into a two story home with detached garage that includes a second floor bonus space. This house also has both a front and rear courtyard. Let’s not forget the adorable little side porch that is about half original, half new that we were able to get grandfathered in during the renovation.
Beechcreek Exterior Renovation
This is a really good example of an existing home that was customized. This client really liked the house they were in, that they had already remodeled certain parts and pieces of. The part that they wanted to change at this stage was the front exterior of the home. We worked with them to determine what they did and did not like. In the end we expanded their front porch, created a new entry facade, and changed up some of the roof lines. The brick was also repainted and the roof re-shingled.
So hope these felt like good examples to show the differences between creating a custom home and customizing an existing home. There are so many ways to customize a home that you’re already in. And let me tell you, my list of things to do at my house keeps growing and growing. One day it’ll all get done. For right now perfectly fine with doing it in stages.
Let me know your thoughts on custom homes and all the different ways you can customize the home you’re in. For those of you who are more visual, I’d love to help work with you to create a 3D experience of your next home project. If you’re interested in working with me stop by my services page or my contact page and send me a message.
