Determining needs versus wants when building a new home

How do you decide what is a waste of space before any design work is undertaken?

Here is a simple exercise:
Write it down

Each family member writes on a blank piece of paper what he or she wants for the new home.

Rank it

Rank each item in order of importance and appreciate that sometimes wants and needs can be equally important.

Compare it

Meet up with the rest of the family and compare your lists. Create a master list out of all of your combined needs and wants.

Now that you have a list of all needs and wants, talk to your builder. He/she will be able to let you know what fits within your budget and plot size. This approach to building a new home is so simple and yet it can save you thousands of dollars and reduce the time of the build.

Give it a go and let us know how it went!