Articles
Creating a Kit Home Building Checklist
May 17th, 2012
Kit homes have become an extremely popular housing solution over the past few years, offering not just an affordable place to call your own, but also the opportunity for you to play a role in constructing your own home as an owner builder. Your kit home company will provide you with a detailed list of information regarding the materials you will need; the following is a guide to creating a more general kit home building checklist.
Research
The first thing that should be on your checklist is research, because unless you have some sort of background in the trades, there is going to be a huge amount for you to learn about. You will need to know all about the process of building your kit home, as well as all of the local building regulations, so even if you are going to be more of a hands-off style of owner builder, make research number one on your checklist.
Top 10 Interior Design Trends
April 30th, 2012
Interior design trends seem to change every 10 or 15 minutes, but there are some trends that look set to dominate interior design throughout 2012. Whether you own your own condo or are about to move into a kit home, this year’s trends make it easier than ever to stay hip, and even allow a bit of room for you to show a little of your own style and flair. To make sure your place isn’t looking outdated, mix a little of one or more of the following styles into your home’s design, and your place will be looking better than ever.
Texture
Rougher, more textured finishes will be a centrepiece of 2012 interior design, with more wild looking surfaces starting to be seen in fashionable homes from Melbourne to New York.
What Size Kit Home Do You Need?
April 15th, 2012
Kit homes can be the perfect option for first homebuyers. They can help to bring in some rental income, house your small business, or even just put up the occasional guest who has had a few too many to drive home. The following is a brief look at some ideas in terms of the right size kit home for particular uses.
To live in…
If the kit home is for you to be able to live in, the size that you will need will depend greatly on how many people are going to be living there with you, and also if there is any chance more people may be coming in the future. If you have kids, factor in the extra space that they are sure to need as they grow and want more privacy, conversely, if you have a child that is likely to move out soon, don’t allow too much extra space for them.
Essential Tools for Putting Your Kit Home Together
March 30th, 2012
Putting together your own kit home can be an exciting undertaking, especially if it will be your first home. The best approach to take is definitely slow and steady, as rushing your home’s construction can lead to problems down the line. Having a few solid tools on your side will make the whole experience way better, so if you don’t have the following skills yet, you’d better start brushing up on them.
Organisation
Putting together a kit home is a relatively simple process, though there are a lot of steps involved and the order is kind of important, so you’ll need to be organised. The more time you give yourself to research and get prepared before your kit home arrives, the easier it will be to stay on top of the process once it begins.
Considerations When Designing Your Own Home
March 15th, 2012
Designing your own home is a gratifying way to ensure that you get a place that is exactly what you want, and there are a lot of online programs to help you come up with that perfect design. Whether you are customising kit homes or starting from scratch, the possibilities are endless. Keep in mind, though, the following considerations to ensure that your new home ends up being everything you’ve dreamed of.
Size
This is probably the biggest decision when designing your home. When deciding on the size of your new home, consider what you currently need as well as possible needs for extra space in the future. If there is space on your lot, having room for a kit home granny flat can be a huge benefit, as you can use it for your family’s needs right now or even rent it out until you need it further down the line.
Landscaping a Large Outdoor Area on a Budget
February 29th, 2012
Landscaping a large outdoor area is a big project that will cost quite a bit of money, though if you are on a budget, there are lots of ways to cut costs. Before you break ground, make sure you have considered the following ways to ensure the costs of your landscaping project are kept as low as possible.
Use recycled materials
One of the best ways to save money is by using recycled or salvaged materials. Whether you need bricks for paving, stones for a retaining wall, or timber for building garden beds, you can often get second-hand items cheaply and in good shape. This can save you a lot of money and mean you can afford to landscape a larger area.
Top 10 Ways to Increase the Value of Your Home
February 21st, 2012
If you are starting to think about moving and want to up the value of your home, there are some simple ways to do it. The following are a few easy options.
Paint
Painting your home is a sure way to dramatically increase the value of your home, whether you paint the inside, outside or both. Providing you get it painted properly and pick even half decent colours, you can have your home looking like an entirely different place.
Build a garden
Lots of people love to garden, and with the prices of fresh fruit and vegetables going through the roof, garden ownership will only become more in demand in coming years. A well-built and well-maintained garden adds light and colour to the whole property, making your place a far more desirable and, therefore, valuable location.
Miraculous Modern Building Materials
December 30th, 2011
The materials we build with have changed a great deal over the years. They have become stronger, lighter, more durable and cheaper to make; factors which have led to a resurgence in many building-related industries such as the manufacture of kit homes.
Traditional materials such as wood, bricks and steel are still widely used, but due to a growing demand for environmentally-sound building practices, these materials must now either come from a sustainable source or justify their use in terms of energy efficiency and environmental impact.
Building materials have five stages in their life-cycle: mining / harvesting, manufacture, construction, use and demolition, and the environmental impact of most materials is heaviest in the first two stages.
Developers of new building materials are now very conscious of their environmental implications, which is why recycled materials are becoming more and more widely used.
If Celebrities Designed Their Own Kit Homes
December 22nd, 2011
The great thing about designing kit homes is you start with a blank canvas. Kit home manufacturers now offer so many design options, you can have virtually anything you want, as long as it can be manufactured in kit form, is structurally sound and conforms to local building codes.
So imagine if someone like Lady Gaga decided to design her own kit home; perhaps a weekender in the Hollywood Hills. It would most certainly be eye-catching and undoubtedly bizarre; perhaps a series of rooms built around a central recording studio, with a pink mushroom-capped tower from which she could count her trucks full of money on their way to the bank far below.
Or what if Clint Eastwood designed a kit home? Would he have sawdust on the floors and a hitching rail on the front verandah?
Challenging Home Site? Build A Kit Home
December 14th, 2011
Not everyone wants to live in the suburbs. Traffic congestion, crime, noise and pollution are all on the increase, making many new home builders yearn for a sea change.
The problem is that when you move outside the city limits, the terrain becomes much more chaotic. The very thing that appeals to us, the untamed nature of the landscape, can mean that some rural and seaside blocks are difficult to access and even harder to build on.
Hard, but not impossible, as these examples show:
Chilean Architect, Alvaro Ramirez built a cabin that is perched on the side of a cliff overlooking the ocean far below. Made from local timbers, it would have been a logistical nightmare to transport the materials to the site and a job for builders with a good head for heights, as the decks have no railings and extend out over the abyss below.
On the banks of the river Loddon in the United Kingdom, a water-loving firm of architects built Hind House, a stunning home that is more like a bridge than a house, extending as it does almost all the way across the river.
