As I first time home builder (I am the homeowner not the actual contractor), I cannot tell you how intimidating it is to try to visualize house plans out of nothing. When you think about building your own house, you really don't think about all of the tiny details that go into drawing up house designs like baseboard and ceiling height, material type, window style, door and frame design, and the list goes on and on. I found that the most helpful tool for me was downloading one of those home design apps that lets you play around with all of these different design elements and immediately see how the different styles would look on the home. Some of them even offer cool house plans for you to begin with and customize to your own style preferences.

I can't tell you what a life saver it is to be able to play around with your house plans online or in an app as much as you want before having to actually commit to something. I am a little bit late to the home design software game but I am so glad that I finally saw the light because it has made just about every decor project that has come up so easy. I posted a few photos of different rooms/projects that I have been working on including our dining room makeover. This was so fun to put together because I have been having such trouble envisioning what in the world to pair with the circular white fireplace thing that came with the home. Probably my favorite part of the software that I used was the fact that they offered both large and small house plans pre-made for you so you didn't have to spend the time measuring out each window and doorway, you could just adjust what they already had.

One of the things that I found most helpful as we went through the process of building, was searching for photos of other homes that were done in the same house plans that we chose. Although a lot of those prefab plans come with virtual walkthroughs, it can still be challenging to picture what those blueprints will look like in "real life." Luckily, looking through photos of homes with our same house floor plans only made me more excited at the choice that we made (I was a little bit nervous that I would be disappointed). The photos that I posted here are some of my favorite that I found, because the landscaping that they utilized really amplified the charm of the home design. I will certainly post some of our own, once the build has been completed.

I am just so pleased with hour our house plans turned out -- it is crazy to see photos of the finished spaces after so much time had been spent mapping out exactly what we wanted. House design is a unique task because there are so many moving parts and so many incredibly personal decision that you have to make. It is important to remember that this is the space that you will be spending the majority of your time, not to mention raising your family and making precious memories. For this reason, you really want to make sure that your home interior design reflects your personality and that of your family so that you feel both comfortable and inspired in your home. These rooms definitely scream "us" and they are beautiful yet definitely functional and comfortable for a growing family of young children.

I tend to stick with the trends when it comes to overall house plans but then diverge and get unique as I decorate and add my own personal touches to it. A designer once told me that I should make the "bones" or foundations of my home design ideas very universal so that, in case we ever move, I can remove my own decor or whatever and it will be neutral and universal enough to attract a multitude of buyers. I am not one to take financial risks so those words have stuck with me over the years. Here are some photos of our current main living area. As you can see I stuck to pretty simple modern house plans with a popular open concept, lovely lightly colored plank floors and plane white walls. I added personality and color in through accessories and tons of funky artwork. The home is very "me" without locking me into a particular color palette or style.

Modern house plans like this always get me so inspired, but also make me wonder how families actually live in here. Everything about this modern house design is so pristine and looks like it could be a museum or something. It is definitely not a home that you can throw kids toys around or have screaming toddlers running around (or at least I wouldn't want that haha). Houses like this must have some older and high brow owners that don't make messes or have loud guests like we do. I suppose if you design your own house in this style you could make allowances for toys and other kid-friendly items if you need to but, again, I just do not see how this could be a comfortable family home.