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Hello friends!

Last week, our focus was designing your home for wildfire safety. This week, we'll look into your initial discussions with builders and architects and what you can do to prepare.

Your Creative Brief + Questionnaire

In planning a home, ideas are always flowing through your mind. The possibilities seem endless and you're constantly saying "what if we.." It's productive, fun, and free. Part of the magic of building a home is anticipation.

Inevitably, we must come back to earth and communicate what we want to the people who will make it happen. How we do it matters. If we're thoughtful and prepared, we can provide the pros with a strong starting point that helps them get to work quickly. If we're disorganized and unprepared it can create delays and even frustration.

The key is preparation and organization. Your team will thank you for it.

Two Tools

Architect Questionnaire

Your architect or designer is likely to provide a questionnaire that helps them develop a clear picture of what you want. The questions often cover a lot of ground, from the size of the home, to daily activities, to home styles. Filling out the questionnaire can be a daunting experience. It's a first taste of the thousands of decisions you'll be making. Here's an example.

Your Creative Brief

Before you talk to an architect or builder, you can start to develop your own creative brief. This is a summary of what you want and need regarding your home. It lists some of the basic requirements, like numbers of bedrooms and baths, along with more subjective or aesthetic items, like materials or colors. The creative brief provides a concrete resource for documenting and organizing your ideas (and dreams).

I recommend this process because it comes at no cost, helps you stay organized, and highlights gaps in your planning. It will help you feel more confident when working with the pros.

Ready to Brainstorm?

In our Home Planning Course you can download PDFs we call "cheat sheets". We created a cheat sheet that guides you through the creative brief process and we're sharing it below.

⤵️ A Free PDF: Brainstorm Your Creative Brief ​

Recent Posts

• ​How to Get Ahead with Your Creative Brief​
• ​Designing Your Home for Wildfire Safety​
• ​Trends in Lumber Prices and Housing Starts​
• ​10 Ways to be a Great Home Construction Client​
• ​How to Save on Cost Per Square Foot​
• ​Red Flags When Hiring Contractors​

👉 All Issues of Owner Notes​

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That's what I have for now. See you next week!

Lee LeFever, Build Livable​

• Build Livable helps homeowners navigate custom home construction. Learn More.
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