Design Process
Designing a home never occurs overnight. Designing truly is a process. Whether the process takes two weeks, two months or two years, Hilden is committed to designing you your dream home.
The Design Process typically begins, not with your designer, but with your sales person. Your sales person is your main point of contact during the buying and designing process. If you feel that you have designing that is complex or specialized, or if you would feel more comfortable, you may express to the sales person that you would like a designer present during your meetings. You typically remain with the same sales and designer throughout your whole process. This team will also include a construction coordinator after the designing is final, the contract is signed, and you are ready to pick colours for your home. This process is detailed in Colour Selection Process. You may at some point contact your designer directly with design alterations, however keep in mind that your sales person is the only person able to give you pricing.
In your initial meeting with your sales person, they will ask if you have any reference materials. This can include, but is not limited to, various floor plans, pictures of homes in the style you prefer, and any other design features you’d like included in your home. These references are then given to the designer, so that they may piece together all of your wants into a cohesive design for your home. Sometimes home buyers don’t have any reference material; don’t let this worry you. If you don’t have any ideas, the designer will be happy to draft from scratch. With just an idea of the room sizes and the flow of the home you’d like, the designer will be able to produce an idea for you to consider. We take great pride in designing for the lot. Does the lot face South? Does it slope enough for a walk-out? Where are the views? This ensures that your home is custom built for your unique lot, to make the most of the land and home.
The designer will typically provide a presentation style main floor plan, a lower level plan with an optional layout (if you do not intend to have it finished), and a front elevation render. It is important to remember that the dimensions are approximate and in the case of the render, it is concept only. While we find it is beneficial for home buyer to see a realistic image of their possible home, we are also restricted in our abilities to show everything accurately; for example, the colours on the render will never match an exact sample from our colour room. Any additional rendering or 3D modelling may be subject to a fee.
This step may be repeated numerous times until we reach a plan and feature sheet that meets your expectations and budget. Sometimes, everything you want cannot be designed into one home, either for design or budget reasons. We suggest that you organize your wants and needs into priorities, so that the designer may know where it would be best to make compromises.
When we have created the perfect plan for your dream home, the plans and elevations will be included in the contract for your final approval. Once the contract is signed, the designer will step back and let your colour coordinator take the lead. Any future design questions may be expressed to your coordinator. You are officially one step closer to your dream home.