5 Steps for Developing Home Remodeling Plans

How to Start your Home Remodeling or Custom Home Construction Project off on the Right Foot

By Mark J. Donovan




The first step you need to do in order to tackle a home remodeling or custom home construction project is develop a set of plans. There are 5 key steps that should be followed when developing your home remodeling or custom home construction plans.

Step 1: Specify your Home Remodeling Design Objectives

With paper and pencil, or computer, list your home remodeling / construction objects. 

For example, are you looking to add another bedroom, build a family room, remodel a kitchen or build a custom home? 

Include in your home remodeling design objectives the dimensions of the new living space(s), the budget available, and the timeline for completing the project.

Step 2: Sketch Out Your High Level Home Remodeling Plans

Using quad-ruled paper and pencil, or a computer and a home remodeling software package, sketch out the basics of your home remodeling plans. Include in your sketches top level dimensional information, wall locations, door and window locations, and any key features of particular interest to you. You may want to take a look at a few house plan books to gets some ideas in sketching out your high level home remodeling plans.



Step 3: Review Existing House Plans

If your home remodeling or house plans are relatively straight forward, you may be able to purchase a set of detailed plans on-line or via a house plan magazine, that meet your specific needs.

Pick up a few house plan magazines and/or look on-line to see what might work for you. 

Home Addition Bid Sheets

There are literally thousands of home styles and sizes to choose from, and the cost of these plans is relatively inexpensive compared to employing an architect to develop a unique set of home remodeling or house plans.

Step 4 Develop Detailed Home Remodeling Plans or House Plans

After documenting your high level home remodeling or house plan objectives, you can now get down to work fleshing out all of the details.

This includes specifying the actual dimensions of all the rooms in your home remodeling or house plans, as well as specifying the myriad of details such as lighting and flooring choices and their locations, appliance makes and models, cabinets, plumbing fixtures, paint colors, interior trim styles and colors, and even landscape items when applicable.

All of this information is critical for having meaningful house plan or home remodeling plan discussions with an architect or designer.

Step 5: Meeting with an Architect or Designer

With a clear understanding of what you are looking for in your specific home remodeling project or house plans, you are now in a good position to meet with an architect or designer if you feel no stock house plans meet your needs.

The architect or designer can then take your home remodeling objectives and plans and transform them into a full set of construction plans to solicit home remodeling contractor bids and obtain construction permits.

HomeAdditionPlus.com has partnered with ContractorKey to provide you with a nationwide network of pre-screened and qualified architects and contractors. 


Simply fill out the ContractorKey form and 3 to 4 architects or contractors in your local area will contact you to discuss your home remodeling or house plans. There is no cost to you for this service.

For help on building a room addition, see HomeAdditionPlus.com’s Home Addition Bid Sheets. Our Home Addition Bid Sheets provide you with the knowledge and information on how to plan a home addition project, and what to look for when hiring contractors. They also include detailed cost breakdown tables and spreadsheets for estimating your own new home addition building costs.


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Fill out our 3-5 minute quick and easy form, and receive a free price quote on a house addition from one of our prescreened and licensed home addition contractors. This process is free and there is no obligation to continue once you receive your house addition price estimate.