Invaluable Resources

I did a lot of homework before getting to the point of having a house plan.  A lot.

To me, the top ones are:

1.  www.floorplanner.com   For $15/year, you can easily import your plan and then trace over it to scale, placing furniture and viewing it in 3D.   This was absolutely the #1 best resource for me during planning.  It's amazing how things look differently when you plug your data into a 3D source and view it from that perspective.  Very user-friendly and easy to use.  Not without its drawbacks (it's mainly for interior, not exterior) but still, at $15/year and easy editing, who can resist?

2.  all of Sarah Susanka's books.   I started off reading the much-acclaimed "The Not So Big House" and before I knew it, I was requesting the local library for every other book she'd ever written. I read them all.   Don't let the "not so big" part fool you, the books are as much about planning smart space as they are about functioning well in a house.  (My husband is a "big house" kind of guy and even he was taken with her books, which is saying something.)  She clearly states invaluable specifics ranging from window head heights to window seats, to shelving recommendations.  As I perused the books, I would take snapshots with my cell phone to refer back to in later meetings.  This has been so helpful, like recently at a final window appointment where I was describing the specifics of achieving an infinity windowsill at the kitchen sink, for example. A sampling of her books can be seen here:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_adv_b/?search-alias=stripbooks&unfiltered=1&field-keywords=&field-author=Sarah+Susanka&field-title=&field-isbn=&field-publisher=&node=&field-p_n_condition-type=&field-feature_browse-bin=&field-subject=&field-language=&field-dateop=&field-datemod=&field-dateyear=&sort=relevanceexprank&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=0&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=0

3.  www.houzz.com   but of course!  As you browse pictures in Houzz, create a file of things you like to refer back to later.  Better yet, create a www.pinterest.com account and "pin" things you see online to various room boards that will later help you to be better organized.

4.  http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/  Gardenweb's forum are an invaluable resource.  I learned more here probably than anywhere else.  I would also do searches like "things you regret" "what you would do different" etc etc and then I compiled a list from these that was pertinent to our home.  You can also research everything from water heaters to shingles here, as well as post questions and get feedback.  It's fabulous.

5. http://olioboard.com/    A one-stop place to shop.  You can tag things that are your favorites and refer back to it later.  So far I've used it for lighting shopping.

6.  Google Earth   .http://www.google.com/earth/index.html  I located our lot and then inserted various house plans on it to see how it would  function with the surrounding land.  I did this the elementary way, using the PrintScreen function and then cutting out the image in the old school Paint program, eventually superimposing via PowerPoint.  For an example of what I mean, see the post on House Plans:   http://acustomhouse.blogspot.com/2013/01/to-begin-part-2-determining-house-plan.html