Homeownership is a key part of the American Dream. It’s no wonder that people want homes that fit their design style and interests like a glove. People will pay any sum to ensure that they get their dream home. In fact, as many as 3% of homebuyers last year were willing to pay 30% over the asking price to ensure that they’d get their perfect house.
For many, the words “dream home” equate to an expensive home that’s impossible to acquire and even more impossible to maintain. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. These 10 dream home ideas for any budget will show you that it’s not impossible to get the house you’ve always wanted without breaking the bank.
1. It’s Time to Bring Back the Study
If there’s one thing that the past two years have taught us, it’s that open concept houses aren’t practical anymore. When you have children and two parents at home, all trying to work or enjoy their free time, it becomes impossible to focus. So, most people designing custom homes these days incorporate an older housing concept: The study.
When you have a dedicated study, it creates a sealed-off space that’s designed for work and focus. It helps create a better boundary between work and regular life, which does wonders for everyone’s mental health.
How to Do It on a Dime
So, let’s say that you don’t have the money to request an extra room in your dream home. Or worse, that you can’t move from your current house. How can you create a dedicated study on a budget?
Simply put: Know your nooks. If there are places in your home where there are little corners or areas near a window that you can fit a desk comfortably within, consider making use of those to seal your space off. You can also use folding screens or room dividers (which can be DIYed) to create a bit more of a barrier between your workspace and your home space.
2. Chef’s Kitchen? (Chef’s Kiss) Perfection
Not everyone has the cooking skills of a chef, but everyone enjoys feeling like one when they cook something for themselves or their family. The kitchen is the single most important room of the entire house, so any custom home that skimps on it is doomed to failure.
You need to invest heavily in your kitchen, giving yourself ample storage space, easy access to ingredients, and if you can swing it, top-of-the-line appliances in a single finish (or, even better, paneled appliances so that they look built-in!).
Kitchen islands are an absolute must in any dream home, so make sure your floor plan accounts for them when you discuss the matter with your builder.
How to Do It on a Dime
So, let’s say that you have to work with a small space or can’t take out a wall to give yourself more space. How can you create a chef’s kitchen on a budget?
First things first, examine how your plates, ingredients, and small kitchen appliances are organized. Most of us don’t give the matter much thought, but chefs have a very meticulous storage pattern that keeps everything they use on a regular basis within an arm’s reach or a few steps.
You might also consider changing out the hardware on your cabinets, or giving them a fresh coat of paint! The difference that a slight adjustment in color palette makes may astound you.
3. Relax in a Luxury Spa Bathroom
People love the experience of relaxing in a spa. They’d especially love recreating that feeling in their own home. As such, many home design ideas incorporate massive bathrooms with soaking tubs, kitted-out showers, and gorgeous tile finishes.
So, if you’re wondering how to build a dream home that anyone will want to buy when the time comes to resell, install a large bathtub. Seriously, soaking in one can have amazing benefits to your overall wellness.
How to Do It on a Dime
If replacing your current tub or shower isn’t in the budget, consider swapping out the faucets and showerhead. A multi-functional showerhead can go a long way toward alleviating tension in the body.
Updating your countertops with some water-resistant contact paper or adding a simple backsplash can also go a long way towards revamping the look and feel of your bathroom.
4. Your Windows Are the Eyes to the Soul of Your Home
Everyone’s heard the old phrase that the eyes are the windows to the soul. However, in a similar vein, your home’s windows are the eyes into the soul of the home.
Let us explain. Your windows – the number, style, and state of them – help to determine the amount of natural light that your home receives during the day. More or larger windows give you more natural light, which tends to make your home look nicer and lets you enjoy the views of the outside world.
In addition, the way you have your windows dressed gives onlookers an idea as to the type of person you are. What you enjoy, what you’re about, how open or private you are, and more.
When you’re looking for home design ideas, don’t neglect the windows. Consider updating them for something more energy-efficient or something that looks nicer.
How to Do It on a Dime
Luckily, you have options if you can’t afford to swap out the windows right this second. First, make sure you keep the windows you currently have nice and clean. Then, make some adjustments to your window treatments.
In most dream (read: luxury) homes, the curtains kiss the ground or hover just above it. You can get that same look simply by adjusting the height of your curtain rods and investing in longer drapes.
5. Incorporate Sustainability
There’s been a major push in the construction and interior design space to make the homes they build more sustainable. This means using eco-friendly woods like bamboo or trying to use recycled materials where possible.
It also means making adjustments for energy efficiency and constructing the home in ways that cut down on heating and cooling costs. You’ll need to speak with a contracting company to get a better idea of what you can do to make your dream home more sustainable. Check out Milan Design+Build if you live in the San Diego area, and see what they can do for you.
6. Meld the Indoors and Outdoors
One major trend that’s sweeping the home and interior design space is a blending of indoor and outdoor spaces. People are tired of looking at their yards through a window- they want to make them an extension of the home as a whole.
Whether it’s gathering around a grill for an upcoming barbecue, roasting marshmallows around a cozy firepit, or curling up on a swing next to some curling vines and bushes, people love having living spaces that happen to be outside.
This also manifests in the major trend toward having plants, herb gardens, water features, and natural tones on the inside of the house. If you live in an urban area without much greenery, working these features into your indoor spaces can sate that craving without requiring you to relocate.
How to Do It on a Dime
Hey, we get it. Plants are expensive, and live ones can be almost impossible to keep alive. There is absolutely no shame in using fake plants to bring the vibe of the outdoors into your home.
If you opt for that, try to upscale the containers you place them in. Everyone will know the fake plant in the plastic orange pot is fake. However, if you place it in a stylish concrete vessel, no one will be any the wiser.
7. Form Marries Function
What’s something that makes a house look luxurious and more like a dream home, regardless of how high-end it is? Simply put, a space where form marries functions. Where there’s a place for every item, and every item rests in its place.
Shelves are crucial home design features for any custom-built home. Shelves, cabinetry, and any other sort of storage space that you can find.
It’s impossible for a home, no matter how expensive, to look luxurious when there’s clutter everywhere. So, if you’re working with a limited budget and adding more shelves isn’t in it, consider finding nice-looking storage bins and catch-alls for the knickknacks and other small items that you have.
8. Reuse, Rearrange, and Refinish
It’s easy to get lured into the trap of believing that your dream home has to be built entirely from scratch from the ground up. For certain situations, like increasing accessibility, that can be unavoidable. However, you can make your current space a dream home for you by reusing, rearranging, and refinishing.
Reuse What You Already Have
Let’s say that you have a couch that someone in your family gifted you. It’s functional but absolutely hideous, and you can’t wait to ditch it and buy something brand new.
Pause for a moment. Before you toss out a perfectly good couch, consider investing in a slipcover to take care of the gross pattern. Or, if you’re slightly more confident in your DIY skills, you can try reupholstering the couch to make it something more modern.
If comfort is your concern, consider investing in extra padding for the seats. You can hide that under the slipcover.
Rearrange Your Space
Sometimes, simply rearranging the layout of your room can work wonders for how the space feels. We tend to think that wherever we placed our furniture upon moving in is where it must remain, forever and ever, amen. However, that’s not the case.
It might be a pain, and it might take the better part of an afternoon, but you can rearrange the furniture in your home. Especially if you have an open-concept space.
Creating better walkways, or simply creating new angles can make the same old space feel completely different.
Refinish or Repaint Your Furniture and Fixtures
Lastly, as we mentioned above, a coat of paint and swapped fixtures can work wonders for revitalizing a home and making it more of a dream home. If you’re fairly happy with the fixtures you have, take some time to refinish them and give them a like-new shine.
9. Make Space for Entertainment
Most dream home ideas that you see online these days involve separate rooms for gaming or watching movies. If it’s in your budget to create a home theater, by all means, go for it. However, if you’re working with a smaller space or smaller budget, you can get results by investing in a quality soundbar and a wall-mounted TV.
When you can’t get built-in theater solutions, the soundbar and the wall mount will go a long way towards giving you that cinema experience. Combine it with reclining chairs in plush or leather fabric, and you have a great entertainment space.
10. Design Your Dream Home for Experiences
Last but not least, while you’re designing your dream home, it’s important to remember to design for experiences, not aesthetics. You can imagine gorgeous vistas, picturesque gardens, and a shining chef’s kitchen all you want.
However, if you don’t tend the plants, or avoid cooking in favor of takeout boxes, all you’ll have is an enormous waste of space. Don’t get so caught up in aesthetics that you forget that your dream home should be designed for life, not just pictures.
Need More Dream Home Ideas for Inspiration?
Most dream home ideas these days have several features in common. They meld indoor and outdoor spaces, offer dedicated offices, keep things functional, and offer luxurious dining and bathing experiences. We hope that this list gave you some inspiration for your next home remodel, as well as some quick, budget-friendly fixes you can do on a dime.
If you’d like to get more inspiration for your custom home, or else learn how to build a dream home and style it from the ground up, check out the Home Life section of our blog for more articles like this one!
