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Wish lists
Develop a brief about house features
A wish list helps to establish your needs, the scope of work and if your requirements are compatible with your site and budget.
Why they are important
Having a well-considered list of ideas will help your design professional and our staff to understand your expectations. When developing your list of features, try to prioritise those features that you consider critical as your budget and your site may not be appropriate for everything you want.
What to consider
Some factors to consider include:
- your lifestyle;
- the useable area of your site and features such as slopes;
- best use of views and open spaces around your home;
- the size of your development and number of rooms;
- your storage requirements;
- quality and cost of building materials;
- use of natural daylight, solar aspect and energy efficiency; and
- urban and neighbourhood design impact.
You may want to also think about:
- if you want a combined living, dining, family space or separated spaces;
- the relationship between indoors and outdoors;
- how many bedrooms you need now and in the future;
- if you want a hallway;
- where you might want to locate a clothesline, garbage bin or compost heap;
- the type of bathroom configuration you like; and
- type of car accommodation.
Further ideas
Ideas can also be found at display homes and centres and in housing publications. You may like to read our Guide to Good Design. Architects, building designers, builders and other professionals are also worth contacting to discuss your ideas.
Project homes
Note that if you chose the design of a house already built or an exhibition home, you have selected your design and your builder. The plans and specifications of these designs are subject to copyright. You will have to negotiate with the project builder if you want any changes to the design. Changes and alterations will add to the cost.
