Where to Start When Designing a House?
When most people start thinking about designing a house, they jump straight to how they want it to look.
They collect inspiration photos, think about finishes, or start sketching floor plans. While those things matter eventually, they’re almost never the right place to begin and the process can take some time. After years of designing custom homes and stock plans throughout the Mountain West, I’ve learned that the most successful projects start with clarity, not just style.
Start With What Can Be Built, Not What You Want to Build
One of the biggest mistakes I see is someone buying a lot without fully understanding what can actually be built on it.
Most of the time, the issues aren’t dramatic. More often it’s discovering:
A required home size
Specific architectural guidelines
HOA design restrictions
Height or setback limitations
But occasionally, it’s more serious.
One project that stands out involved a homeowner who bought a lot planning for a full basement and a pool, only to later find out the property was in a floodplain. The basement they envisioned simply wasn’t going to work the way they expected. The project was still possible but expectations had to be adjusted.
This kind of discovery can be discouraging, but it’s rarely an end-all scenario. Almost always, we can make it work. The key is finding these things before they become costly or emotionally draining surprises.
This is exactly why we created Blueprint Sessions to help homeowners understand the lot, identify constraints early, and move forward with confidence.
Understand the Site Before You Design the House
The site plays a massive role in good design.
Even in small subdivisions where lots appear similar, there can be meaningful differences. When we evaluate a lot, we look at factors such as:
Slope and grading
Utility access
Sewer depth
Views and view corridors
Heights of adjacent lots
Potential need for sump pumps or backflow check valves
These elements directly affect layout, structure, cost, and long-term livability. That’s why I usually recommend purchasing the lot before fully committing to a design. You simply can’t design a house accurately without understanding the ground it sits on.
Don’t Start With the Details
Another common mistake is focusing too early on details that aren’t yet important.
Paint colors, outlet locations, and finish selections will all come but they shouldn’t drive early design decisions. I often compare the design process to dumping dirt into a sieve. The biggest rocks get filtered out first. Those represent:
Site orientation
General room adjacencies
Overall massing and scale
As you move further through the sieve, the material becomes finer. The same is true with home design, the further along you get, the more detailed the decisions become. Starting with small details too early usually leads to frustration, redesign, and design fatigue.
Translate Lifestyle Before Translating Style
Designing a house isn’t just about aesthetics but rather it’s about how people live.
A recent project illustrates this well. We were working with an older couple whose inspiration leaned toward a large two-story home with a loft. Visually, it was appealing. But after talking through their budget, daily routines, and long-term plans, it became clear that a loft and second level weren’t necessary.
By focusing on lifestyle first, we were able to design a home that placed everything they needed on a single level, allowing them to age into the house comfortably without sacrificing design quality.
Understanding how someone lives and helping shape the spaces where they’ll build memories is one of the parts of residential design I love most.
Why the Right Starting Point Changes Everything
Most design problems don’t come from bad ideas.
They come from starting without enough information.
When a project begins with assumptions instead of clarity, the design process becomes reactive. Decisions get revisited. Expectations shift midstream. Costs creep up. Timelines stretch. None of that is because anyone did anything “wrong”—it’s simply what happens when the foundational questions aren’t answered early.
This is where we see the biggest difference between projects that move smoothly and projects that feel frustrating or overwhelming.
That’s why we put so much emphasis on Blueprint Sessions. These sessions aren’t about drawing plans—they’re about thinking ahead. They allow us to step back and look at the project holistically before anyone gets emotionally or financially committed to a specific solution.
Blueprint Sessions help us:
Identify lot constraints and regulatory issues before they become roadblocks
Clarify priorities so design decisions are intentional, not reactive
Align lifestyle goals with site realities and budget constraints
Expose potential challenges early, when they’re easier (and cheaper) to address
Instead of discovering limitations late, after plans are drawn or expectations are set, we surface them early. That early clarity almost always leads to fewer revisions, better decisions, and a more confident design process overall.
These sessions don’t take the excitement out of building a home. They protect it.
So, Where Should You Start?
If you’re thinking about designing a house, resist the urge to start with finishes, Pinterest boards, or floor plans.
Those things will come in due time but they work best when they’re responding to something solid underneath.
The right place to start is with:
The lot – what it allows, what it restricts, and what it offers
The lifestyle – how you actually live today and how you want to live in the future
The constraints – zoning, HOAs, budget realities, and site limitations
The big-picture goals – what matters most and what can flex
When those pieces are understood, the design process stops feeling chaotic. Decisions become easier. Trade-offs make sense. And the house begins to take shape in a way that feels grounded and intentional.
The goal isn’t just to design a beautiful home.
It’s to design a home that fits its site, supports your life, and still makes sense years down the road.
When you start in the right place, the rest of the process doesn’t just move faster but it moves better.