The Complete Idiot's Guide to Designing your Own Home

by Oreste Drapaca, Abigail R. Esman

Be creative … and save some cash.

Building or renovating a home used to require an architect, but this guide teaches readers how to do most of an architect’s work themselves, from visualizing structure, shape, and proportion, to decorating. Material is covered step-by-step, complete with inspirational ideas, and professional secrets—all explained in layman’s terms.
--The perfect companion for the popular Complete Idiot’s Guide to Building Your Own Home

272 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2007

Reviews

[Jenny]

This book is full of detailed information on designing a house. I bought it while undertaking the task of planning our new home, but honestly, the biggest take away for me was that I needed to hire a real designer. It did, however, give me a great framework for all the things I needed to consider when building a home and I was able to take it to the point of a general layout that I can bring to a designer. I’m just not comfortable with being responsible for the technical aspects before giving it to a builder. If you are planning to build a new house, this is at the very least a great place to begin and to realize that you don’t have to settle for a stick plan.