“Everyone lives a little differently,” says Anne Middleton, owner of Southern Coastal Homes, “whether you’re an empty-nester or an active family on the go, your home, and the spaces within it should work for you.”
Crafting and creating a custom home that works for the way you live your life is a labor of love and takes a specific amount of thought from the homeowner and the home builder. The builder you select should be open and embrace different ideas clients have as well as offer new solutions based on their experience.
Mudrooms & Dropzones
Originally designed for colder climates to shed and store heavy winter gear, mudrooms have migrated to warmer climates and help contain messy outdoor gear and clothing to help keep the house clean.
Mudrooms are commonly found in new construction homes as dedicated spaces just inside or near the garage door, but laundry rooms have also been known to serve double-duty as both laundry area and mudroom storage.
Active families need places for “stuff” and designing a custom home with slightly wider hallways helps avoid damaging walls and trim with swinging backpacks and sports gear. Mudroom built-ins with hooks and baskets can help keep clothing and gear tidy and organized.
Oversized Kitchen Pantries
The kitchen has made a comeback in a big way. The kitchen is not only the heart of the home; it’s the center of the entertaining sphere for friends and family. Large islands and open floorplans beckon guests to mingle, socialize, and relax. With the increase in social activity, homeowners look for creative and dedicated places to store not only food items but the increasing number of specialized appliances that help prepare the food.
Sous vide machines, stand mixers, juicers and more can find a home of their own in dedicated pantry spaces. Tall shelves, deep shelves, cabinets and counters, every pantry space is designed and built specifically to the needs of its inhabitants.
Home Offices
Technology is a beautiful thing and enables many workers to complete their work from the comfort of their own homes. With the rise of telecommuting and remote work comes the need for a dedicated workspace within the home. The concept of the home office isn’t new, but it’s receiving a renewed focus on containment within the home and creating separation between work life and home life, even if they share the same square footage.
French doors, sliding barn doors, custom desks, and built-ins are all part of the new and updated home office. Each home office serves a different need, a different type of worker, while still integrating into the overall style of the home.
Carriage Houses
(a room of your own above the garage)
Whether you’re providing space for out of town guests, a live-at-home college student, or creating a family revenue stream through AirBnB, building a dedicated suite above the garage makes smart use of often unused space.
Usually no bigger than a studio apartment, a properly thought through and constructed carriage house space can be a comfortable, inviting, and useful addition to a custom home.
Before you enlist the help of a builder to create the home of your dreams, talk to them about the unique spaces they’ve built for other clients and think about how your life may warrant creating special spaces in your own home. Anne Middleton says, “A builder who cares about their clients will listen, understand the specific needs, and offer creative suggestions to their clients, so their home will work for the way they live their lives.”
Article provided by Southern Coastal Homes
