How do you create a simple modern house on a budget?
That was the question we posed at the end of our last post on Affordable Modern House Design where we explained the characteristics of modern design that lend itself to a cost-effective design style.
We’re not going to get into the weeds with this post. We’re going to keep this at a bird’s eye view and talk about broad strategies to create an affordable modern house.
So how do you do it?
Modern houses can be cost-effective if affordability is thought about early and often. The best time to start thinking about a modern design style and tying it into an affordability goal is during the early planning and design stage when the most important decisions are made for the project.
Plan for an affordable modern home from the start.
You can affordable a modern house design but it begins with the proper planning. Early planning starts with setting SMART project goals for your project. In order to do that you have to define what affordable means to you.
So what does affordable mean to you?
Affordability means different things to different people. To one person $600,000 is affordable. Someone else might hyperventilate seeing that number. To them, $250,000 would be affordable.
How will you know if your house is on budget if you don’t define the budget? Setting a realistic budget is the first step in creating an affordable home.
While setting project goals about the budget, you should also set goals about the design of your home. If modernism is your preferred style, define what it is about modern design that will help you achieve your goals.
Define what modern means to you.
What is it about modern design that you like and that will help you achieve your budget goals? Is it the simple, straightforward design? The rectilinear or pure geometric shapes? Is it the open floor plan layout with minimal interior walls? Is it the efficient use of space? What about the materials and the amount of natural light?
Note: Understanding and defining your budgetary goals and aesthetic goals are especially important as you search for a design professional to work with to create your home design. You can narrow your search to those firms and individuals that share a similar design style as you and that can help you create a great project on a budget. When everyone is on the same page about the budget and the style, it can lead to some really great and meaningful projects.
Once you’ve defined your project goals, create a thoughtful project brief or set of project requirements for your spaces.
The key to affordability is creating a simple design that includes only what you actually want and need (and sometimes only what you really need for the modern minimalists out there).
There are many space planning characteristics of modern design that lend themselves to an affordable design. Like we mentioned above: simple forms, open floor plans, compact layouts, efficient space planning, pure geometric shapes, simple materials, and an abundance of natural light.
How are these characteristics affordable? Read our previous post where we go into this in detail.
To make the design even more affordable, you can optimize the spaces and reduce the amount of wasted space, paring down the number or rooms you need to only what is needed. Can you combine rooms to save on material costs, heating/cooling costs, and other construction costs like site work, foundations, or roof area?
Spend some time to think carefully about your space requirements for your project. Create a list of spaces you need, ones that would be nice to have, and be open to the idea of merging spaces and creating opportunities to adapt them to your changing needs. Having flexible spaces is a great way to eliminate entire rooms. And this ultimately helps your bottom line.
[Garden Street Residence by Pavonetti Architecture. Photo by Amanda Kirkpatrick.]
Beyond the initial early planning stages, remaining diligent during the rest of the design process is important, too.
As you and your design team develop the rest of the details for the house and select products and materials, remember that simplicity is key to affordability.
And modernism is characterized by simple detailing so you’re in good company. Pare down and eliminate excess spaces and rooms, as well as complexities in the design of the spaces. Simple, rectilinear room shapes make it easy to construct them. Simple material detailing makes for faster construction. Keeping tile work and cladding details simple saves money. And eliminating excess trim work and intricate detailing saves money.
For example, trim could easily cost $500 per room per type to install trim. When you have multiple types of molding in a room (baseboard, crown molding, casing, chair rail, and wall framing molding), they all add up and can become large ticket items really quickly if you elect to go with built-up profiles that require multiple trim pieces.
The good news is that modern design doesn’t have complicated trim details. Simple flat stock base trim and casing (or no casing around windows) is typical of many modern houses.
So as you progress through the design process, create a design aesthetic that is simple, uncomplicated, and eliminates fussiness. When you do that, you’d be surprised how much more cost-effective your project will be.
Creating an affordable modern design doesn’t stop at the design phase. Your project goals must be carried through and communicated to the construction team as well.
Having faith and confidence in your design and project goals must continue into the construction phase. As design professionals, we create technical construction drawings for the contractor to build from. But it’s even more important that you, the builder, and the designer are on the same page when it comes to those project goals.
Because the budget is so important on a big project like this, it’s imperative that we all work together to create the project to meet those goals.
Our role is to provide you with quality information to make good, educated decisions and to understand the effects of those decisions as we progress through the design process. When you’re armed with good information, you can more effectively communicate with everyone else (contractor, banker, spouse, etc) about your end goals for the project. AND you’ll feel more comfortable and confident in the design and construction of your project.
If you’re designing modern without a designer or architect and it’s just you and your builder, it’s even more important to communicate your desire for an affordable modern home. Many people struggle trying to effectively communicate their goals for affordability and modern design to their builder or contractor. If you’re able to explain why you want certain modern features and what you’re hoping to achieve with those features you’ll more easily be able to work together to attain your big goal.
Creating a simple modern house design is anything but easy. It may look easy, predictable, and simple, but behind that simple design lies a lot of thoughtful design considerations, meaningful decisions, and attention to detail.
People’s love for modern housing is being rekindled as many more people deliberately depart from traditional housing. People want homes that are distinguished by their openness and livability through the use of innovative design, materials and construction methods. AND they want a modern home whose cost is comparable to that of traditional housing. It’s a tough feat, but it’s possible.
We’re not naive to think we can change the whole system, but we can certainly start trying. If you set good project goals at the start, plan early and often to meet them, and remain mindful throughout the process about budget concerns you CAN affordable a modern house design.
How do you plan to create a simple affordable modern house?
Beyond the initial early planning stages, remaining diligent during the rest of the design process is important, too.
As you and your design team develop the rest of the details for the house and select products and materials, remember that simplicity is key to affordability.
And modernism is characterized by simple detailing so you’re in good company. Pare down and eliminate excess spaces and rooms, as well as complexities in the design of the spaces. Simple, rectilinear room shapes make it easy to construct them. Simple material detailing makes for faster construction. Keeping tile work and cladding details simple saves money. And eliminating excess trim work and intricate detailing saves money.
For example, trim could easily cost $500 per room per type to install trim. When you have multiple types of molding in a room (baseboard, crown molding, casing, chair rail, and wall framing molding), they all add up and can become large ticket items really quickly if you elect to go with built-up profiles that require multiple trim pieces.
The good news is that modern design doesn’t have complicated trim details. Simple flat stock base trim and casing (or no casing around windows) is typical of many modern houses.
So as you progress through the design process, create a design aesthetic that is simple, uncomplicated, and eliminates fussiness. When you do that, you’d be surprised how much more cost-effective your project will be.
Creating an affordable modern design doesn’t stop at the design phase. Your project goals must be carried through and communicated to the construction team as well.
Having faith and confidence in your design and project goals must continue into the construction phase. As design professionals, we create technical construction drawings for the contractor to build from. But it’s even more important that you, the builder, and the designer are on the same page when it comes to those project goals.
Because the budget is so important on a big project like this, it’s imperative that we all work together to create the project to meet those goals.
Our role is to provide you with quality information to make good, educated decisions and to understand the effects of those decisions as we progress through the design process. When you’re armed with good information, you can more effectively communicate with everyone else (contractor, banker, spouse, etc) about your end goals for the project. AND you’ll feel more comfortable and confident in the design and construction of your project.
If you’re designing modern without a designer or architect and it’s just you and your builder, it’s even more important to communicate your desire for an affordable modern home. Many people struggle trying to effectively communicate their goals for affordability and modern design to their builder or contractor. If you’re able to explain why you want certain modern features and what you’re hoping to achieve with those features you’ll more easily be able to work together to attain your big goal.
Creating a simple modern house design is anything but easy. It may look easy, predictable, and simple, but behind that simple design lies a lot of thoughtful design considerations, meaningful decisions, and attention to detail.
People’s love for modern housing is being rekindled as many more people deliberately depart from traditional housing. People want homes that are distinguished by their openness and livability through the use of innovative design, materials and construction methods. AND they want a modern home whose cost is comparable to that of traditional housing. It’s a tough feat, but it’s possible.
We’re not naive to think we can change the whole system, but we can certainly start trying. If you set good project goals at the start, plan early and often to meet them, and remain mindful throughout the process about budget concerns you CAN affordable a modern house design.
