Like most self-builders, my husband and I had had a couple of ideas about what our dream home would be like. We even got as far as writing some of them down. It would be a mansion, of course, with separate rooms for all leisure activities (library, music room, computer room, a playroom for our daughter) and a standalone sauna and pool outside. Each bedroom would have an en suite bathroom and each bedroom a dressing room and it would have air conditioning or under floor heating throughout, depending on the location. Yeah, right. I could almost feel the rustle of pigs’ wings as I looked back at the list.
We Didn’t Lose The Plot
Seven months after we’d spotted our plot of land in Barbados, it was finally ours. This was relatively quick by Barbadian standards but had seemed an eternity to us, as we were accustomed to the two to three month turnaround that is usual in the UK. (At least, it was then, when the property market was booming). We’d downsized in the UK so that we could buy the land. The question now was: what could we afford to build on it?
We sat down with the dream house list again and worked out a more realistic plan. There’d be a bedroom for each of us, a guest room and a granny flat for my mum. We also needed a utility room and a downstairs toilet. An office was a must, since we both work from home, and a library to store our ever expanding collection of books, was practically essential. Anything else would be extra.
Which Software?
That decided, we thought we’d have a bash at drawing it ourselves, so off we went to PC World to pick up a home design package. There are a plethora of these programmes, ranging from the £4.99 Softpedia discs on a twirly rack at the front to the £49.99 and up packages stacked in the appropriate section. As Britain is a nation of DIYers, the range of options is perhaps not surprising.
At first glance, it’s difficult to tell the difference between the programmes. All claim to be easy for novices to use, to come with built in plans, to help you with the costings. But let’s face it, as a novice, although this sounds good, you don’t know what you’re getting. Finally, we flipped a mental coin, picked one and rushed home to start drawing our dream.
Spatially Challenged
Somehow I was elected to draw the design. This was perhaps not our best idea, as I’m spatially challenged (PC-speak for poor sense of direction, can’t read maps and definitely can’t visualise a 3D building from a 2D plan). I know there are many women out there who can do these things, but in this case I fit the stereotype, much to my disgust. (Sorry, girls).
A few days later, after endless drawings, redrawings and moving walls that had suddenly materialised where I didn’t want them, we had a plan. You could even walk through a 3D representation on screen, though for some reason the stairs had squashed the downstairs loo and one of the arches opened onto a wall. Still, it was a victory of sorts, as we now had something that we could show an architect. Our next move would be to find one.
From The Ground Up
(Photo: “View from 5th Floor of Barbados Hilton”)
