[rachcolgeojac]

Hi, we are building a family home for our family of four. Kids and our 5 and 8 years and we would like to stay here for at least 10 years. We have a large block 700m2 and are leaning towards single storey. Love to here any tips/advice

[Guest_Telmatiaeos_*]

Have living areas on the north side with large double glazed windows and the right sized eave. It allows sun in during winter and not during summer. Makes a big difference to the comfort of the home and electricity bills.

Lots of insulation.

High ceilings.

[ingrid74]

Check out the forums on homeone.com.au. Some great blogs, forum topics and useful hints and tips on building! Its where alot of our ideas came from.

[*Lib*]

RESEARCH your builder!!!!

[It'sallgood]

Kids bedrooms open into their own living / rumpus area.
Tamm

[Starposs]

- DON'T get timber venetian blinds when choosing window coverings. So many people warned me but I insisted on having them. They are just massive dust collectors! I hate them
- Central heating/cooling is one of the best things we did when building our house
- If you can afford it, make the kids bedroom sizes bigger than the standard bedroom sizes on most builders plans
- Built in robes are a must (most house plans these days have them anyway)
- A seperate lounge/rumpus room for the kids
- Lots of kitchen cupboard and bench space
- Lots of storage space

[libbylu]

Consider a passive solar design (as a pp mentioned north facing windows, large west eaves etc.). I can't believe how many new homes I see with hardly any eaves. I really don't get this! Not only does it look ugly, but it means the sun is beating on the walls of your house!

[*Lib*]

- DON'T get timber venetian blinds when choosing window coverings. So many people warned me but I insisted on having them. They are just massive dust collectors! I hate them

God yes. We thought they were ripping themselves off giving us wooden venetians........I HATE HATE HATE them!

[Starposs]

Agree about the eaves!! We had to pay an extra $4k for eaves to our house but I think houses without them look ugly!

[Duffy29]

We had our eaves put in at 650 instead of standard. We did this for functionality, but it looks great!