Whether you are designing your first house plan, or your fifth, creating a unique house design is difficult. Working with an experienced architect will help you think about what you want and need in a house floor plan, choose materials to fit your house style, and design a house plan that fulfills all of your dreams. Consider these areas before talking to your architect:Land – Take a look at your lot from every angle to find the best views and the private areas you want to designate for areas of your home where you might not want others to be able to see into. See if you can use passive heating from your southern exposure to lower energy bills. Make sure you know about any buildings such as houses or even businesses that may be built near you in the future. Are there eco features you can implement on your lot to lower your energy costs such as geothermal heating, solar panels, or building part of your home in the earth? Can you design the home to minimize how much land you disturb during building?House Floor Plan – You probably know off the top of your head how many bedrooms and bathrooms you want, but start thinking about how your family will move throughout the space so you can make high traffic areas functional. Do you want bedrooms in one area with laundry centrally located, or you do you want the master bedroom to be away from the other bedrooms?Do you prefer an island or do you like appliances to be next to each other? Consider writing down what you have loved and hated about prior homes you’ve lived in. Think about the small things like placement of outlets that are often frustrating, or light switches. If you have small children, how will they use space differently as they age? Think about storage and where clutter usually collects, and design areas that deal with these issues.Materials – There are many choices for flooring, siding, counter tops and all the other materials that go into your home, so research them to save money. You can also research sustainable products that are friendly to the environment down to your choice of paint and caulks. Planning to use new building systems like SIPs can also impact your energy bills, so it can pay off to discuss these options with your architect.Details – The great thing about a custom house plan is that you can start from scratch, so you can include the little details that make a house a home to you. Whether it’s built ins, a place for your vase collection, or using special tiles in your shower you bought in Mexico, the small details make the home yours.Write down your ideas, adding photos from magazines that show what you want, and taking photos of your lot to pinpoint views can help your architect define your home design to capture your feelings more accurately.