Blueprint Affordable: How to Build a Beautiful House Without Breaking the Bank

Dreaming of an architecturally distinctive house filled with graceful, beautiful materials that has been customized to fit your lifestyle-but think you can't afford it? Blueprint Affordable will dispel those fears and put builders on the path to a home that is personal, beautiful, and affordable. Discover the secrets of cost-conscious design and construction through the examples of ten cutting-edge residential designs, and see how building a unique home doesn't have to be prohibitively expensive. Author Michelle Kodis includes an amazing list of helpful information, guidelines, and tips to follow throughout the planning and building process such as: keep a simple floor plan opt for off-the-shelf stock sizes, which cost less than their customized counterparts choose locally available materials study your building site's climate and weather patterns, and focus on an architectural plan that shields the home from the elements omit a basement where possible-you'll save thousands on excavati