Have any of you designed your own home?

Yes I built my own home. I found a design I liked and I ordered the plans for it. It's been a long time ago now (21 years ago) but I think a a package deal of like 6 sets of plans was about $400 at the time. Then I made a few alterations like I didn't build the garage that was connected to the house but built one in another location to better fit my property. I was able to satisfy the banks requirements to act as my own contractor by hiring a licensed contractor to periodically oversee my progress and I paid him an hourly wage for his time.

I literally did about 80% or more of the work with my own hands to build my home. I hired out things like getting the sheetrock installed and finished, the roof sheathed and shingled, masons to lay the foundation and brick, and a guy to paint all of the trim inside. I did virtually everything else. I framed the whole house, wired and plumbed it, installed all windows, doors, hardwood floors, all cabinets, light and plumbing fixtures, sowed the lawn... I could go on and on but you get the idea.

The primary reason I even hired out some of the tasks was because I was up against a 1 year deadline with the bank to convert my construction loan to a conventional mortgage. I couldn't afford to take weeks hanging and finishing sheetrock alone when a crew could do it all in a matter of days. That moved things along tremendously.

I could write a small book here telling you all the specifics but that's just a rough, short overview. If you'd like to know specifics about anything please get in touch.

I've included a photo of my house for you to see. Good luck!

I am in the process. I just started by drawing the rooms that I wanted and tried to arrange them to minimize plumbing runs. I have revised them several times and now have a few good layouts. I ended up buying property with a 16' x 24' 2-story barn with a gambrel roof. I want to add on and make it a home. It has an open carport on one long side. I want to build the back out 12' and on the other long side I want to build an addition 8 or 12 feet wide running the length of the building and rear addition. I am having trouble figuring out how the exterior roof lines would look. Both additions would be single story. I will also do the building myself. Already had some prior exposure and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity to learn more. Good luck.

Partly. We got a general contractor who knew an architect, and he adapted one of his existing designs to what we wanted, changing room sizes and adding a garage etc. I basically designed the kitchen. I was more concerned with livability than what the outside looked like. Generally, I've been happy with almost everything except the gutters (the architect's design to look good but impossible to clean).

It's been a while. I think we looked at some plan books, and existing houses, and had the contractor say things like "You don't want that - that's a 1970's design. Here, let me show you..." and "I only do quality kitchens, you don't get Ikea. I use this cabinetmaker" (he was really good, too).

Yes, I did, and made a lot of mistakes doing so, in spite of spending many hours planning and drawing floor plans. The mobile home I now live in is laid out better than my custom house was, and they are about the same size. It isn't perfect either, but it's better.

And I don't know what it's like where you will be building, but where I built my house it was necessary to submit architect-drawn blueprints in order to get a building permit. I told the architect what I wanted, he drew it. The architect's fee was not large. It cost very very little compared to the cost of building the whole house. It was probably the smallest bill I paid through the whole process. And the architect actually saved me some money by suggesting ways to cut the cost of construction without sacrificing anything important. If you find an architect's fee excessive, you're in for some dreadful shocks from the rest of the bills for building a house.