Designing a Barn House / Shed House

Designing a home is a daunting task for most! The importance of ensuring the space will be functional and affordable for years to come, is something that should not be taken lightly.

To provide some clarity for those who may not know the best way to approach a custom home design, we have highlighted the following focus points:

Architects and building designers are known to create fantastic concepts but its important to know your wants and needs ahead of time to ensure what’s created is suitable for you. Before you worry about fixtures and finishes, focus on functionality and practicality first!!

-FUNCTION

-PRACTICALITY

-VISUAL APPEAL

Group of people in a business meeting around a large wooden table in a modern conference room, with a man standing and presenting. There is a green wall with plants on the right and a wooden paneled wall with a television screen behind them.

Function

Who is this home for?

Its important to know exactly who it is that will be using the space and their specific priorities. We often find families clashing on ideas because their needs and desires for the home are not the same.

A great way to combat this is to create a list for every individual expected to reside in the home and their top 3 must haves and top 3 wish list items. 

Living room with a gray sofa, patterned pillows, a circular coffee table, a wood floor, a TV mounted on the wall, a sliding glass door leading to a backyard, and a small patio with two chairs outside.

Determine the daily routines!

Another consideration of the home is what the average day for the occupants looks like. Taking a step back to gain insight into how you operate within the home can give great insight into the priorities of the space and therefore the functionality of the home.

Determining and making note of the spaces that prioritise your life will help shift the focus of the home and the layout to best suit its new residents.

Modern bathroom with gray tiled walls, a walk-in shower with glass partition, white toilet, a countertop with a vessel sink, oval mirror, window, and wooden cabinetry with open shelves.

The final checklist:

Once you have established the routines and personal wants and needs, it’s important to correlate this information into a detailed list of requirements and potential compromises for the design of your home.

The more information you can provide your building designer or architect during your initial consultation, the higher the likelihood that a suitable layout will be achievable.

Modern bedroom with a bed, white bedding, decorative pillows, bedside lamps, wall art, and a small bathroom with black vanity and white tiled walls.

Practicality

Another important aspect of designing a home is practicality. Creating a beautiful layout is one thing, but creating a layout that will be suitable for full time occupancy is a whole other thing.

So often we see people overlook very basic considerations and as a result, are left with homes that are simply not practical to live in.

It is important to consider not only physical impacts on practicality, but overall design impacts on the utility pricings to run the home. A large voided area is a beautiful feature but has detrimental effects on heating and cooling.  Always speak to your designer about ways to increase the energy efficiency of the home to keep daily living costs as low as possible!!

We asked our followers on Instagram what are some things they regret not taking into consideration before they built or bought a home.

                         Our top answers listed >

Storage - Linen

Storage - Clothing

Storage - Misc

Exterior Maintenance

Interior Maintenance

A young woman with curly brown hair and freckles resting her chin on her hand, smiling thoughtfully.

Ability to age in the home

Landscaping costs

Ongoing Utility Costs

Visual Appeal

The last thing to know when designing a barn house or shed house is the style of home you are looking for. Try to steer away from fad trends & focus on timeless designs with generational appealing finishes. Pinterest is a fantastic resource when looking for design ideas & often creating a vision board is a helpful tool to put together images you like that show examples of details & finishes that you’d like to see in your dream home.

Modern two-story house with white exterior, wooden accents, large windows, a garage with wooden door, outdoor seating on the balcony, and landscaped garden with trees and plants.
Wooden planter box with green plants growing inside.
Interior of a modern living room with large windows, a white sectional sofa with pillows, a wooden coffee table, and a view of an outdoor patio with trees and plants, including a large potted cactus and a tree indoors.
Close-up of a wooden surface with vertical planks.
Gray concrete wall surface
Living room built-in white entertainment center with open shelves, a large black flat-screen TV, books, decorative pottery, a potted plant, and a wicker basket.
Black kitchen faucet with a high curved spout and a single lever handle
A close-up of nine hexagonal light green tiles arranged in a honeycomb pattern.
Bright living room with large windows and a view of the beach and ocean, featuring light-colored sofas, a coffee table, and a tall potted plant.
Close-up of a wooden surface with vertical grain pattern.
Close-up of a wall made of irregularly shaped white stone bricks.
Modern white house with wooden accent porch, outdoor seating area, lush green lawn, trees and a clear blue sky.
A modern minimalist bedroom with a gray bed, white bedding, black nightstands with small lamps, a window with black frames, a white air conditioning unit, and a white dresser with decorative items and dried flowers.
Modern bathroom with a bathtub, vanity with a rectangular sink, a window, and a walk-in shower with a built-in niche and black fixtures.
White freestanding bathtub in a bathroom with light-colored walls and floor.
Modern living room with white sofa, wooden accent wall, large windows showing green trees, indoor plant, coffee table, and white sideboard.
Kitchen shelves with glass jars containing pasta, spices, and dried herbs, white bowls, wooden utensils in a white mug, and decorative plants.
Bright modern kitchen with white cabinets, wooden accents, large windows overlooking greenery, a dining table with chairs, indoor plants, and decorative art on the wall.
Modern living room with gray sofa, glass coffee table, TV on a white console, wooden staircase, open kitchen in the background, and wooden floors.