We at The Plan Collection just received an email from one of our past customers, and with his permission, I'd like to share a little bit about his experiences. It's a success story that will show you just how enjoyable an adventure building your own home can be -- especially if you get things started off on the right foot. I'd just like to highlight a few key points that helped give this project a happy ending:

CHOOSE THE RIGHT HOUSE PLANS

Like most people, Garry had considered building a home for quite some time, but he had a few concerns:

"I had been thinking about building but wasn't sure how it would work on such a narrow lot. I went to Google and just typed 'House Plans < 25 feet wide'. Your site came up. This plan was the third unit I looked at and fell in love with it."

Garry also went on to say that,

We really liked working with The Plan Collection site for a couple of reasons. We loved all the choices. There were so many homes to choose from. We also really liked the 'Advanced Search' because we had some very special requirements and this search option helped us narrow our choices down to the plan we fell in love with.

HIRE THE RIGHT PROFESSIONALS

Early on, Garry and his wife chose to hire a professional interior designer -- Annie Florin from HPF DESIGNS -- and that made all the difference. According to Garry:

"We chose to work with a designer because of the many decisions that need to be made right up front that affect so many other choices further along in the process. If we had made a mistake early on, we could have easily jeopardized the look of our beautiful home in the end. We chose to seek out a professional who understood the consequences of decisions that needed to be made and what effects it would have to the overall appearance of the home. We chose to go with an independent decorator vs. the builder's 'on site' decorator because we found that the independent would make sure our interests were met, not just that of the builder's. We have heard horror stories of couples getting divorced over building a house. That is such a shame. This project was so easy with the aid of our designer. My wife and I have different taste and the designer was able to hear both of our ideas and bring things together that satisfied both of us. It was so easy we didn't even realize it was happening. I have also heard, 'I wish I would have done this or that.' I can say we have both said I wouldn't change anything. With an investment of this magnitude a designer's fee is probably the best money spent in my opinion, whatever it is."

And what makes this story even better is that this particular home actually ended up taking 3^rd place at a local Parade of Homes -- along with many other awards, including "Best Kitchen". Here are a few of the photos:

And here is my personal favorite -- the custom fireplace.

All of this amazing interior design was brought to you by HPF Designs, and they also made the custom fireplace, kitchen cabinetry, and the custom desk unit.

Isn't it nice to hear a story with a happy ending?