HER HOME MAGAZINE ASKS WOMEN BUILDERS THOUGHTS ON PLAN REDESIGN
Recommendations Reflect Changes in Lifestyle and Trends
OMAHA, NE -- (August 2003) – Building your
own home is the dream of a lifetime, but finding the perfect home
plan can be a challenge. Three women who construct homes for a living
know that even the best plan can be tailored to fit the consumer.
The women, from Connecticut, Indiana and Kansas were asked by Her
Home magazine to take a home design plan and make changes they felt
women would most appreciate. The three women were given the “Prairie,”
one of the most popular plans from Design Basics Inc., and asked to
make their suggestions.
Their comments are part of “Making a Good Plan Great!,”
an article in the inaugural issue of Her Home magazine. Joan Heffington,
Heffington Homes, Inc., Derby, Kansas; Suzy Coulture, Superior Builder,
Inc., Manchester, Connecticut; and Brighitte Snemis, Snemis Construction,
Inc., Valparaiso, Indiana, offered suggestions they might like themselves
and ones they felt their customers might request.
“Many of the women’s changes were in the kitchen, laundry
room and garage area,” said Linda Reimer, editor and publisher
of Her Home. The construction executives recommended increasing the
size of the laundry room and providing room for lockers. They also
suggested stretching the kitchen/dinette, adding a desk and corner
walk-in pantry and including transom windows above the cabinets on
the outside walls. In the great room, they suggested making the fireplace
vent directly to the outdoors in order to add three arched windows
around that area.
However, a number of the recommendations reflect the consumers’
changing lifestyles. The new plan includes a larger, wider garage
to accommodate an SUV and double doors at the back of the garage for
convenient storage of a lawnmower or garden equipment. The changes
also meant that two of the bedrooms could be expanded, and overall
square footage of the original plan was increased by 575 square feet
to a total of 2690. Her Home says that’s a good size for today’s
homeowner. The magazine has included “before” and “after”
floor plan drawings so readers can compare the two home design plans.
In addition to the changes provided by the women, Her Home offered
its own recommendations including:
- Choosing a home plan that is somewhat close to what you desire
regarding appearance, square footage, room arrangements
- Calling Design Basics at 800-947-7526 and talking with one of
the Customer Support Specialists about alterations you’d like
to make to your plan.
Most importantly, Her Home says that once you’ve decided to
have Design Basics make the alterations, sit back and relax. The article
also includes the addresses of several recommended websites and other
information resources.
The first issue of Her Home is being mailed to 55,000 homebuilders.
“We are making the publication available to our design basics
customers in the construction industry as well as people who have
ordered design plans from us in the past and where home improvement
and construction materials are sold,” Reimer said. The publication
will also be available via subscription.
Her Home, whose inaugural issue is September, 2003, is one of the
first such publications on critical decisions that need to be made
when consumers decide to build their own homes or have them constructed.
Editorial in the publication will be based solely on articles pertaining
to the critical decisions female consumers need to make while building
their homes. Her Home magazine is edited and published by Design Basics,
Inc., the nation’s largest home plan design service to the building
industry and one of the top firms serving the home buyer.
Persons interested in learning more about home plan design and Her
Home magazine should contact Linda Reimer, editor and publisher, Design
Basics, 11112 John Galt Blvd, Omaha, NE 68137 or at the Her Home magazine
website, www.HerHome.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Joyce Brown, 402-331-9223
