First Things First

You can't have a dream house without a plan. Planning's my favorite (pun intended). I've been planning this house reno for years. I've been seriously pinning and collecting drawings for about two years. Men in the construction business like to pretend that pinning is a frivolous waste of time that couldn't possibly help them build your vision, but c'mon dude. Let's be frank. Every woman with an internet connection pins and unless you studied architecture pictures go a long way for explaining your perfect vision.
So after round one of the house plan that wasn't to my taste, my architect decided to look at my pins. Guess what - he "got" what I wanted. Yeah, like I said, just look at the pins! Ok, off of my soapbox. I am very pleased with the finished product my architect provided me. He also had great vision and made some changes I never would have thought of. So while he frustrated me at first, I would definitely recommend hiring an architect if you can budget for it. I think we spent about $1100 for blueprints and 3d drawings. It was money well spent.