What's in a design

I am an IT professional.  I am also pretty handy when it comes to DIY and I'm confident enough in my own ability to tackle most home projects.  I understand the building process sufficient well enough not to be intimidated by jargon and tradesmen.  However I am not an architect or a designer or a builder and never aspire to be.  Fortunately I am smart enough to know when I'm out of my depth and when it came to "designing" my own home I knew I would drown!

If you're remotely interested in property development then you've probably heard of the Channel 4 program Grand Designs hosted by Kevin McCloud in which English eccentrics design whimsical or extravagant structures built, in my opinion, to serve nothing except as a conversation piece.

My interpretation of a Grand Design derives from the Northern phrase "reet grand" meaning that something looks good, proper, in-keeping - something that you would describe as normal, regular, ordinary, customary, conventional and more importantly in-keeping with the surrounding area.  This perfectly sums up the "Not-So Grand Design" approach I have chosen for my first (but hopefully not last) foray into house building.  Life is complicated enough without our instinct to over-complicate so my motto throughout will be KISS - keep it simple stupid.

Over the coming weeks and months I will take you through the entire project life cycle from initiation (idea), planning (preparation), execution (build), wrap-up (move-in) and review (lessons learned).  I will do my utmost to keep this blog current but my primary focus will be the project itself so do keep dropping in - I may well post several weeks worth of content in one mega-blogging session so please add my blog to your favourites or better still why not become a follow instead!

Until next time...Brian