Couto Homes

10 Top Must Haves in a Custom Home Design

Luxury in a custom home can often be defined by the individual who’s building the house. What you define as luxury depends on your vision, tastes, and lifestyle. In recent years, specific luxe amenities that were once considered lavish now come standard in most custom homes. We gathered together the top must-haves when building a truly luxury home in 2022. It’s all those little extras that add up for one dramatic statement. Read on for 10 ideas we think you’ll want to bookmark when planning your own custom home design.

1. Energy Efficient Homes

Smart custom home builders look for ways to design and finish a home with features that end up saving the homeowner in the long run on energy bills. When you are looking for what to include in your new custom home, make sure the custom home builder you choose utilizes high-quality materials, modern building techniques that ensure a tightly constructed home, energy-efficient windows and doors, and offers ENERGY STAR appliances. These are just some of the ways your custom home can help improve your energy savings.

2. Double Kitchen Islands

Professional grade appliances, plenty of workspaces (think dreamy spacious kitchen islands!), and high-end finishes top the list for most custom built-kitchens. Some new trends have us seeing double—as in multiple kitchen islands. As more and more people enjoy a dine-in kitchen, double islands give home chefs the room needed to prep, entertain and serve meals right in the kitchen.

3. Wellness Rooms

Since the COVID-19 pandemic forced all of us to give up the gym for a short time period, luxury homeowners are forgoing the gym membership for a custom workout space in their floor plan. Gone are the days of just housing your workout equipment in a spare bedroom—think of your new workout space as a home gym on steroids. Whether you need a serene yoga room with temperature control and lighting for hot yoga, or a place to grind out on all of your exercise equipment to a beautiful outside view, planning your dedicated space should take your lifestyle and activity needs into consideration.

4. Home Offices

Much like the gym, more and more homeowners went remote and never returned to the 9 to 5 in the office. What we’re seeing in home offices these days is the request for more dedicated space in the overall square footage. Whether that’s one larger office or multiple, homeowners want the space to work quietly and productively from home. With possibly two people working remotely plus a shared space for children’s studies, we see the need for working space almost doubled compared to years past.

5. Expansive Master Suite

A place to relax and carve out time with your significant other or just decompress in your own private abode can be within reach when you design a custom home. By including a cozy sitting area within your master bedroom floor plan or adding an additional room that flows beautifully into the master, you can have a private space all your own to unwind at the end of a hectic day.

6. Spa-Like Showers

Carving out additional space in the footprint of the primary bathroom is vital to allow for an immersive, spa-like experience in the most luxurious loos. The trend lately in master baths is creating the ultimate super shower. By accounting for extra square footage, you can plan for a spacious walk-in shower that includes spa-like features including built-in shower benches, multiple shower heads and body jets, steam options, programmable water temperature and pressure controls, and even light and sound elements.

7. Dressing Rooms

Why build a mere walk-in closet when you can design an extravagant dressing room? For a completely luxurious closet, high-end dressing rooms today feature central islands to store accessories, lighted and enclosed shoe and purse cabinets, and all the extras. Regarding your dressing room, there can (and should!) be a place for all your glorious things.

8. Mudroom with Dog Stations

Mudrooms are appropriately named because they’re a great place to shore up dirty shoes, kids’ bags, and all the grubby extras that come from the outside life. By planning extra storage space, cubbies, and hooks, you can beautifully contain all that life throws at you—no matter how messy. With pets like furry family members, it’s on trend to include pet wash stations in the mix. By planning a wash station right in your mudroom, you can get all those dirty paws cleaned before the crew re-enters the rest of your home.

9. Entertainment Spaces

Elevated home design almost always includes an entertainment space or game/media room away from it all. Not just for the kiddos, these suave spaces boast all the entertainment extras—space for billiards, elaborate home theater with custom lighting and sound, luxurious yet comfortable seating, and bars or mini kitchens. No matter what their purpose, it’s easy to create an ultimate lounge like this for your own home when you’re designing a custom space.

10. Outdoor Living

The ability of a custom home to combine interior and outdoor living is the pinnacle of luxury living. Most of our clients consider their exterior living space to be an essential extension of their home. Luxury homeowners seek designs where the architecture of the house itself allows for a seamless flow between the two spaces. By incorporating large sliding glass doors, spacious verandas, outdoor kitchens and bars, fire pits and fireplaces, dining and lounging spaces, and even cabanas into these lush landscapes, you can extend your entertaining and gathering space all year round.

By incorporating some of these ideas into your floor plan, you can get a luxurious home that serves you and your family well for years to come. And when you trust your custom home to Couto, we’ll ensure every detail of your dream home becomes reality.