Ever since our first year of marriage, I’ve been collecting ideas of things that I would love to have inside my dream home one day.
It started as just an idea file.
A single file folder… inside a drawer… that I stuffed random house ideas, pictures, and articles into.
Over time, it grew into several file folders that became over-stuffed with cool dream house design ideas.
My Dream Home Idea Notebook Version 1.0
When we got serious about building our first house together (a 2-story brick home on a cul-de-sac in a subdivision), I pulled out those file folders and started organizing all of my favorite dream house ideas into categories. Each “room” or “category” of ideas became a separate file folder.
I set out to collect and organize all of the crazy dream home ideas I could possibly find that appealed to me, as inspiration for designing and decorating our new house.
I kept all of those ideas neatly organized in colored file folders in a file box with a handle on top — so I could easily move it from room to room.
I’ll call this Version 1.0 of my Dream House Ideas Notebook:
Dream House Idea Notebook Version 2.0
After we started the process of building our very first home together, I quickly realized that many of the best and coolest house ideas I had saved would have to wait — for a time when we had more money and a better grasp of where and when we’d be building our “real” dream house together (our forever home).
Fortunately, I continued to add to my “idea folder” through the years. Because here it is almost 5 years after we built our very first home and now we are preparing to build our first log home together.
This will be our ultimate “dream home” — and boy, do I have a lot of great ideas saved for it!
I moved all of my favorite dream home ideas that would work well in a log home to a 3-ring notebook.
This is what Version 2.0 of my Dream Home Ideas Notebook looked like:
We knew from Day One that our very first home together would simply serve as a starter house for us. A place to establish some roots and further our careers.
At the same time, we kept fine-tuning exactly where we’d like to build our dream home (and quite possibly retire) one day.
And I kept collecting ideas for my “dream home.”
So that brings us to where we are now…
Dream House Idea Notebook Version 3.0
Our dream house is finally on the horizon and we can see it more clearly with each passing day. We’ve finally set the wheels in motion toward designing and building our custom log home together.
And my Idea Notebook has been a lifesaver!
It’s filled with modern house design ideas (interior and exterior), cool home decorating ideas, and all of my favorite things seen in house plans, magazines, newspapers, and online.
Here’s what Version 3.0 of my Dream Home Ideas Notebook looks like now:
My Dream House Ideas List
These are the categories I use for organizing all of my dream home ideas inside a 3-ring binder:
- Bathrooms
- Bedrooms
- Kitchen
- Doors & Windows
- Porches
- Laundry Room
- Pantry
- Closets & Organizing
- Basement
- Landscaping
- Offices
- Colors
- Floors
- House Plans
- Garage
- Miscellaneous Home Building Ideas
You’ll notice that these categories are very similar to the ones I used for my colored file folders organized within a file box (Version 1.0 idea file above):
At this point, I’m exclusively using Idea Notebook Version 3.0 for our dream house design and prep work.
But I’m still using the colored file folders and the file box to store all of the things that I may want to revisit sometime later (if and when we should ever decide to add-on, redecorate, remodel, etc). You know… all of the things that are not likely to appear in our dream home right away, but they’re still in my dreams for “one day.”
Why I Love My Idea Notebook
My Idea Notebook has been a lifesaver!
Here are some of the reasons I love it, and I would encourage YOU to create an Idea Notebook for your own dream house design ideas:
- It’s easily adaptable to our changing tastes and house ideas.
- I’m a very visual person — I need to “see” things in order to fully grasp them.
- It makes it easier to relay to builders, designers, and installers exactly what you want.
- It keeps everything in one place, where it’s easy to find — just grab & go!
- It stores away nicely and looks great on a bookshelf.
Yep, these days my Idea Notebook goes everywhere that I go!
It usually stays in the car. But I always have it handy should I need a measurement, a color, or a description for someone who’s helping us make this home a reality — such as a bank lender, a blueprint designer, or a cabinet designer.
And, if my friends and relatives have a question or make a suggestion “on the fly,” then I just grab the Idea Notebook and add it to my collection of cool dream house ideas.
Tips For Making An Idea Notebook For Your Own Dream House
1. A 3-ring binder is best because it’s so easy to add, remove, and move around pages. I like to use one that has a clear cover — so you have space to put the “most important” stuff that you can easily glance at. Or, you could even get creative and make your own Idea Notebook cover!
2. See-thru page protectors are the secret. They enable you to switch out pictures and ideas, as well as rearrange and prioritize your favorites. I like the heavyweight sheet protectors best — because they don’t crinkle, they’re easier to “stuff” a bunch of items down into, and they last longer.
3. Always keep blank paper and a pen in the notebook for jotting down cool house ideas on the spot — like when you’re in a meeting with designers, or you’re just out & about and you get a great idea.
4. Use small sticky notes or removable adhesive tabs as temporary bookmarks AND as tabs to “label” pages and ideas. The best part: you can keep changing your mind and move them around inside your binder as needed!
5. Keep a few empty page protectors in the 3-ring binder — so you can stuff random things in there temporarily (use them like file folders). You can put those things where they should properly reside inside of your Idea Notebook later.
A Look Inside My Idea Notebook
As you can see, there are lots and lots of “dreams” contained within the pages of my dream house Idea Notebook:
UPDATE: Check out my idea file today… (Yep, Dream House Idea Notebook Version 4.0!)
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We’ve gone through the entire process of designing and planning every single detail of our dream log home! We have the blueprints… and the land… and the contractor… and the goal for our log cabin home to be our retirement home. Before you build (or buy) a log home, I have a slew of helpful tips for you — to plan, design, build, decorate, and maintain your very own rustic modern log home. When I’m not fine-tuning the log home of my dreams, you’ll find me at the corner of Good News & Fun Times as publisher of The Fun Times Guide (32 fun & helpful websites). To date, I’ve written nearly 300 articles for current and future log home owners on this site! Many of them have over 50K shares.
