Write a custom home brief around the way you live
AI concept illustration; not a completed EJN Build project.
A useful custom home brief explains daily life before it describes a facade. For a household planning a home in South East Melbourne, the first conversation should connect the people, the block and the decisions that matter most.
Describe an ordinary week
Record where school bags land, when people cook, who works from home and what happens when visitors stay. A photograph of a beautiful room does not explain whether that room supports your routines. Add the reason behind each preference so the designer can suggest alternatives.
Separate essential requirements from preferences. A quiet workspace may be essential; its exact position could remain open. This distinction makes later design choices easier when the site or budget creates a constraint.
Prepare a brief that can change
- List the people who will use the home and their practical needs.
- Identify three recurring frustrations in your current home.
- Describe activities rather than specifying every room size.
- Add known block information and questions that need investigation.
- Mark each preference as essential, desirable or still undecided.
For example, “space to prepare dinner while supervising homework” gives more useful direction than “large kitchen”. It can influence sightlines, seating, storage and circulation together.
Keep the brief in one dated document. Update it when a decision changes, and ask which drawings or cost assumptions that change affects. The brief is a shared starting point, not a substitute for site investigation, design work or an agreed construction scope.
General home-planning education for South East Melbourne. Site conditions, approvals, technical requirements and contractual obligations require current project-specific professional advice.
Further reading
Ready to turn the brief into a buildable plan? Explore our new homes service or tell EJN Build about your project.
