A few years ago, the concept of self-building became highly popular. The notion of gaining autonomy, not waiting on the housing market to deliver at the right price and in the right place, the chance to design a home that is tailored to your own tastes and the excitement of the challenge to the practically-minded were all powerful motivations to get involved.
This interest led to associated developments like the emergence of TV programmes on self-building (such as Grand Designs), the formation of an all-party parliamentary group for self-building and the ‘Teignbridge Rule’, in which the Devon council of that name stipulated that any development of 20 or more homes should set aside at least five per cent to be self-built.
In addition to all this, a whole area of development land at Bicester, known as Graven Hill, was dedicated for self-build homes, with the idea being to establish an entire settlement based on this ground-breaking concept. The development has diversified slightly from this in that not all the new homes at the site are now self-built, but it is still a significant enterprise.
There are those who might claim that this excitement has died down somewhat. Amid all the debates about the need for more homes to be built around the country, self-building doesn’t appear to attract much attention or feature prominently in policy documents and manifestos. However, that does not mean people have lost interest in the idea.
If you are one of those keen on a self-build project, part of your planning must focus on what the interior will look like. Some people might want to build the home first and then find furnishings to fit it later. However, what could be more suitable than using a DIY tool to design your own wardrobe?
Many people who use this tool will find it enables them to redesign an existing bedroom or find a way of maximising space in a room with unusual angles or limited size. However, as a self-builder, you are not constrained by what is already there. Instead, you can add this element to your overall design effort.
Indeed, the tool is just the kind of thing an enterprising self-builder would like to use. If you are designing the home yourself instead of using an outside architect, you may be quite tech-savvy and use some software to design the building, so this would be a logical extension of that approach.
Indeed, the only difference is that this time round, you would be working at the start of the process (design) and the end (installation), while we will do the manufacturing to provide you with the product. Not every self-builder does all the work of laying bricks and installing pipes and wiring, but the final wardrobe will be easy to assemble in kit form.
However, you don’t have to be the kind of self-builder who will do everything themselves from initial concept to finished home to make use of the tool.
In its guide to getting started in self-building, the Homebuilding website notes that fewer than ten per cent of self-builders actually carry out all the work themselves and only 40 per cent manage the whole project.
However, even if you bring in an architect to help with design or do none of the bricklaying yourself, because you have commissioned the project and it is being built to your specifications, it still counts as a self-build.
Because the concept is still yours, you will be deciding on matters such as whether your bedroom is large or small, wide or narrow, has a high ceiling or a low one, and has dimensions featuring straight lines, curves, or lots of angles.
This means that even where the details of the project are fleshed out by an architect, there is still room for you to do a bit of designing yourself. Nonetheless, if you are in the 40 per cent who manage the project or the ten per cent who do it all, you may be even keener to get your hands on a DIY design tool for your wardrobe.
A wonderful thing about this is that, just as you can use your own imagination when designing a self-build project to add unique elements and also incorporate an eclectic mix of different features from other homes, so you can similarly enjoy great freedom with the design of a wardrobe.
Indeed, the very fact that you are deciding just what the room it will be in will look like makes the prospect of designing a wardrobe to fit in it and blend in with the other décor such an exciting prospect. This might be particularly welcome because it is not something you get the chance to do with other items like beds, sofas, or dining tables.
Moreover, because a wardrobe is a storage area, the great thing about being able to design it in line with the specific dimensions of the room is that this will maximise space in what may be a fairly small area. If you have limited means and cannot purchase a large plot or build a big house, this capacity to optimise the available room will be a big advantage.
The number of people self-building has fluctuated in recent years. Government figures for the 12 months to the end of October 2023 showed that there was an 18 per cent drop in planning permissions from 2022.
This figure might, on its own, make it appear that self-building was in decline, but the tally of people joining the self-build register in the year to October 2023 was about twice the figure leaving it, while the overall number on the register was up four per cent year-on-year.
It is, therefore, evident that many people remain interested in self-building as a means of finding their dream home. But if you want to pursue such ambitions, don’t do things by half. By using our design tool to devise a perfect wardrobe, you can add an extra element that will fit so well that you will feel even more at home when it is all in place and you go to live in it.
