8 Essential Things to Include When Building a New Home

Whether it’s your first home build or your third, there are often things you wished you thought about before the build, or perhaps put in but haven’t used.

More than two decades of designing and building bespoke homes for New Zealanders has given David Reid Homes significant insight into what the must-have things to include when building a new home are, to ensure your new home is not only beautiful, but highly functional as well.

Here are some of our top tips when it comes to storage, lighting, and power placement:

• Power points in your kitchen cabinetry. There’s no longer any need to clutter your wall space with unsightly power points, or opt to forgo them for the sake of style, only to regret it later in terms of functionality. There’s ample space to include your power points in your cabinetry, allowing them to be out of sight, but placing them in the perfect spot for use with your blender, your beater or your kitchen appliances.


• This can also be done in the bathroom; handy for storing your electric toothbrush, or plugging in your razor, hair dryer, or curling/straightening irons.


• Speaking of power points - these can be purchased in multiple colours and finishes to match the colour of your walls or splashbacks, so there’s no need for careful placement at all. And, they’re also increasingly being designed with USB ports in them, which is ideal for the abundance of devices we charge via USB these days.


• If outdoor entertaining is your thing, you might also thank yourself for incorporating some power points in these spaces; they always come in handy.


• You can never have enough storage. This is true for almost all areas of your home; do you know where you’re going to store all your linen? Do you have enough room for all those coats, dresses, and shoes in that wardrobe, ladies? And what about all those kitchen appliances, pots, pans, crockery and cutlery? There’s also bound to be a few summer-time toys, like tents, boats and fishing rods that need a place to live during the quieter winter months. Put it this way, there can never be too much storage.


• Kick drawers at floor level add extra storage space, and allow for easy use by opening without having to bend down. These can be incorporated in the kitchen, bathroom, and/or laundry, maximising space for those things we don’t need all the time.


• The amount of lighting required is often one thing people underestimate when designing their home. It’s important to take time to think about where you’re going to need plenty of light, as well as the best options for achieving it. 


• Automatic lighting in the hallways allows you to turn the main light off but assure the kids they’ll be able to find their way to the bathroom in the night.




Ultimately, when considering things to include when building a new home, it’s important to take time to think about what you need. Write a list, review the list, and write a list again. 
If you need help with this process, be sure to contact your nearest David Reid Homes office. They’re armed with all of the advice you need to achieve your dream home, which is both stylish, and functional.