10 Ways to Get Free or Affordable Blueprints for Your New Home
By: Tessa
With the right mindset and budgeting skills, planning a new home can be exciting. Contrary to what others may tell you, it doesn’t need to be costly or stressful. Thanks to online resources, you can even get cost-effective blueprints for a home, which could save you thousands of dollars. We’ve curated this list of 10 ways to get free or affordable blueprints for your new home to help you get one step closer to move-in day.
Most sites that offer free or affordable blueprints don’t provide finishing and design services. However, brick&batten can transform your blueprints into a realistic rendering so you can visualize which paint colors and materials will look best on your future home. Learn more about our design services and get started!
#1 Renovation Headquarters Provides Free Blueprints for 3-Bedroom Homes
Three-bedroom homes are some of the most sought-after abodes on the market these days. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, out of the 683,000 new single-family homes sold in 2019, 304,000 had three bedrooms. Renovation Headquarters offers so many free blueprints for modern and traditional homes alike. Just imagine how great the home above could look with dark metal and warm wood tones!
#2 Dream Home Source Offers Blueprints For Nearly Any Budget
Dream Home Source is another site that provides online blueprints. They offer plans for one-story homes for as little as $100. Their website features a price filter, so you can see the least expensive blueprints first. However, this site also includes plans for homes priced as high as $5,000. Dream Home Source is also a great resource for finding blueprints for detached garages.
#3 Live Simply With A Free Plan by The Small House Catalog
For the price of a nice dinner out for two, you could have blueprints for your very own tiny house, thanks to The Small Hosue Catalog. Tiny homes aren’t just for people who want to devote their lives to minimalism. These structures make great Airbnbs, hobby sheds, backyard guest houses, or retreat spaces.
#4 The House Designers Specialize in Energy-Efficient Homes
The House Designers create blueprints with the environment (and your utility bill) in mind. They also have a section on their site dedicated to affordable plans. Although their plans come with a basic rendering, these renderings are not customizable. To see what the plan will look like with your preferred materials and paint choices, you can utilize brick&batten’s virtual exterior design service.
#5 Floorplans Provides Blueprints That Are Affordable to Execute
Of course, a complicated blueprint can look impressive in a rendering. However, the more moving parts a floorplan includes, the more expensive it can be to execute. Although Floorplans offers mid-range blueprints in terms of cost (think around $1,500 per plan), their designs are both stylish and affordable to execute. Again, although this site displays each blueprint as a rendering, you’ll need a professional exterior design company, like brick&batten, to help you visualize what the home will look like with custom touches and source materials.
#6 Family Home Plans Also Offers Cost-Efficient Blueprints
A cheap or free blueprint can actually end up costing you a lot of money if it wasn’t designed with cost-efficiency in mind. Luckily, sites like Family Home Plans publishes a special section on their site for blueprints that are easy to execute on a budget. Keep in mind that you’ll primarily find traditional-style homes on this site.
#7 Get Plans for Your Dream Midcentury Modern Home From Houseplans
Finding affordable midcentury modern home plans can be tricky. Architects and design companies know these houses are experiencing a resurgence in popularity, and the price tags often match the demand. However, Houseplans frequently runs sales on their blueprints. This means you can get a blueprint for a midcentury modern home, like this one, for as cheap as $800.
#8 Architectural Designs Has Plenty of Budget-Friendly Modern Farmhouse Plans
Architectural Designs provides gorgeous plans for farmhouses. Most of these ready-made blueprints are relatively affordable compared to others. Architectural Designs shows off each one through customer-submitted photos. We love the example above because it illustrates just how much an exterior designer can help you customize your home to make it your own! These two homes have the same bones, but dramatically different executions.
#9 Urban Offers Several Free House Plans That Complement Any Neighborhood
When building a new home in a neighborhood, it’s always a good idea to consider how it will fit into its surroundings. This doesn’t mean you need to choose a home that looks exactly like all the other ones. However, opting for a versatile home-style, like a transitional home, can prevent your home from standing out too much. Urban provides custom home blueprints, but this company also offers many free transitional-style blueprints as well.
#10 ePlans Sorts Their Blueprints by Regional Influence!
Our brick&batten virtual exterior designers get to see so many different homes from all across America, and they certainly can attest to the fact that different regions display different architectural characteristics. For this reason, we love looking at ePlans blueprints. The company sorts their blueprints by region, so you can look at California, Canadian, Midwest, or coastal-inspired homes. Just remember, even if you don’t live in New England, you can still select a New England blueprint if you admire that architectural style! ePlans features a robust blueprint collection to choose from, which means they offer blueprints that fit nearly any budget.
As you can see, finding free or affordable blueprints for a new home isn’t as difficult as you might think. When utilizing these resources, just try to consider how the design will affect the project’s total cost.
Of course, it’s hard to visualize what your home will look like with just a blueprint in hand. Partner with an exterior design services team, like brick&batten, and order an online design. We provide custom exterior makeover services and help our clients visualize the plans with realistic renderings. We also offer links to our suggested resources to make the DIY or contracting process much easier.
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