You Don’t Need to Be an Architect

You probably think that in order to design a house, cottage, or home renovation, you need to be an architect.

There’s no way that you — someone who isn’t professionally educated in the field — can be trusted with that responsibility.

Are only interior designers allowed to design a room?

Are only professional athletes allowed to play sports?

Are only surgeons allowed to conduct surgery?

Alright, that might be a bit much.

Everything you want to do in the world of design, you can.

You don’t need to be an architect.

Since high school, I wanted to design and build custom homes.

I thought my path was to go to school, become an architect, work at a firm for 5-6 years, then finally open up my own.

Then I came across this question:

It was 2020.

I realized that everyone had just moved to working from home and many weren’t ready for the transition.

I could design custom backyard offices, which were basically custom tiny homes.

I didn’t need to be an architect.

That’s what Backyard Architect is all about. Playing architect. We all can.

How to Design a Home

You’re probably thinking that this all sounds too good to be true.

It’s not, and it is.

Depending on where you live, you may need an architect or structural engineer’s stamp of approval to submit construction drawings for a building permit.

In some places, you just need to ensure you’ve designed your building to code.

In either case, you’re entirely free to create the design yourself.

Hiring an architect has some obvious benefits.

You won’t need to educate yourself on:

• Local building code

• Constructibility of your design

• The costs of what you’re planning

• Permitting process

Some experienced builders or general contractors can provide you with this insight as well.

It all comes down to your willingness to learn.

If this process sounds thrilling to you, there are plenty of softwares that can help you create the plan set.

There are also thousands of plans to be found online for you to learn from or purchase.

If a home is too ambitious of a project, I’ve created a free plan set for a garden room. You don’t even need a building permit for these.

The Treetops

Architecture worth sharing

To get started on your floor plan, here’s a video from Eric Reinholdt.

He’s the owner/operator of 30×40 Design Workshop - an architectural practice based out of Maine that also creates educational content such as this.

The way he’s approached his business been a big inspiration for me. I would certainly recommend checking out his work.

Forward this to a friend or family member who will find it valuable!

Reply with the cool projects you’re working on and I just might feature them in The Treetops.

Catch you next Thursday 🫡

Charlie Frise
Backyard Architect

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