Build a new-home dream board

Chances are, over the past month, you’ve improved your own mental and physical capacity for flexibility around the house. You might be using a dining room as a home office; an office as a classroom; a walk-in closet as a private videoconference room; or a bedroom as a crafting room.

Perhaps you’ve even converted a spare bedroom from storage-only into a hospitality suite for adult children who aren’t normally home this time of year.

Some families may even have converted portions of their back patios into a makeshift California Room by erecting a pop-up shade cover just outside the sliding door from the house.

While you’re flexing your adaptability muscles, there’s no harm in dreaming. After all, a known remedy for the homebound blues is to engage in creative pursuits.

No. 1: Consider what you love about your current home

Start some lists. On this one, include what you like most about your current home. There are reasons you chose to live there; let those be your initial guides.

For some, the city, suburb or the neighborhood itself may top the list. Perhaps the proximity to transit, outdoor recreation, shopping and schools are the nonnegotiable must-haves. For others, a secluded master suite away from household noise ranks as a top priority.

More and more families nowadays also prioritize having enough bedrooms, bathrooms and flexible spaces for multigenerational living. For others, low-maintenance living tops the list.

No. 2: Next, list your home’s insufficiencies

This list will outline what you’ve often wished you had in your current home.

Include the aspects of your home that you’ve grown accustomed to but would prefer had different features. Is there little counter space in the kitchen or not enough flexibility in the home’s cabinetry? Perhaps some of the living spaces are too boxy or tight.

Maybe the entire home needs an aesthetic makeover, but you don’t love the layout or the neighborhood enough to eat the design cost. Perhaps it needs another garage

bay. Or maybe it needs to be closer to the ocean or the mountains, and sit beyond the bay a bit.

Include everything you wish you had.

No. 3: Explore your home’s excesses

Time for a third list. Here, include aspects of your current home that you don’t need, don’t like or don’t want. Admittedly, too much 1989 tile and grout on the countertops might make this list, as might old light fixtures.

More likely, the idea of making monthly rent payments without gaining equity is a greater excess than any undesirable design elements.

For many buyers, too much house inspires the idea of purchasing new construction. That’s because builders design and plan new homes by incorporating specialty features and technology that deliver luxury living environments with better uses of space.

The high-tech and energy-efficient aspects of new construction add both monetary value and comfort, allowing buyers to trade in excess space in favor of luxury amenities.

No. 4: Your new dream home

Now that you’ve finished the practical list writing, it’s time to go back to the dreaming.

Looking at your three lists, start consolidating. Use a spreadsheet or create a dream board. By

defining and incorporating your wants and needs, you’ll create a personal reference for a new-home search.

With those ideas in mind, discover the best new homes in our newhome finder guides, published twice weekly on Saturdays and Sundays.

In the coming weeks, visit this space for ideas on how to determine your design style. Let’s turn those dream boards into free-standing masterpieces.