Designing a home in Jamaica
Jamaicans enjoy a warm and calm atmosphere and usually prefer working hand in hand with design professionals to ensure that they get the best features in their home.
Although purchasing completed houses is common in Jamaica, most people prefer to build their houses from scratch and on their terms. This has proven to be much less expensive than buying one because you can work within your budget.
The buildings in Jamaica reflect the impact of colonization and modernization of the Caribbean.
In the past, Jamaicans used wood and locally produced materials in pre-Columbian structures, which could not resist the test of time. However, when the United Kingdom invaded Jamaica, these structures gave way to modern architecture.
When designing their homes, they took into consideration the elegance of British Georgian architecture and combined it with the functional objectives appropriate for a tropical climate, such as heat, earthquakes, humidity, hurricanes, and insects.
Buildings in Jamaica today have a pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial feel to them. They don’t adopt one single style.
Instead, a building may include elements of African, Mediterranean, Spanish, contemporary, ranch, Bermuda, or colonial styles depending on the architect’s inspiration and climate changes. This practice is what makes the city a beautiful place to live in.
When designing a home in Jamaica, they consider the essential elements of the Caribbean and use resources such as wood, exotic plants, cushions, bright-colored curtains, and paints. The dynamism in their design styles leaves a warm and peaceful feeling.
Additionally, Jamaican homeowners design their houses based on their financial capacity. So you’ll often find them building in stages. This way, they are able to build at their own pace and move in when it is convenient. In certain circumstances, the owners will move in before it is finished as long as it is habitable and then finish it later.
Also, they design their houses using a plan drawn up by a professional. As a result, most existing structures depict the existence of a professional touch to them.
Indeed Jamaicans have a unique way of designing their homes which is worthy of emulation.
Lessons you can learn from Jamaican home designs
The unique design structures of Jamaican homes is evidence that they have mastered home designs’ art and architecture. These designs have piqued our interest, and we have drawn some lessons from their design culture which we share below.
If you are eager to learn how to design a home that would convey the right impression about your tastes and interests, here are six lessons from Jamaican home designs:
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Professionally done home design plans is a key building step
One of the first things you want to do when designing your home is to get a professionally-drawn home design plan. A plan is a visual representation of how your home will appear.
Doing this ensures your home will have a unique outlook, as we have observed with Jamaican structures.
When working with a design plan, you can avoid mistakes. A good plan should capture every part of the home as well as the space measurement for each room.
It is advisable to work with a reputable architectural firm to get your desired plan. Then, you could share your ideas and thoughts with them and trust that they will do a great job.
Your journey to designing your home is already in progress once you have a well-drawn design plan.
1. Determine and work with a budget for financial efficiency
A constant factor in your journey towards acquiring your home is finance. You need money to draw your design plan, buy the required materials, get professionals, and so on.
The good news is once you have a budget, you’re better able to contain your expenses and still get your desired home.
Knowing your budget ahead of time will help you make the best choice for your house design. In addition, service providers and sales agents can give you the perfect product and services when you have a budget to work with.
To make things easier for you, try to determine your budget at the early stage. How much are you willing to spend? What do you want to purchase?
Once you’ve chosen how much you’re willing to spend, drawing a budget will streamline your market runs. Then, you can work with your budget to get quality products at affordable prices.
2. Choose your desired style and layout to reflect your tastes
The design and layout of your home say a lot about who you are, and what you like. If you would not want to give the wrong impression, choose one that reflects your tastes.
After you have drawn your plan and determined your budget, choose the style and layout of your dream home. To do this, you need to consider your country’s historical and cultural background before selecting a style.
This will have a beneficial impact on your decision as you will choose meaningful designs for you and the community as a whole.
Also, you have to make sure that the style and layout you pick are what you love. So, take out your time to view varied options. Surf the net, visit stores, seek the opinion of others and do all that’s possible to ensure that you select the best, preferred option.
3. Take note of climatic conditions to enjoy longer-lasting buildings
When choosing your home design, you have to take note of the weather conditions peculiar to your environment.
For example, in Jamaica, the weather is usually hot all year round, with little difference between winter and summer. As a result, the buildings are constructed in such a way as to accommodate this peculiarity.
Furthermore, because of Jamaica’s long history of hurricanes, most houses have removable roofs, allowing only the roof to be damaged in the event of a natural disaster.
You can learn from this by observing the environmental conditions of your chosen location. Make inquiries from your neighbors and study the environment critically. After you’ve determined the climatic parameters, you can choose appropriate designs.
When you design your home following meteorological patterns, you can avoid future calamities.
4. Trustworthy quality and locally made materials save costs
When designing your home, use quality and locally made materials that have proven to be trustworthy over the years. In addition, you can research various brands and seek expert advice on which brands work best.
Appli-Tex is an example of a Jamaican-owned firm that manufactures high-quality plasters for the building industry. It is used to create a large number of residences in Jamaica, utilizing cutting-edge technology and locally sourced limestone, silica sand, and cement.
You save money by using home-manufactured items and benefit from the lower cost of locally produced components. You are also sure of durability because you inquire about the products before purchase. Otherwise, in the event of any damage, you can easily contact the manufacturers.
5. Working with professionals assures you of a near-perfect home
As you navigate through the entire process of designing your home, you must ensure that you hire professionals at every stage.
Working with professionals guarantees you an excellent result. Get an architect, engineer, surveyor, and interior designer. As an alternative, you can hire a construction firm that has expertise in these areas.
Take out time to discuss your ideas and thought patterns with them. It would help them understand your concerns and get a vivid picture of what you want to achieve with your home design.
They are professionals for a reason and once you place your project in their care, you’re sure to get an excellent result.
Conclusion
Being able to live in a home designed just for you gives you one of the best feelings. Based on the unique structures we’ve observed, we have made a list of lessons to learn from the Jamaican home design culture.
These will prove useful as you work towards building your dream home. The lessons explained in this article can also provide insight on how to allocate rooms for different purposes, organize your furniture, use your desired colors and design the interiors just as you want.
The best part is you can do all this on a budget. All you have to do is create a design plan, draft a budget, source high-quality, locally manufactured materials, and hire the best professionals to complete the project.
Thank you for reading.
Author Bio:
Lydia Iseh is a writer with years of experience in writing SEO content that provides value to the reader. As someone who believes in the power of SEO to transform businesses, she enjoys being part of the process that helps websites rank high on search engines.
