Some useful inputs by Investors Choice
Visit your favorite neighborhoods There is a reason they are your favorites, and it's most likely because you love the homes there. Don't consider price or practicality—yet. What you are looking for is what inspires you.Attend open houses Look for homes for sale in the neighborhoods you love, and make weekend open houses a regular outing during this phase. Each of those will have features that inspire you, and features that will leave you unmoved. Make note of each of those: it's just as important to know what you either don't care about, or actively dislike.
Take photographs Shoot every angle of a work you like, inside and out. You'll find more detail in the photos than you saw in person, and after visiting dozens of houses ref. By your interior designer, they'll be a great way to recall that thing you loved right at the beginning.
Get organized Dreaming is good, and it's vital to have a vision for what you want to achieve, but achieving it will be much more difficult if you are constantly looking for that scrap of paper you thought you left over there.
Paint the big picture Now that you are getting specific about what you love and what you desire, it's time to focus.
The more information that you can provide to your Designer about the details of your vision, the more likely you will not only get the design of your dreams, you'll stay on budget as well.
Consult a professional architect Designing a home should be a project that will give you months of fulfillment when your dream is realized. The best way to make sure this happens most successfully (and most cost effectively) is to bring an architect into the actual design process. Your part of the design is knowing what you want. The architect's part is helping you make your design goals work, and steering you around design traps.
You've created the concept, you've driven the dream. You've done all the legwork, found the designer, focused your design goals, and know exactly what you want.