For some it's hard to imagine all of the details that you should consider when building a house (and for some like me it's hard to imagine even building one!) but Publisher Scott MacGregor shares some great advice drawing from his own personal experiences.

"'Design you home for the way you live your life.'  And with those 10 simple words from my architect friend Jeff, I dug out some graph paper and began sketching my first home.  If you are an early riser, Jeff would suggest sketching the kitchen facing east to capture the warm morning light; if you live to barbeque, he'd tell you to draw the deck facing west to enjoy the setting sun;  if your parties always make their way into the kitchen, he'd suggest opening the kitchen up to the rest of the living space.  But Jeff was not just an architect friend, he was a paddling buddy and I knew what he really meant."

Read the full Home Improvement  in the 2012 Paddling Buyers Guide.