While designing your home, you consider your taste and style. It’s where you’ll spend more of your time. Thus, you’d want it to be relaxing and give a sense of tranquility.
However, it’s crucial to think about basic security measures and features in your design process. Sometimes security comes as an afterthought to most homeowners. This shouldn’t be the case. Incorporating security and privacy elements during the designing phase can reduce your cost in security upgrades later.
Among other home security tips, the below design elements can help you build a secure home while enhancing your style and taste.
Use One-Way Mirror Windows Or Tinted Windowpanes
As a homeowner, you might prefer your house to be filled with natural light during the day. This means you need your curtains open all through. Even though you achieve the objective, it also limits your privacy and exposes your valuables to prying eyes if your windowpanes are plain or see-through. If intruders gain interest in your home, they can easily scout it out for burglary.
To prevent outsiders from getting interested in your valuables, you can replace your glass windows or install a film on them. However, this is an extra expense you can avoid from the designing stage.
While designing your home, have tinted or one-way mirror windows in mind. This way, you can even have French-window designs for more room light. Additionally, one-way mirror windows allow you to view your garden or perimeter fence. Thus, you can quickly notice any intrusions by uninvited guests.
Plan For A Water Feature
Building your home with a water feature is one of the oldest security designs you can adopt. Ancient castles would have a pond or a pool in the yard to deter intruders from the house. It worked during the old days, and you can still employ the same design in your modern home.
Apart from improving the aesthetic appearance of your yard, it also creates an open space between the house and the perimeter fence. Thus, you can see an intruder from a long way off. In addition, the water feature deters a would-be burglar as most wouldn’t risk getting wet to get into your home. Not to mention, it would slow down an intruder’s movement and allow you time to raise the alarm.
Install A Tall Fence
Even though you may naturally have this feature in your home design, you should ensure it’s of a considerable height to deter would-be intruders. A tall fence can help improve your home’s security. However, you should ensure to install lights along the fence to scare potential intruders who might hide or scale the fence. Additionally, ensure that the fence doesn’t have horizontal grooves or grills that can aid someone’s efforts to climb over.
Build High Walls
Intruders can gain interest in your home if they can see what’s inside. Therefore, a high perimeter wall is one of the main steps you can incorporate into your home design. While it obstructs the view of potential intruders, it also makes it difficult to climb over. On this note, it’s essential to ensure that your wall doesn’t have grills that intruders can use as steps to climb the wall.
You can use materials like faux stones or bricks on the walls. These materials enable you to have a color and texture that can complement the home’s design. They can also accommodate extra features like grilles and wrought iron that can improve your security measures.
Think About Defense Landscaping
Various landscaping options can provide you with an additional security feature for your home design. For instance, you can create a provision in your plan to plant a thorny perimeter fence. The plants you can use along your perimeter, like the firethorn plant, can grow thick and tall. Thus, it obstructs prying eyes and makes it difficult to climb over the fence apart from deterring potential entry. Additionally, most of these plants can withstand the dry seasons and require less maintenance. Thorny and thick bushes can help provide extra security, especially if your fence has blind spots.
In addition to the thorny bushes, you can install pavements that make noise when someone walks on them. Small stones, chips, and gravel are some options you can use. With such a pavement, you can detect sounds if an intruder walks around your home.
Furthermore, your home design should factor in installing motion and heat-sensor lights in your backyard. You can also use motion-sensor lights on the entry points and fence.
It would be best to consult with your landscaper to find the option that can work best for your home, depending on location and availability.
Conclusion
Your home security should form one of the vital considerations when designing your home. As part of your architectural style and taste, including security features when designing your home is essential. The above elements can help you in this process and ensure you successfully build a secure home.