Key Takeaways
- The best luxury home features are the ones that make your home more comfortable, functional and personal rather than simply adding cost or square footage.
- Custom home design allows spaces such as kitchens, garages, primary suites, entertaining areas and storage to be planned around the way you actually use them.
- Hjellming Construction has spent more than 60 years creating distinctive South Dakota homes by focusing on each homeowner’s lifestyle, individual tastes and long-term needs.
What makes a home luxurious?
Ask ten homeowners and you may get ten different answers.
For one person, it’s a kitchen where everyone can gather without getting in the cook’s way. For someone else, it’s a garage with enough room for vehicles, hobbies and storage. It might be a beautiful primary suite, an outdoor entertaining area or simply having a place for everything.
We think that’s exactly how it should be.
At Hjellming Construction, we’ve never believed luxury has to look the same from one home to the next.
A custom home should be a reflection of the people who live there.
Whether you’re building new or planning a significant remodel, here are some features worth considering as you think about what luxury means in your home.
A Kitchen Built Around How You Gather
If there’s one room that has changed dramatically over the years, it’s the kitchen.
It used to be primarily a workspace. Now, it’s often the center of the house.
That’s why designing a custom kitchen is about much more than choosing cabinets and countertops.
Think about what happens when you have people over. Does everyone gather around the island? Does someone need to cook while everyone else visits? Do you want seating in the kitchen or a separate dining space nearby?
Then consider what you don’t necessarily want guests to see.
A walk-in or hidden pantry can provide storage for food and small appliances while keeping the main kitchen clean and uncluttered. Some homeowners want additional prep space or a second sink out of sight.
The best configuration is the one that makes sense for the way you entertain and live every day.
*This luxurious pantry is part of our Eagle Ridge Place home. View more of this project here.
A Garage That Deserves More Attention
In South Dakota, a garage is not an afterthought. We use garages for vehicles, tools, lawn equipment, bikes, hunting and fishing gear, hobbies, storage and everything else we’d rather not scrape ice off in January.
For some homeowners, a luxury garage might mean additional stalls or extra depth for larger vehicles. For others, it could include built-in storage, upgraded lighting, floor drains, workspace, heating or room for a collection.
The key is thinking about those needs early. A few extra feet in the right place can make a substantial difference in how the space functions for years.
And if you’ve ever tried to squeeze past a vehicle carrying groceries while boots, snow shovels and everything else compete for space, you know exactly why that matters.
A Mudroom That Can Handle Real Life
Not every luxury feature needs to make a dramatic first impression. Sometimes luxury is having somewhere to put your stuff.
A thoughtfully designed mudroom can include lockers, benches, cabinetry, charging areas and storage for shoes, coats and backpacks.
In South Dakota, it also serves another important purpose: creating a buffer between whatever is happening outside and the rest of your home.
Snow-covered boots need somewhere to go. So do muddy shoes in the spring.
A beautiful entry is great. A beautiful entry that also keeps the rest of your home organized is even better.
A Primary Suite That Feels Like Your Space
The primary suite is one area where customization can have a noticeable impact on everyday life.
That might mean a bathroom with a larger shower, heated floors and custom cabinetry. It could mean a closet designed specifically around your storage needs or windows positioned to take advantage of a view while maintaining privacy.
Some homeowners want the bedroom itself to feel large and open. Others would rather put more square footage into the bathroom or closet.
Neither is wrong. That’s the point of custom design.
You get to decide where the space matters most to you.
*This spacious primary bathroom is part of our newly built home on Chandler Drive. View more of this space here.
Entertaining Spaces That People Actually Use
Large entertaining spaces can look impressive on a floor plan, but the real question is whether people will use them.
Maybe you want a lower level where everyone gathers for football games. Maybe your home is where Thanksgiving happens every year. Perhaps summer weekends are spent outside, and the connection between the kitchen and patio matters more than a formal dining room ever would.
Think about the type of entertaining you actually do.
A custom bar, fireplace, wine storage, game area, covered patio or outdoor kitchen can be a great addition when it fits naturally into your life.
Designing around real habits creates spaces that feel comfortable rather than staged.
*This moody home bar and lounge is a part of our recent Man Cave project. Click here to see more.
Storage in the Places You Need It
Storage isn’t usually the first thing that ends up on an inspiration board.
But ask someone who has lived in a home without enough of it, and they’ll tell you how valuable it can be.
Custom cabinetry can take advantage of spaces that would otherwise go unused. A larger pantry can reduce kitchen clutter. Linen storage near bedrooms makes more sense than having it across the house.
Even seasonal storage deserves some thought in South Dakota.
Holiday decorations, winter gear and outdoor equipment all need somewhere to go.
When storage is planned from the beginning, it can disappear into the architecture instead of feeling like something added later.
Flexible Spaces That Can Change With You
Homes have to do more than they used to. A room might start as an office, become a nursery and eventually turn into a guest room. A lower-level bedroom might serve visiting family today and an older child tomorrow.
Building flexibility into the floor plan can make a custom home work longer.
That doesn’t mean every room needs to be generic. It simply means thinking a few steps ahead.
Where possible, consider how a room could serve more than one purpose as your life changes.
Materials That Still Look Good Years From Now
Luxury and longevity should go together.
We’ve spent more than 60 years seeing what happens to materials after the showroom samples are gone and people actually live with them.
Floors get walked on. Countertops get used. Doors get slammed. South Dakota weather tests the exterior year after year.
That’s why we encourage homeowners to consider durability, maintenance and timelessness alongside appearance.
Sometimes spending more upfront on the right material makes sense. Sometimes it doesn’t. The goal is to make informed choices and put the investment where it will matter.
Material selection can have a significant impact on how your home looks, performs and holds up over time, and we actually just posted our guide to choosing materials. Click here to read more.
Custom Means It Should Look Like You
Trends can be useful inspiration. They shouldn’t dictate your entire home.
The homes we’re most proud of aren’t memorable because they checked every box on a list of luxury features.
They’re memorable because they belong to the people who live there.
Hjellming Construction has been building and remodeling homes since 1962. Over that time, we’ve seen styles change again and again.
What hasn’t changed is our belief that every project should reflect the homeowner’s lifestyle and individual tastes.
That personal approach has helped us create some of the most distinctive homes in South Dakota and earn 20 Sioux Empire Home Builders Association Parade of Homes awards for unique home designs.
But ultimately, the most important recognition comes when a homeowner walks into the finished space and knows it feels like theirs.
What Would Make Your Home Uniquely Yours?
If you’re considering a luxury custom home or remodel in Sioux Falls or the surrounding area, don’t start by asking what everyone else is putting in their homes.
Start with a different question: How do you want to live in yours?
Then let’s design around the answer.
Contact Hjellming Construction to talk about your ideas, your property and what you’d like your home to become. Let’s get a consultation scheduled and start planning your dream home! We’re excited to hear your vision.