While building a custom home, you would first start off by choosing a land. Once the land is chosen and bought, the focus would then shift to the designing phase of the project. You need to first hire an architect and the designer. Sometimes, the architect would double up as the designer. If it works for you cost wise, then you can ask the architect to handle the designing job as well. As a matter of fact, some people hand over all the responsibilities to the builder starting from site hunting. That is also not a bad approach as long as you trust the builder.
During the design phase, You need to first collect pictures of different kinds of custom homes including the individual rooms of the house and exterior. Once you have the pictures and the ideas for the home, you can then have a brainstorming session with the architect and then slowly start creating a plan for your home. You can involve the builder as well during the brainstorming session. After that, the architect will come up with a comprehensive blueprint which would then be followed by the builder.