Runescape Home Design Tips

This guide is to give you some tips and advice before you design and build your runescape house. This guide doesn't replace the construction skill guides.

Two or three floor house?

The first dilemma you facing when you coming to design your house is "Should I make my house two floors or three floors house?" (We all agree that you must have a dungeon in your house so one floor house is out of the equation).
The main difference between two floors and three floors is the stairs. When you build two floors house you have one stairs rooms (from ground to dungeon) and when building three floors house you will have at least three stairs rooms (usually it is three or four).
I personally like more three floors house but tho floors house save you one stairs room that you can use as a dungeon.
When building a two floor house I would recommend using a skill hall and a quest hall as the staircase rooms (one on the ground floor and the other on the dungeon floor). That way you save one dungeon room, so you can use it as another corridor or junctions or even a second treasure room.
When building a three floor house I would recommend using a skill hall, a quest hall and a dungeon staircase room. One above the other with spiral stairs instead of four staircase rooms (one from the ground to top floor and one from the ground to the dungeon).
In both case's you can save the staircase rooms to the dungeon if you have a Throne room and Oubliette (using a throne room ladder) but it makes everyone's life more complicated and your house looks cheaper.

Rooms and their actual use

Room	Level required	Cost	Actual Use
Garden	1	1000	Contains the exit portal that you must have at least one in your house. Build only one to save space for a bigger dungeon.
Parlour	1	1000	No use at all. Don't build Parlours in your house to save space for a bigger dungeon.
Kitchen	5	5000	This is a useful room and you should build one Kitchen in your house. You should build in it: Firepit, shelves, Pump and drain and Larder so you can make a cup of tea with milk and it will temporarily boost your construction level by 1-3 levels (depending on your shelves).
Dining Room	10	5000	Eight people can sit around the table you build in this room (In the Throne Room 14 people can sit in the room) but you can summon your servant to prepare food by using his/her services by pulling the bell. Build one Dining Room if you are using a servant. If not don't build a Dining Room.
Workshop	15	10000	This room allows you to train Construction without modifying your own house. When you reach construction level 55 it is time to build an Armour stand and start to save money on fixing barrows armor. Build one Workshop.
Bedroom	20	10000	Some of the furniture in this room can be used to change your hair and clothes (You don't use those features much, or do you? this can be done in other people houses or by paying NPCs). You will also need to have two of these rooms in order to hire a servant. Don't build a Bedroom if you don't hire a servant so you can have a bigger dungeon. Build one Bedroom if you use those features alot. Build two Bedrooms if you hire servant.
Skill Hall	25	15000	These are primarily used to connect other rooms, but they also provide space to show off your skill achievements.
Games Room	30	25000	Various games can be built in this room to allow friends to play and train together. You can't build more than one games room. You should build one Games Room because it's for guests.
Combat Room	32	25000	With this room you can challenge your friends in a personal dueling ring. Build at least one Combat Room. Until your level 81 build only one room and update the boxing ring to combat ring (in the combat ring you can use all weapons including range and melee). If construction 81 you may consider building two combat rings to you can add a balancing beam.
Quest Hall	35	25000	These are primarily used to connect other rooms, but they also provide space to show off your quest achievements. You can place an amulet of glory on the wall for unlimited teleport rubs.
Study	40	50000	You can use the lectern in this room to create clay tablets recording magic spells (Good to make teleport tablets to save inventory space). The elemental sphere in this room can be used to change the element of an elemental staff. Those two things especially the first one can be very useful but you can always do them in other people's house's. Don't build if you have a friend that has them.
Costume Room	42	50000	The costume room is essentially a massive wardrobe where you can keep your costumes and toys. The main feature of this room, then, is that the furniture allows you to store these items here rather than in your bank. Build one costume room will save u alot of bank space.
Chapel	45	50000	This room contains an alter that can be prayed on to recharge your prayer bonus and can be used to offer bones to the gods. When reaching construction level 75 you can build a Gilded altar and Marble burners and have a good alternative to worshiping at the Ectofuntus. Build one Chapel.
Portal Chamber	50	100000	In this room you can build portals to various places around the world. Build one or two Teleport Chambers. see more information at "What teleports to choose".
Formal Garden	55	75000	Same as a garden but much more fancy.
Throne Room	60	150000	This room is the fanciest room in your house. You can build your own throne chair and put your crest logo on the wall behind it. You can build a trap door to drop people to your Oubliette (if you build one under it). It also contains the lever that turns on challenge mode. Build one Throne Room.
Oubliette	65	150000	If you build an oubliette below your throne room you can drop people from there into a cage which you can fill with various horrors. Build one under your Throne room. This can also be a way to enter the dungeon if you did not build stairs to the dungeon.
Dungeon	70	7500	Dungeon corridors, junctions and stairs can be built to create an underground maze full of monsters, traps and doors. Build as much as possible. It is a low cost room (to build) and it is the only room you can fight NPCs in your house and fight players as well. The bigger your dungeon the more people want to come have fun in it.
Treasure Room	75	250000	Every Respectful dungeon should have at least one Treasure Room. After all what is a dungeon with out a treasure room?

What teleports to choose?

There are 7 teleports available: Varrock, Lumbridge, Falador, Camelot, Ardougne, Watchtower and Kharyrll (Canafis bar). Every teleport chamber can contain 3 portals. Each portal can be directed to 1 of 7 teleport locations.
If your house is located in Yanille (Construction level 50+ same as a portal chamber) it will be a waste to use a portal to the Watchtower. so if you choose to build two chambers you won't have any problems because the chambers can contain the other 6 teleports available.
If you choose to build only one chamber you need to choose your 3 teleports. Here is what I think on each teleport:
Kharyrll: Really useful teleport. Especially when doing barrows trips.
Ardougne: teleport to house use's only 1 law while teleport to ardougne take 2 laws. In the long run (after 201 teleports) it will save you laws.
Watchtower: same as ardougne but you can just move your house there.
Lumbridge: Useful when doing KQ trips.
Varrock/Falador/Camelot: Nothing special in my opinion.

Where to place the rooms?

Oubliette	You should built it under the Throne Room. I don't see a reason why not to do so.
Combat Room	You should build it in dungeon because it makes it look bigger.
Workshop	Place your workshop as close/next to exit portal as possible so construction training will be faster (Unless your using a servant. In the case of using your servant for construction training you should place the workshop close/next to Dining Room and use the bell to summon your servant when needed).
Kitchen	One of the way's to train construction is by building and removing larders (using 8 planks at one time) so building the Kitchen close to exit portal will be a good idea if using this training. In case your using a servant for construction training, your should place the kitchen close/next to Dining Room. This will not be only good logic but also good to use the bell to summon your servant to unnote your planks.
Dining Room	The Dining Room has a bell that can be use to summon your servant. It is useful when using your servant alot for all kind of tasks. If you use your servant to train construction you should place the Dining Room close/next to your Workshop and/or Kitchen so when needed to unnote planks you use the bell summon him/her. If you using your servant to make planks from your logs (you bring logs to your house, woodcut them out side of your house portal at Yanille) you should place your dining room close/next to your exit portal.
Teleport Chamber	Place your Teleport Chamber's close/next to exit portal and/or to Chapel. That way you can enter your house and run to the next place by teleporting or enter your house, run to pray at your alter and teleport to next place.
SKill Hall	Should be build under/above Quest Hall so it can be used as a staircase room.
Quest Hall	Should be build under/above Skill Hall so will be used as a staircase room. It should be consider in same places as a Teleport Chamber because of the ability to put an amulet of glory on the wall (Meaning close/next to Chapel and/or exit portal).
Chapel	Chapel can be use for two things: 1. Charge your prayer on the way to another location. 2. offer bones to gods. In the second case the Chapel should be close/next to exit portal. In the first case the Chapel should be close/next not only to the exit portal but also to Teleport Chamber and/or Quest Hall (for its glory).

House Style

For a cost, the Estate Agent can redecorate your house, dependent on your Construction level. The style you choose also effects the dungeon walls.

Style	Level required	Wall preview	Dungeon preview	Outside preview	Cost
Basic Wood	1				5,000gp
Basic Stone	10				5,000gp
Whitewashed Stone	20				7,500gp
Fremennik-style Wood	30				10,000gp
Tropical Wood	40				15,000gp
Fancy Stone	50				25,000gp

What now?

It is time to design your house and build it.
You can use the Java Applet I made RS Home Designer to design your house.

Good Luck.

Many thanks to Lord Maerlin for helping me with this guide.
Thanks to Kubert7 for dungeon style images.