Start Planning Your Custom Build Today!
Selecting finishes and materials for your custom home can be a daunting task. The options are endless! Working with an interior designer helps alleviate the stress of this task, and your builder ensures you stay on budget while achieving the look you want. Here are a few tips to help you through this process.
Have a Vision
Photography is the best way to capture what you want to incorporate into your new custom home. Start with an inspirational look book by room, this will help organize your thoughts so you can easily share your vision with your architect, interior designer and builder. Inspirational images helps the team understand your design style so they can begin crafting the perfect theme for your home and start working on budgets.
There are many online resources such as Pinterest and Houzz to start gathering inspiration for your home. Magazine clippings, photographs you take on home tours, or even special details you see while traveling, give a sense of what you like. Whether it’s modern, traditional, rustic, or eclectic, having a clear vision will guide your material selections and ensure cohesiveness throughout the design.
Establish a Budget
Generally, you’ll have an idea of what you’d like to spend on the overall project, but we suggest giving some additional thought also to individual rooms and spaces. Think about your lifestyle and what you enjoy most. Do you like to cook? Are you looking for a space to relax? How often do you entertain? Asking yourself what matters most to you will help start prioritizing which rooms to elevate interior finishes.
Allocate more of your budget to materials in the spaces that are important to you and be willing to compromise in other areas. Having a clear budget and understanding of high priority areas will help narrow down your options and prevent overspending.
Start with Floors
The order you select your finishes is important. An interior designer is invaluable in this process to help guide you through the sequence. A good first step is to start with floors. Flooring is the baseline that sets the stage for the rest of the finishes and overall tone for your home, plus, it covers a lot of area. Natural and blonde tones like rustic white oak, are great options for wood flooring that offer a timeless look. For durability and an attractive price tag, luxury vinyl products like LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tile) and LVP (Luxury Vinyl Plank) are great options for a low maintenance alternative.
Once you have flooring decided, you can start looking at other finishes such as trim, cabinetry, and countertops, that come in a variety of options. Gather samples to create mood boards so you can see how everything looks put together.
The last finishes to select are paint colors. Here you’ll have endless options to pick from, but with your hard finishes selected it’s much easier to find colors to pull everything together.
Work closely with your architect, interior designer, and builder to get their input and recommendations on materials. They can provide valuable expertise and help you navigate the selection process, ensuring your choices align with your vision and style as well as your budget. When it comes to exterior material selections, mock-ups can help solidify your choices and avoid disappointment.
Make Decisions Early
The more detail your builder has early in the process, the better cost information you’ll have for spending on those luxury finishes you want to incorporate. Plus, selecting your finishes together will help achieve continuity throughout your home. You’ll get better estimates from your builder and be able to place orders well in advance to reduce costly delays.
Have Fun!
Don’t forget to have fun! By following an integrated process you’ll be sure to navigate choosing selections seamlessly and enjoy seeing your vision come to life. If you have a project in mind, whether a new custom home or an extensive remodel, contact Nor-Son Custom Builders. We have an integrated process designed to guide you through your custom build for a fun, stress-free experience.
