Some people choose to focus on every little detail of their new home, and this includes choosing design materials, hardware, fixtures and finishes. If you love detail work, these projects are just what you’re looking for to personalize your new home. If you don’t, take some time to get organized because you can’t leave out anything, or you can pay an architect or a designer to help you through this process. Many people choose to leave the details to the contractor, but doing so often leads to misunderstandings on types of design materials and costs late in the process. If you want to avoid such situations, you need to make the decisions in advance and communicate with your contractor what you want.
Here is a list of items that you need to consider for your new home and different questions to ask yourself in the process:
- Appliances: What brands? Do you want free-standing or built-in?
- Baseboard: What type of wood? What kind of finish?
- Carpet: What type do you want? Wool or synthetic? What color? What kind of pad? How thick do you want the pad?
- Crown molding: Do you want it? What type? What kind of finish?
- Doors: What style do you want? What type? What finish? How many?
- Door handles: What style and color do you want? How many?
- Door hinges: What type and style do you like? What color? How many do you need?
- Eaves: What type and finish do you want?
- Exterior facade: What color and style do you want? What type of material do you like?
- Exterior trims: What type and finish do you want to match your exterior facade?
- Faucets: How many do you want? What styles? Do you want any outdoors?
- Fireplace: What type of face and mantel do you want? Do you want a hearth? If so, what type? Will it be gas, electric, or wood burning?
- Floor tile: What style and color do you prefer? What color do you want for the grout?
- Front door: Do you want glass or solid? What type of material, fiberglass, or wood? What color? Do you want a screen door?
- Handrails: What type of wood do you want? What type of finish?
- Hardwood floors: What style do you like? What kind of thickness and width? What color stain do you prefer?
- Heating and air conditioning: Will it be a forced air system? How many pump units? How many tons of cooling? Will you have any radiant floor heating? Will you use Zone heating and cooling for efficiency?
- Insulation: Will it be rolled insulation or blown? What rating will it be?
- Interior walls: What type of materials? What kind of finish?
- Lighting fixtures: How many do you want? What types?
- Roof: What type of shingles do you want? Do you want a flat or pitched roof?
- Wainscot: Do you want it? What types of finish and wood do you prefer?
- Wall tiles: Do you want them? What type (decorative, monochromatic, accents)?
- Windows: What thickness do you want? What type (metal, wood, or vinyl)?
Selecting the Design Materials
You need to put a lot of time into the design materials selection process. You’ll have to make all those decisions at some point. Many people spend less time on the small details during the design process and defer them until their home’s basics are erected. They take their plans to the contractors who bid based upon estimates for the finish materials they call allowances. This is not recommended. Contractors make their own decisions about the quality of design materials you want and their assumptions may not be accurate. Also, you may not like what they have chosen and it may be too late to get what you really want.
You need to pick out every hinge, fixture, and appliance before you get price estimates for your project. This way you insure that all bids from subcontractors are equal, and you can be sure of the availability of design materials, and doing so also removes surprises and gives you the most accurate financial picture.