I should add chloecat, I’m working on things like the kitchen, picking out vanities and counter tops and faucets, to name a few. I had a friend tell me years ago she had a designer give her THREE choices for each item she needed for he new home. Now I really see why she took that route.

People who have no idea what their taste is, what they like and dislikes should never build a house, certainly not a custom house where their choices are unlimited. Such people are far better off with a tract house where they have very limited choices, or buying an existing house. Hiring an interior designer will not help. You will have to tell her what you like and dislike. She has no magic ball.

Our interior designer gave us choices and we chose from those. The choices came from us showing pictures of what we liked and them reading our style. We got a book of images to confirm they got our vibe and then we had a meeting in person where we saw the different finishes and walked through each room and made choices. Most of the time it was A or B but if we didn’t end up liking either they turn followed up with another option. Even after doing that we later changed the quartz, the house colour, the flooring and the master bath cabinetry. The architect we met with, prior to choosing a designer instead, did not offer any interior work. There was talk of some elevations but only as they related to the exterior and flow of rooms. Most certainly no fixtures or finishes. That would have been an entirely separate person to hire.

You can use Houzz to help you narrow down your style and figure out what you like. First, go through lots and lots of photos and save things that you like. This is the brainstorming phase, so when it doubt, save it. Then, go back through your ideabooks and add notes to each photo about what, specifically, you like about it. See if patterns emerge. Next be ruthless about eliminating things that you like but don't love. As you start to figure out what you like, do more searches focused on those elements. Eventually, you should have a collection of photos that all illustrate the look you want to achieve. You can really refine your style that way, which should make choosing specific materials easier.

Second, ask your builder for an outline of what he needs you to chose, when he needs decisions by (which can help you figure out what to do next), and who you should talk to about each item. Then start working your way through the list. You and your spouse can also split up the list and each be responsible for different areas (divide and conquer!)

Thirdly, don't plan to just "leave the big stuff" up to the builder and only choose interiors. Ask what the major decisions for the big stuff are. Have your builder or the subs talk you through the options. Ask questions. Do research online. Ask on Houzz. But don't just abdicate responsibility for the big stuff, because it's you know, the big stuff. In the long run having the right windows will matter more to you than having the perfect backsplash tile.

Thanks Alison. You have helped me decide that this is the way to go too. Although I like lots of design and colors , there are my favorites too. Your interior designer sounds awesome.

Thanks Kristin for great and helpful advice. A good pep talk once in a while is uplifting. I’ll be using your words of wisdom.

I know how overwhelming it can be (I'm spending the time-equivalent of a part-time job at the moment, and we haven't even broken ground). Just take it one step at a time and you'll get there!

Toni just make sure you choose someone budget conscious. We had serious issues with the design options being far over budget and then extensive redesign occurring as a result. All on my dime!

"our gc/builder has a budget for each area"

That is scary, you need to pick your finish selections and have them written into the contract. You are setting yourself for a huge $$$ disaster with budgets and or allowances. Period.

Thanks for the concern Millworkman. To some extent he does have my wants in mind but probably not to the line item area your advising. For instance windows, we do know the cost but I still have to pick out colors from the Anderson 400 series. I told him basically what I thought would be my choice. Seeing everyone’s lovely homes really helps and sometimes makes me question my choice. Guess I’m at a crossroad where making these decisions need to be solid.

And note: even when you are set on a certain countertop, or on certain tile... suddenly that pattern gets discontinued, and you have to choose again. I actually came out with a better / prettier quartz countertop due to this process!

One bathroom tile had to be changed twice! Part of this depends on how long they take to build the house. I also ended up driving to about 4 Home Depots to pick up every last bit of their pencil thin accent tile I wanted for the baths.

Just a heads up,

All the choices DO get overwhelming - even if you KNOW what you want and like.

It's a creative process, and every person thrives differently in that process. Some people are major planners -- they have to have it all mapped out in advance. Other people are more spontaneous and use their instincts as they go along. Either way is fine as long as you are happy with the result. Think about how you are most productive in your creative outlets - do you plan every little detail in advance or do you get inspired as you gain momentum during a project?

Maybe start with a basic plan ... like a theme (rustic, traditional, industrial, etc) or a color palette, and go from there. Think about how you want to feel in your home - cozy and comfortable, cool and chic, glamorous and spoiled, etc.

Hope that helps! It's a wild ride! :)

Jennifer, your great. As much as I feel like a swift kick in the pants might help me get past this mind hurdle, I’m definitely digging your reply. Thanks for your inspiring kind thoughts! I think part of my problem is that I need a mentor. I’m a planner but when I start to realize I don’t even know what questions to ask, my stress ups! My contractor has often said “no question is to dumb and he is only a call away”. I don’t want him to think I’m the first customer to challenge that statement!

Toni, just bear in mind that if you're feeling design fatigue now, just wait until your project is almost completed and you still have to make two or three more choices. You'll look back on this moment in fondness and disbelief : ) .

One thing you could do is pay an interior designer for a set number of hours to help you hone your style and get ideas as well as names of places to purchase, unless your builder provides this, and then it helps your wrap your head around it. The more you plan up front the less surprises all around.

Ditto Jennifer's start with a basic plan! Then.....

#1 Sub Contractors - Is there a particular sub contractor you want to use? That will very often narrow down the brands.

#2 Budget - Assuming you have one :) Budget dictates a lot for normal people. It will help you decide on what you want and what quality of it you may have of it.

#3 Function - Mudroom? You want LVP? Not all LVP is waterproof, etc. This is an example, but decide how much maintenance/cleaning you can handle in your life. This makes a HUGE impact on all decisions, from flooring to Countertops and everything in between!! Also consider longevity - some material choices last much longer than others - can you afford to replace something more often?

#4 General Cohesiveness - Yes, many would place this higher, but I am too practical at heart :) Make one major decision, such as flooring, then your other choices will be cut down. Rooms may be different, but I prefer a certain type of feeling throughout a house, if you do too, this will also help with selections.

#5 Pick what you enjoy! Although this forum is great for ideas, many on here will push you toward the latest fad, which is fine if you love it... But fads are usually just that, and if you live by the fad, you'll die by the fad LOL!!

As for design, choose one thing that makes your heart sing and then work from there.

For example, I chose my quartzite counters first. It was a huge splurge but I fell madly in love. That helped with many other decisions. 1, because the colors were right there in the quartzite and 2, because it was so expensive, I knew I had to cut back in some other areas.

Maybe for you it's a favorite rug. Or a textile fabric. Or maybe you love a certain tile. Or you visited Morocco for example and want to bring the flavor of that into your house. Find an element to start with. Then work around it.

Also do you have an overall style of house you like? Again, I love craftsman style houses and my whole house was designed with craftsman feel in mind. Ideally I would have loved to have all quarter sawn oak trim for my doors, windows, etc, but alas, that would have quadrupled my trim budget so I went with painted trim. However, I was still able to get the correct size trim to achieve the look I wanted. Do you have a style you prefer? What do you gravitate towards with your idea books?

I also found myself drawn to a stylized rose pattern that was prevalent during the craftsman era. I found myself choosing cement tile with a similar rose pattern, and from there decided I'd bring roses into my house as the "theme". Mostly stylized but some more realistic but still keeping with the feel of the house. So once again, I was able to hone in on something I loved.

Hi cpartist, I believe I’m lucky you’ve chimed in ! You are making me feel better about my plans and my state of mind already! I have asked all those questions to my architect because he has been going by my requests and not necessarily his thoughts.
To answer a few questions, kitchen lighting won’t be a problem with 8’ windows in the living room, more on three sides of the dining area, also windows from a 14 entry and more windows that will have East sun thru the kitchen door. The mud/ dog room has a laundry shoot that goes to my husbands laundry/ mud room downstairs. For extra dirty farm stuff! My laundry will possibly have a solar light and semi opaque door, that will help in lighting the hall too. As for the freezer, that needs to be addressed as well as the kitchen fridge. Our master bedroom bed placement will be under a transom window on the south. I’m taking all your thoughts in!

Which direction is south?

The bedrooms are on the south side.

And where are you building this house?

So what you're saying is all your main public rooms are facing west? Meaning the dining room, your master bedroom and the living room?

Have you read up on passive solar heating/cooling and why a west exposure is the worst exposure?

It must be a habit to look west as I’ve been doing it for 27 out of 30 years of marriage. Having that experience plus the prairie winds, I picked a walk out home with the deck surrounded by the master and dining area . All for the views. A lot of insulation, great low E-4 smartsun windows and the 19 evergreens I planted southwest of the area last year, really helps with the heat. Trust me, I asked myself about facing west, hundreds of times but it won in the end. Lol, even the septic tank guy said it was a perfect view of our pond and cows! We even went kayaking on it last week.

Just wanted to add that I truly welcome the feedback, positive or not- so much. I’ve always said, “You don’t know what you don’t know.”
If someone can help me ‘see’ something I didn’t think about before the first dirt is dug, it’s all good! Thanks all!

Our west view at 6:30 . The cattle are grazing on the south side of the pond , where the trees are. The green at the top is soy beans. I’m standing on virgin land with our dog. He needs some sunglasses!

The bathing beauties.

One last cow party!

Why not put the main living areas facing to the south?

I loved the thought of a walk out basement on our slightly sloping hillside that leads to the large pond.(which would be west) The south side from the future house, looks at more corn or what ever happens to be planted there. OH, and there are some nature made ravines on the south side too. AND eventually all the evergreens I planted will get big and that would be the view in 10 years. ( I mis wrote above in my photo. The trees in that photo are on the west side. The Cattle were in another area where there are more trees to the south of the pond. They are not visible in the photo. In the summer the cattle take a little swim every afternoon. last photo)

LOL, clear as mud? Thanks for your questions cpartist.

As has been said many times on this forum, when the question of land purchase and building orientation arise, a south-facing orientation for the major public spaces--living, dining and kitchen, for example--is the ideal orientation.

A western orientation for these same spaces is the absolute worst possible orientation.

There are many reasons why this is the case, but...it is the case.

At least in the northern hemisphere. :-)

No doubt about it Virgil Carter, there are ideal ways to go.

Toni...no matter how well you plan, it will feel overwhelming at times. There will be bumps in the road. ie...We had to tear out Slate from our screen porch this week because of a poor installation and the installer still expects to be paid. Duh. You will be stressed and wonder why in the heck you decided to do this. Just be forwarned. But, it will (maybe) probably be worth it.

I am almost finished and I didn’t use a designer. I would have if I found someone I cliqued with but I did not. Luckily I had a wonderful kitchen designer. She has good taste and gave me good advice along the way. You may be able to do this without an ID but you have to have a good KD.

we are building our house on cost plus and I did not pick out everything before our build began...despite the advice that it must/should be done that way. I have been doing it as we went along and honestly it would be less stressful if you could pick out everything sooner. Sometimes you don’t even know what you want! Those last minute things that you have to decide on are killers.

if you are computer savvy you should use an Excel spreadsheet as my daughter did. My dh and I are not so we just used a large file box and I didn’t delete any emails that had to do with our build.

You have a beautiful site for a new home. Congratulations. If you have questions post them and don’t let the grouches on the forum keep you from seeking advice.

Virgil just curious why the west is undesirable for these living spaces? I would think north would be....but I am not an architect or a designer so what do I know?lol

just curious why the west is undesirable for these living spaces?

NewEnglandgal, because of the heat and glare from the setting sun. If you use elements of passive solar design, like avoiding western exposure for living spaces, you can also use the sun to minimize your energy use and bills, for heating and cooling your house.

This has a good explanation,

https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/energy-efficient-home-design/passive-solar-home-design

Becky gave a good response and resource.

The issue with western exposures, at any season of the year, is that as the sun begins to set, it gets lower and lower in the sky.

The low sun is simply impossible to stop from entering the west facing windows of a home. There's no architectural element that may be designed which will prevent the low west sun from creating glare and heat gain in the house interiors.

The only solutions for west facing windows are drapes, blinds, shutters or the like. And closing them for the last half of the day makes the windows pointless.

All of this may be avoided by simply orienting the windows of the house's major public spaces to the south.

Always look for property which allows a house to be designed with the major spaces oriented towards the south.

What Virgil said : ) , much more thoroughly than I did!

It's a problem even here in Alberta, where I live. We have neighbors who put their living spaces -- kitchen, living room, dining area, and an uncovered deck -- facing west, which they realized only after moving in rendered that part of the house virtually unusable in the late afternoons and evenings. They have blinds down and curtains closed all summer from the time they leave for work until the sun goes down (which is about 9:30 now).

We oriented our house with the living areas mainly to the south, and tried to have windows in each room on several walls for circulation, so right now on a day with an Environment Canada heat warning, my windows are open and uncovered and I'm enjoying a nice breeze : ) .

I thought maybe that was the reason but wasn't sure. Luckily my rooms will face south on my new home:)

I absolutely am not enjoying all the decision-making that home-building entails. I haven't really said that out loud because I know we are so blessed to be able to build the house we are, and don't want to sounds ungrateful, but I am not good at this stuff. I am not picky at all and everything looks good to me, so choosing one is just terrible. I want cohesiveness though, so that leaves me second-guessing myself constantly. I know I will like the xxx (counter, cabinets, paint color, whatever...) because I am not choosy, but want it to all be aesthetically pleasing to others too. Oh well. Can't wait for all this to be over and just move in! Good luck!!

I actually had to choose light bulbs. The electrician put in 4 different ones. So I picked one and then he installed 4 more with same color level but different lumens and asked me to choose from them. Good grief. But seriously, I pretty much knew what I wanted, I had been saving things on Pinterest for months before construction started.

I agree --it's easy to be overwhelmed by the decisions to be made and anxiety about not missing deadlines.

Do any of you have an app you like for project management (keeping track of all of the homeowner tasks & decisions) and tracking expenses & budget?

I'm considering using a spreadsheet, but if I use an app, I can easily share it with my hubby & see dashboards w/summaries.

The challenge with any setup to administer and manage a construction project, whether it be a 3-ring binder or a computer app, is that you first have to know what needs to be organized.

Many consumers don't know this. And many builder don't attempt to organize or communicate it to the consumer; the builders simply operate on a what's next schedule and expect the consumer to follow suit.

One has to have done this before...say 5 year's worth...to understand and organize it.

Or retain a professional, who has done it before, to do it.

That's probably the best of all the alternatives.

I've always preferred a binder, especially since I started working with my husband, a builder, and his clients about 25 years ago. I find it easier and better for keeping actual samples (flooring, paint, textiles, etc.).

One book I've found helpful and have recommended to many of them is Designing Your Dream Home by Susan Lang, which includes checklists and worksheets. You can take the book apart or photocopy pages to put in a binder, and gives a good breakdown through the process.

I'd love it if someone updated it and put it online as a PDF to purchase so you could easily print out the pages.

Virgil,

I actually do have a good idea of much that needs to be organized and tracked, as well as questions to ask my contractor to make sure I capture all of my responsibilities in my task list.

I've used a binder for 4 renovations. This time I'll still use a binder, but want to track tasks & budget electronically so it's easy for my spouse to view when we aren't in the same city. I've looked at apps, but there are soooo many to chose from...

Evernote is a FANTASTIC online/desktop/smartphone information system.

rpwoodward, OK, good for you. With your experience there are at least two categories of software to consider:

1) Spreadsheets, or databases; and

2) Project management software.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each category, so you will have to sort out what's best for you.

Becky makes a good and important point (as always) when it comes to samples. These present a unique challenge, and a 3-ring binder works very well, since they will be hard to digitize (but not impossible if your dedicated to do so with your iPhone).

It's a very good idea to start a 3-ring binder for all of the manufacturer's literature, warranties, etc., of your final, installed choices of everything from appliances to roofing, for future reference.

Good luck! Let us know what you choose to do and why! :-)

3-ring binders ROCK!

I have the 3-ring binders from several previous projects, and they are invaluable. Plus, as you mention Virgil, whenever I have questions about materials used in a previous project, I simply pull out the binder & find the receipt or warranty (esp the roof!)

Thanks, Virgil ; )

Would quick books be a good way to keep track of finances? I would have to figure out all the categories.

Keeping track of finances is probably the easiest thing to do, using your bank statement and/or credit card statement.