Your ultimate selection checklist for new builds
Building a custom new home on Long Beach Island is an exciting - and overwhelming - endeavor! The exciting bit? You’ll soon be nestled within the greatest shore community on New Jersey’s coast, regardless of which town you choose. The overwhelming bit? You’ll have to make somewhere (in my estimate) around ~657 selections and decisions to turn your home from a flat plan to the living, breathing home of your dreams.
Navigating these selections is thrilling yet can be arduous. Some builders offer in-house selection specialists to guide you through each step of the selection process. Others leave all decisions to you. Either way, bringing your own interior designer who’s got your vision and preferences already in mind can offer valuable guidance while saving you time (earlier move-in date, anyone?) and money (no second guessing here).
I’ll raise my hand here to be that guide for you - whether it’s within a full interior design scope or a Design Day where I accompany you to one of your selection appointments. My goal is to make sure you are absolutely, positively enamored with visualizing your home coming to life and to make the entire experience one you’ll remember forever (in the best way).
And if a short and sweet blog post isn’t enough for you, click here to download my FREE guide to the most frequent selections you’ll be asked to make. I share pro tips, best practices, example selections, and best of all… a secret hack to getting the most for your incredible investment for a new build.
Depending on your builder contract, your selection decisions may fall into several categories:
Exterior finishes: This category covers selections on your home exterior like siding types and colors, window styles, garage door design, front and side doors, hardware, lighting, and roofing material.
Interior finishes: Here you’ll be choosing finishes for walls, ceilings, and floors, including paint colors, wallpaper, doors and handles, molding styles, decorative trim, and flooring materials. It also includes selections for staircase styles, balusters, and railings.
Cabinetry and countertops: These selections will be for kitchen and bathroom cabinets, including reviewing the cabinet renderings and deciding on things like doors versus drawers and open versus closed upper cabinets. You’ll also choose the cabinet and vanity styles, finishes, and hardware (knobs and/or pulls), as well as the choice of countertops such as granite, quartz, marble, or butcher block.
Tile: This category covers tile selections for bathrooms floors, shower floors, walls, and niches, tub walls, and accent walls, kitchen backsplash, and if included, laundry room or mudroom tile floors and backsplash.
Plumbing fixtures: This involves selecting fixtures like faucets, sinks, tubs, and toilets.
Appliances: Here you’ll decide on what level of appliances you’d desire in your kitchen along with the laundry room and any additional appliances you may want to include.
Lighting: Interior lighting choices range from chandeliers, pendant lights, recessed lights, functional lights (i.e., hallways) sconces, and vanity lights.
Fireplaces and mantels: This category covers fireplace insert materials, styles, and surround, and mantel details.
Each builder’s contracted included items will differ. Here are some other elements that may be included or may be quoted additional:
Closet and storage: Customization of closet systems, shelving, and storage solutions to maximize space and functionality.
Smart home features: Choices related to home automation systems, including security, lighting, temperature control, and entertainment.
Landscaping and outdoor spaces: Selections for outdoor amenities such as patios, decks, landscaping, fencing, and exterior lighting.
Pool: Selecting type of material, size, shape, and color.
Special features: Custom additions like built-in bookshelves, shiplap accent walls or ceilings, wine cellars, home theaters, or specialty rooms like a gym.
So yea, that’ll put you somewhere around ~657 decisions. And that’s before furnishing an entire new home! The best part is it can all be a breeze with a guide to help you navigate all the decisions with your vision, budget, and lifestyle goals in mind.
