Navigating the bewildering maze of newhome design options
It’s easy to become overwhelmed by option and upgrade possibilities. The key is being prepared,
Overwhelming. When it comes to the design process for a new tract home, that’s the feeling that comes up time and time again. It can be daunting to face the flurry of decisions that need to be made about cabinets, flooring, counters, backsplashes, wall tile, paint colours and more, and all in a very short timeframe.
Jenny Black knows this. As the design centre manager for Cardel Homes, she has guided more than 1,600 clients through their option and upgrade selections in the past 13 years.
But the tables were turned a few years ago when it came time for her to design her own home.
“It definitely gave me a much better appreciation for what I put my customers through,” she says. “I think my patience has probably increased because I saw what I was like trying to get through these selections, and I am in the field, so I can only imagine if someone’s coming in here with no vision, no experience in design or colours and they’re trying to select all of these things in a four-hour period of time. It’s challenging.”
Absolutely, agrees designer Ulya Jensen, who has decorated Urbandale models in Kemptville. “No one is prepared for the amount of decisions they have to make.”
The job was a little easier for Mark and Lise Thaw, who have just designed their fourth new home — all from Urbandale and all in Bridlewood in Kanata South — and knew what to expect. But even for them, the pressure of having to make decisions quickly to meet construction timetables was stressful. The key was being prepared. “We were used to it,” says Mark before acknowledging, “I still think we may at one point have got overwhelmed.”
Do your homework, go into the design centre during their open house hours to have a look at some of the selections available, says Kelly Maiorino of Unique Spaces, which has designed Tartan Homes’ models for more than a decade. “Save images of inspiration, finishes that you love, look for a style that you would like to recreate. Bring the images with you to the design appointment to help keep you on track.”
Even before you sign your purchase agreement, if there’s the option of going to the design centre and seeing what the upgrades are and what they cost, take advantage of it, Black says.
Once you sign your agreement, the design process needs to happen quickly and “that’s probably not the time to find out prices for the first time.”
Buyers are often overwhelmed by the multitude of options and tend to not see the “big picture,” notes designer Linda Nolan, who has outfitted hundreds of builder models over the years. While there is always the option of going with a professional designer to help create your look, she points out that most builders will have a trained designer to help with the selection process.
Just don’t think of the design centre staff as the enemy. Although Black finds some buyers will be initially tight-lipped about their budget, seeing her more as a salesperson trying to take advantage of them, once she knows what they’re working with she can help them get more bang for their buck and not waste time on options that are frivolous.
“In general in our business we’re always the dirty home builder saying, ‘Oh, upgrade, upgrade, upgrade,’ and that always leaves someone with a bad taste in their mouth,” particularly when they see the splashy model homes full of upgrades that are so far above the base price, says Urbandale’s Peter Weiss. Finding a balance between reality for most and showing the models to their best is a challenge.
“You have to look at what do you really need to upgrade?” says Lise Thaw. “You don’t have to do everything at the very beginning.”
Their first home more than 25 years ago had very few upgrades, although with their latest, which they plan to grow old in, they went big, spending more than $100,000 in the 2,300-square-foot bungalow to get everything that was important to them, from structural changes to a longer kitchen island, more dramatic fireplace-surround and a finished basement.
But you don’t have to have a huge budget and fully upgrade a house in order for it to look spectacular, Maiorino says.
“Most builders have a great lineup of standard selections.”
First-time buyer Sophia Hamilton had little wiggle room for her one-bedroom condo at The Eddy.
“I was really trying to not do too much just because I’m on a tight budget and everything was so expensive,” she says.
After much deliberation, she spent about $4,000, mostly in the kitchen, and focused on those items that were most important to her. She added upper cabinets in place of shelving, as well as pot drawers, a pullout spice rack and valance lighting, and chose a more expensive hardwood flooring.
Dominik Rozman & Alexandra Dicks were also careful about where they spent. Also first-time buyers, of a Valecraft townhome at Trailwest, they wanted to maximize the resale potential.
“We picked everyone’s brains,” says Rozman, from friends and family to a real estate agent who took them through homes, and a friend of the family who had bought an earlier version of their model and showed them what she did and changes she would have made in hindsight.
“There’s just so many decisions,” Dicks says.
“Probably the scariest thing so far was picking the colours,” Rozman adds.
They ultimately spent about $9,000 on upgrades, which included a $5,000 design centre bonus. They chose mostly smaller upgrades, focusing on the kitchen, ensuite and stairs.
If you’re not sure where to put your upgrade dollars, Ashcroft’s Christia Zachariou recommends doing those items that are challenging or fixed, such as cabinets and flooring. “Anything else can be done with ease at a later date.” Black agrees. “It may sound surprising coming from a person who sells the upgrades, but if you have a very strict budget, make sure that you’re spending the money where you need to, and that is the bones of the house, the structure, because that you can’t change,” she says. “If you can’t do the granite or quartz today, you know what? It’s not the end of the world.”
Not sure of your style or how to articulate it? “Many of us can appreciate so many different styles (that) committing to one can sometimes be challenging,” says Maiorino, who encourages buyers to check out websites such as houzz.com and Pinterest to help determine the style they like.
Also check out showrooms to see what they have on display and take pictures, Black says. “Bring as much information with you as you can to give your designer an idea of what sort of style you’re looking at.”
Even if you don’t understand what it is in the picture that you like, the designer can find a theme. Black tells of a client who brought in an oceanscape, with sand and a few pebbles. When Black looked at her other pictures it became clear that she liked a coastal feel in her decorating, as well as the neutral tones of the sand and stone. “And from that we created a whole picture … it made total sense to me.”
You can also get inspiration from the furniture in your home, Jensen says. If all your furniture is ultramodern, you need to consider that when making selections.
And, says Black, telling your designer what you don’t like is as important as what you do like.
What about couples who have different styles?
“Often we work with couples who have different tastes,” says Maiorino. “Finding common ground between them and building from there helps bring both of their styles together, creating a cohesive look and feel.”
It’s actually more common than not for couples to have different tastes, adds her design partner, Laurie Jarvis, and it can make for a more successful and unique decor.
“By agreeing on an overall feeling rather than trying to force both styles together, and allowing each other an element in each area, couples are generally pleased with the results.”
But there does have to be compromise, notes Jensen. “A good designer can marry very different design worlds. But the couple has to be prepared to give and take in this process.”