Herald on Sunday

How to make those crucial selections for your new build

The first step is identifyin­g your style and colour identify for your home.

- - Laura Heynike is director of Pocketspac­e Interiors.

Build a new build they say. It will be easy they say. It’s the same scenario every time.

Clients are overwhelme­d with the amount of selections and time consuming decisions they need to make and not wanting to make any decisions in fear that the scheme won’t all work cohesively together.

You have pressure from the builders on top of your work and family commitment­s. If you go with a land-and-build package you’ve got a relatively easy journey as the sections are partially already selected and generally comes down to a couple of variations in colour.

However, if you are going with a building company that is base build only and you need to select everything footing the predicamen­t of choosing everything from tap ware to grout colour for your tiles.

The first step is identifyin­g your style and colour identify for your home. Start with Pinterest and you will soon see a common theme through product and colouring that you are drawn to. Take this as a style guide and refer back to when selecting your finishes.

Your builder should have a finishes schedule for you to fill out. Alternativ­ely if they don’t, if you hire an interior designer they will create one for you tailored to your build. This is an important checklist so you stay on budget and account for every product required.

Showroom visits are a must but they are time consuming and can be difficult to navigate around because you will find something you like but it may not tick the box for budget or stock doesn’t line up . . . or your other half may not agree with your taste!

Again this is where an interior designer will be useful; as they are regularly selecting product, they know what product to shortlist for you and save you a lot of time and disappoint­ment. If you don’t hire a profession­al, lean on the showroom staff to help you align budget, quality and stock expectatio­ns.

A pro tip here is if you really love something, just lock it in. You will be able to make up the price difference in selecting a more cost effective tile or another finish. It is a stock war at the moment.

Lay all your samples down on a white background and make sure you arrange finishes that will ‘meet’ next to each other. For example your carpet to meet the bathroom floor tile and check that they are compliment­ary.

Take out those reference images and make sure your physical samples tie back to what you were originally drawn to for absolute

A pro tip here is if you really love something, just lock it in. You will be able to make up the price difference in selecting a more cost effective tile or another finish.

reassuranc­e that you are happy with your selections and that they weren’t made in a rushed or impulse whim.

Lastly if you are luckily enough to go through this process, make your mark!

Use this as an opportunit­y to craft a beautiful home with a few finishes that reflect you or your families personalty. You can afford to not be so cookie cutter in a few areas and that really will set your build aside from a generic standard finish new build.

I would encourage you to be a bit adventurou­s when selecting your bathroom tiles, splash back in the laundry, wallpaper and the vast options for bench tops are outstandin­g to really make a lasting impression.

 ??  ?? Lay all your samples down on a white background and make sure you arrange finishes that will ‘meet’ next to each other. Photo / Supplied
Lay all your samples down on a white background and make sure you arrange finishes that will ‘meet’ next to each other. Photo / Supplied
 ??  ?? Laura Heynike
Laura Heynike

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from New Zealand