When building custom homes you get a lot of questions from homeowners. We love questions! Lets get it right and make it fantastic! But the dreaded question? The question that makes us cringe?
Which is better?
Do you like this tile or that tile? Dark stained floors or natural? Granite of quartz? Which one is better?
Some homeowners make themselves crazy constantly comparing each and every item to every other possible choice in the universe. All this does is make them crazy. There is not right or wrong, there is only what YOU like!
No matter what you choose, the 14 other contenders for your bathroom tile will not be lined up in the room for comparison. Once you make your choice, that is the only tile that will be in the room. Another choice is not better or worse, just different. Your choice will be fabulous. If you love it, go for it. In 99% of cases, there is no right or wrong, there is no better…there is only different. There is just what YOU like. Don’t be afraid, pick what you like and keep moving forward.
24One helpful hint when making choices about finishes in your home: make a list of “gotta have ’ems” and make a list of “want ’ems” and maybe a list of “absolutely don’t want ’ems”!. If you have 4 dogs and you absolutely have to have hardwood floors, that goes on the gotta have ’em list. If you have those same 4 dogs, maybe light color carpeting is an absolutely NOT on your list. Want to take up cooking? Maybe a commercial stove is a want (not a need, but a definite want). Helps in prioritizing where to spend your dollars and where to focus your time and energy.
We get it, there a lot of decisions to make and there are a lot of choices. This picture is just the whites in the Benjamin Moore paint samples book. Just the whites!
Please don’t paralyze yourself with too many choices! The majority of the time, homeowners end up going with their first choice and it rarely leads them astray. We have been building new homes for almost 20 years, and have watched the scenario play out over an over. you will be OK! Your choice will be fantastic! It will all come together in the end! So, go with your gut, choose what you love and get the new house you deserve!
And note to those of you that have been checking in and letting me know I dropped the ball — I hear ya! More posts coming in 2018!
Price per square foot is a favorite in the industry but does not translate well to new construction custom homes. While it may be a great tool to look at overall national trends in construction pricing, it is a poor tool to measure costs in a custom home. For instance, a house that may be 3,000 square foot in Roscoe Village versus a 3,000 square foot home in Portage Park. Both are in Chicago, theoretically, both should have the same cost per square foot to build. The old adage of location, location, location is true in custom homes too. The finishes in that $1M+ Roscoe Village home are going to be more expensive than that $500K home in Portage Park – and that is ok. You just need to know your neighborhood.
Throughout a well run home building or large scale renovation project there may be 5 or 6 different contractors all working at the same time. I was at one of our projects in Bronzeville last week and counted the following contractors at work: the interior doors were being delivered, the tiler setter was laying tile, the painters were stripping old wood work and the carpenters were working on the 3rd floor. And I was there to deliver about 20 ponds of grout in various colors. And the GC, he was walking around consulting with every one of them.
