Because it takes a lot of time!!
Paint colours, carpet, counter-tops…for many people, choosing the finishes and selections for their new home is the most fun part of the building process! This is the opportunity to make the home truly yours. The best part of choosing finishes for your home is that you can be as creative or conservative as you wish—it all depends on your personal style, and how you want to live in your home.
Whether you’re building a new home or renovating your current one, finishes are like the icing on the cake. If you’re feeling intimidated by the thought of choosing the perfect home selections and finishes, never fear! These five tips will inspire your creative juices.
Your choice should reflect your personality
If you’re going to live in that house with your family and have your friends over from time to time, you probably want to put a few customising touches on it. It should reflect you, which in turn helps you feel more at ease.
If you’re a quiet indoors person, soft colours and comfort-first furniture should be right up your street, but if you’re the more extroverted type and you’re likely to have a house party every now and again, you probably want a bold colour scheme with artsy, visual furnishings.
Use the Internet to get a second opinion
A number of design and photo-sharing websites give you a gateway to a world of options and design concepts. Your builder might possibly be less than thrilled to you second-guess their opinions based on something you saw on the internet, but remember that once their job is done, they don’t have to live in the house – you do.
Always make sure you have seen a good number of options before making a choice, so that you don’t see a kickass concept on Pinterest two weeks after moving in and then start having regrets. While you’re doing this however, keep in mind that you should probably…
Limit your options to keep your sanity
Now it’s all well and good poring through hundreds of options on Pinterest, trying to decide on a single design that fully encapsulates your desires but keep in mind that the number of available options is literally unlimited. If your decision is dependent on going through all the options you can find on the Internet, you will probably never get round to building your house.
To avoid the paralysis of excessive choice, consciously limit your options to a manageable number and then start eliminating them one by one. When you are down to two or three options, you can also involve your builder to help you make a selection.
Always keep your budget in mind
It is very easy to get carried away by the euphoria of creating your own living space and overseeing how it is put together. So easy in fact that you might end up several €000 out of pocket if you’re not careful! When making your merry way across photo sharing internet sites and examining options with your builder, always have your budget in mind as your primary selection parameter.
Never make the mistake of telling yourself, “I’m sure I can squeeze out a few extra €00 for this…” because it will not stop with just that one item.
Reduce your time window and just do it!
As a rule, the more time you have to get something done, the more likely you are to procrastinate or vacillate without actually achieving anything, which ends up in either a rushed decision at the last minute or changing your mind several times during the period.
To avoid creating unnecessary stress for yourself and your contractor, it is better to simply give yourself a reasonable time window to make all decisions and lock them in. Once you are done making your choices, force yourself to move on and attend to other things.
To avoid the paralysis of excessive choice, consciously limit your options to a manageable number and then start eliminating them one by one. When you are down to two or three options, you can also involve your builder to help you make a selection.
