NEW CONSTRUCTION DESIGN CENTER TIPS || OUR SEMI CUSTOM BUILD 

Builders like using flat paint as it hides imperfections in the wall. I would opted for at least an eggshell or semi gloss in bathrooms, kitchens and entryways, as they are a more durable paint and easier to clean. Also they will show any imperfections in the wall so you will be able to get your builder to fix as you would notice them right away.

literally going to the design center on monday morning! This was SO HELPFUL! as have all your videos been! Keep posting, love all that you're doing :)

Hey Jenna. So happy that you are sharing these tips and what you learned during your construction journey. I’m so excited to watch 💖

Doing our second build right now and we learned SO much from our first. We’ve also renovated a house from the studs for a flip which gave us a lot of knowledge with our new build on actual pricing vs builder pricing. I agree with most of the things you guys said! Kitchen is where we put the majority of our money as well as flooring (except carpeting upstairs- we just change that out to hardwood later - it’s an easy thing to do). Things like built ins, light fixtures- so easy to do afterwards. All builders are different, it’s important to do your research! American builders seem so different from here in Canada too!

This was an excellent overview. (Finally finished watching) Definitely took notes about buying appliances a few months early, and the farmhouse sink.

Jenna and Mike, *GREAT TIPS* . I have never bought new construction but your advice was very helpful even for doing upgrades in an existing home. I *HATE* my electric cooktop, nothing like cooking with gas!

Great video! Clicked on your vid bc I used the same builder. Upgraded cabinets, quarts, leveled up the flooring to a higher quality laminate, gas stove and appliances, prewires for island/dining, single sink basin, custom paint (it was cheap, I knew I didn’t want to spend days painting). Self upgrading: backlash, fridge, washer&dryer, tiles, hardware, faucets, painting the island another color, mantel.

Thanks for these videos, always like hearing how people make/made their choices. We close this week! I’ve heard a lot of people say to not upgrade fixtures because the builder charged a lot for upgrades, and it’s cheaper to DIY later. Like you said, everything is really dependent on your builder’s system. In our case, our builder sent us to the plumbing/lighting vendor, the next stop after all the initial design center choices, and we could either take the included standard fixtures or pay for another option. We paid any difference in price directly to that company out of pocket, not part of the price of the house. For example, say the included kitchen faucet option was worth $200, and we wanted to upgrade to a faucet they could get for $350, then we just had to pay $150 for the faucet. We found that most items were pretty close to what we’d pay at a big box later. Same for most of our lighting. I can see why people wouldn’t upgrade if they only had a few upgrade choices, but we really had limitless options. We had to come up with the cash at the front end, but we got to take advantage of all the installs by the builder without driving up the purchase price (and mortgage) of the house.

Found this very helpful as we are about to go to design centre with our new home. Great to hear Mike’s thoughts too

We had prioritize our upgrades too...we couldn’t do absolutely everything. We did our kitchen with extra cabinetry, hardwood floors throughout except bedrooms(stairs were pricey but would be invasive to change later, bigger deck, and lots of extra lights. We didn’t spend big on our bathrooms though. Oh and extra outlets in pantries, closets, and the front porch! As always I enjoyed your video!

It's interesting to hear about your building experience. Wish your videos would have been out before we built our house in 2019. Our experience was very different and I can't say we have regrets but definitely some disappointments. Our builder used an app called builder trend where we either excepted the included options or chose upgraded ones for things like interior door style, door hardware, sink/shower fixtures, windows, siding/stone color etc. We were sent to a local home building supply store to pick out things like the cabinets, flooring, carpet and tile. They had our budget and worked with us to try and stay within in but we had the option to choose whatever we wanted and pay any difference in cost. We also could go back as many times as we wanted but had deadlines to make certain choices. For our counters we were also sent to a local counter top store. Thankfully we could go as much as we needed because you're right it was hard to pick things out with just small samples. We don't regret building but again there were definitely disappointments. I'm sure your videos will be very helpful for those that are just starting the process.

This is a great video. I am actually glad that our builder doesn't offer any appliances - this has allowed us to choose the professional grade appliances that we really want but we are slowly paying on them as our house is being finished.

I am currently choosing my upgrades for my home newly constructed home. Like you mentioned there are some things you can do on your own later on once you settle in. You made the right choice on the gas stove and the farmers sink and the upgrade tile in the bath and kitchen they will ads value to your home if you ever plan on selling it in the future. Wise choice to leave the extra bedrooms with the standard carpet since they are not in use that's a good way to save money. Nice video, thank you for sharing.

Also if you lose power you can still cook with the gas cooktop.

I agree farmhouse sink is a must upgrade, whether you get contractors or buy on you own, love mine so much. Be careful buying appliances while in contract with a lender it can, depending on debt to income ratio, prevent you from being able to buy. Run everything through your lender when making big purchases. Great video on the upgrades in your new construction home.

Thanks for the video, I love that your husband is so humble in saying he's not a plumber or electrician but tell him he is after you see a couple of videos on you tube 😉 cudos to him and Jenna as always you look amazing! Thanks for the tips and what color 💄are you wearing?? I love the color! And it looks great 👍 on you!

We just had our last Design Center meeting last week! Our two meetings were virtual because we live 6 hours from where our new house is being built. I agree with all of your suggestions - especially the lighting! We will be replacing the included lighting once we move in. We also added extra recessed lighting, wall sconces and outlets.

You guys got all the right points. Specially the door hardware (hinges) - that was a good point. And definitely agree w appliances. Good video ☺️

Your videos are AWESOME! I learn something every time I watch. It did not occur to me that we could order our appliances ahead of time since they do schedule the delivery/install. I will definitely be doing that for our washer/dryer. Your lighting suggestion made me go back and question some areas where we had not added lighting. Love love love your channel. I look forward to it every week

I'm going to the design center next week, and this was very well timed! I think you've made good decisions on your build. I'm in the process building my second new construction house, and I'm still struggling with some decisions from an esthetic perspective. Also, it is important to upgrade the kitchen area since that is used daily, and it's a popular area whenever you have guests. So it's important to have high quality items there and a gas cook top! Overall I'm having the builder install those things that would be difficult and expensive to change out after construction is finished. Things like extra lights throughout the house because it's easier to turn lights off if you don't need them, than to add lights afterwards because you do need them. You did help me decide on flooring, I will also be selecting standard grade (no cost) carpet in the bedrooms, and tile in the kitchen, great room, and common areas. You have a beautiful home, you did good!

Great video! I hadn’t thought about what Mike pointed out about the cook top with the gas being a continuous flame and the electric heats up then dims.. ours does that too it wasn’t just yalls! Haha but I thought that was a good point! we’re going with gas in our new home and I’ve never used it before either so I’m excited to hear y’all like it!!

We know how to paint cabinets but definitely will just buy them painted for our new build. It takes forever to do them right!!

It’s so crazy how each builder operates so differently. It’s really important to do research before choosing. Ours is very transparent for the most part. For example I wanted white mortar for our brick/stone home. It ended up being an extra $1600. We’re only paying the cost of the actual mortar. Our home is 6200 sq feet. There’s a family on insta that’s building in Tennessee and her builder quoted them $7000 for a 2200 sq foot home. Just for white mortar. 😳 I couldn’t believe it! Most will tack on a percentage for profit on top of the charge of the mason, electrician, plumber, etc... I feel for people that don’t know better.... You were smart in doing some of your changes on your own. Also, your hair is beautiful!

Oh good point about the guest bath. Our downstairs bathroom is half bath so it shouldn’t cost too much to add some extra touches!!! Thanks for the ideas!!!

Wow thank you sooo much! We are planning our meeting with our design studio and this video has helped sooo much! Thank you!!

I love how open you are about some of the pricing. It inspired me to ask my Builder about matte black door knobs, hinges and front door, I was quoted $3,000 (I passed) but in the kitchen they only wanted $175 for the cabinets. So your inspiration was a big help!

I’m not building a new home, but I’m renovating main level and you guys gave me a lot to think about.

Thanks for this video Jenna! We have our last design center appointment next month and this really helped. 😉

Great tips! I’ve been waiting for this video forever! Great job on your videos :)

My appointment is on Apr 29th. Thanks for the tip. I've checked Home Depot and found all the cabinet upgrades like slide outs for my cabinets, lazysusans, trash bins and cutlery drawers for 1/3 the cost. Picking what I can't change. LOL

Love this! You should consider being a virtual design consultant! I would pay for your help!!

Thanks for sharing this information. We recently purchased a new build. This was so helpful! 💜

I agree on lighting! I purchased my townhouse after everything had been chosen and I am grateful for all of the recessed lighting.

We are building a house. Unfortunately a garage and master bath were considered structural upgrades so that's where we spent our money. We opted for a 2 car garage, master bath and gas fireplace. We are also doing a gas stove and upgraded to a nicer deck material.. its like trex but a different brand. I am so excited to move in but it won't be ready until late springtime.

We prioritized flooring, lighting (added only prewire cuz they wanted insane amounts for fans), new sink & faucet (cuz they were cheap) we were going to do new countertops and/or backsplash but the one they had we liked and added blinds as well! Oh we also added the washer/dryer because it was only $50 more then it was in stores!

I’m building in Australia and love seeing other people’s experiences in different countries and even different cities in Aus. Our builder has everything on an online portal and they ask you to pick as much as you can before you go to your Prestart which is what we call our design centre appointment. We upgraded things you couldn’t upgrade later so we upgraded lighting (adding in extra lighting) extra plumbing (for fridge and extra taps outside). We got standard cabinets because they were going to charge us $10,000 for cabinet upgrades so we are just going to get cabinet fronts from our big brand hardware store here 😊

To anyone reading this... You can get NO HARDWARE for cabinetry and just upgrade to the soft close hinges and push-to-open mechanism later on.

I have always had a gas stove/oven. It does look better than an electric cooktop but I've always been told that electric doesn't heat consistently. I think Mike mentioned that. I bought my house 36 years ago but I really identified with what you two have gone through. They try to rush you through the process and it's maddening because you know you will be spending a lot of money and have to live with any bad choices for a long time. I think content like this would be so useful for other new build first time home buyers. I appreciate that you both were there to talk about it.

That red lip, sis! Thanks for the tips too.

I think y’all made the right choice with gas stove or cooktop, growing up with gas then living in apartments with electric, I do think electric heats up then slows down like your hubby said! I’d 100% go with gas when we build our home as well! Great tips! Thanks guys! 😊❤️

Já cheguei dando like 👍🏻 🇧🇷 adoro ver seus vídeos! 🏡❤️

Thank you for this, appreciated it BuT can you please someday also do a get ready with you, you look gorgeous and I’m dying to know how you got the hair n makeup look!!

Hi Jenna & Michael - big thumbs up!! This vid helped us a lot.

The farmhouse sink is also what we want as well!

Lighting. Watch out for high ceiling lights and chandeliers/pendants especially in stairsways Light Bulbs eventually go out. Make sure you'll be able to replace lightbulbs without having to buy/rent a scaffold. There are certain pendants that you can access the bulbs with a pole reacher while others it is not possible.

Great video! Thank you for the tips!

I'm waiting for the design center to call as I write this! Thanks so much for the heads up. I feel much more prepared!

Thanks for the video and all the advice.

Gas cooks food move evenly...much better than electric. Faucets offered by the builder are usually not the same that you buy at big box stores. Those are plastic internal parts and builders get a better, heavier grade with better internal parts. Even if they have the same name off the shelf, they are different. That may not be a big deal to some people though. And just upgrading your carpet padding makes a substantial difference without breaking the bank for a higher grade carpet.

I would love a gas cook top! It cooks so much better.

Real hardwood floors and electrical upgrades are really the only stuff on our mandatory upgrade list. Structural stuff that would be a huge pain to try and add later. The extra 20K+ to upgrade our kitchen just isn’t in the budget right now so we are going cheap everything knowing we will remodel the kitchen in 10 years to what we actually want it to be. We also did a complete custom home where I worked with the builder to design 100% of the floor plan so some things that might be considered an upgrade (like the oversized 4 car garage) was in the plans from the get go.

Thanks for this video! Im looking at a new build in san diego by lennar and love your input on what you prioritized. I *wish* i had the extra cash for all the upgrades like the model home lol

Helpful video! Thank you so much

What about structural upgrades, such as roofing, decks, patio, siding windows and the like?

Wow great tips 👏👌👍😍

Great video! Amazing tips!!

Really informative video! Thanks

Looks like this was Pulte, no? We are in the middle of this process ourselves now. Nerve-wracking! Thank you for the video!

We had our final design center appt yesterday!

Also curious to what flooring you chose for the kitchen and bathrooms? Thanks

Another things to consider is resale value. We’ve looked at a lot of houses in the past year. The ones that had no or minimal upgrades looked cheap and really took away from the “new home” vibe that’s popular. We just purchased a few months ago and paid more for the one with all the upgrades. A house just next door with the cheapest basics is not selling. So if you can afford some upgrades you’ll be happier in the long run.

What a great video, though we are not buying a new house, now or in the near future I really enjoyed your advice and ideas. Your husband could pass as my grandson's twin! He's in the air force, and I want to talk to him now!

Such great advice and tips and such a beautiful home. I’m super excited to seeing what updates you make next.

Lots of good information. Our biggest regret was that we didn't think of where our fridge would be located so we had to have counter depth. Not happy with that. And we upgraded for lights to turn on when we open pantry and closets. But enjoyed your views, good info!!

I have my design appointment tomorrow, this was super helpful. I am so bummed because to upgrade the sink to the farmhouse sink is 4K. 🤮 since I work for a plumbing contractor, and able to get fixtures at cost, I cannot justify that upgrade with a clear conscience. My fiancé and I decided to just redo the whole island in a couple of years.

Great video 😘♥️🤗

That's great information, thanks for sharing. What's the paint color of your walls and trim

This helps thanks!

How much was it to add a different paint color to the wall with a different finish if you don’t mind saying? It’s beautiful! Love the color.

Hi Jenna! Were your fireplace and entrance skylight upgrades or included? They really add a lot of interest to your home and are beautiful.

Jenna, Great recommendations💕! I’m in the process of remodeling my whole house. I’m a new subscriber love your style. Can you tell me what color are your interior walls? Thanks

It's interesting what different builders will offer; our builder gave us $80,000 in upgrades which made it easy for us to include the gourmet kitchen with its cabinets, backsplash, and countertops, lanai pocket-door, epoxy garage flooring, paint, built-in mudroom cabinet, LVP everywhere except the secondary bedrooms and where there is tile in the bathrooms and fully outfitted laundry room. However, we didn't have the choice to put in a fireplace which, to me, is the centerpiece of a living room. At the last moment, I decided to upgrade the master bathroom countertops and change the kitchen drawer pulls - be aware that builders order your choices very soon after you select them so you might not be able to make any changes.

What builder did you go with? 4 hours isn't a very long time to make all those choices. Thank you for sharing your experience

You discussed your flooring. Were you offered hardwood flooring and is so what was the reason you went with luxury vinyl. I know they are more expensive, however was there another reason. I am in the middle of making this decision.

Where did you buy your blue sectional sofa? It’s adorable!

How much was it to change the countertop in the kitchen? Any idea on how much it may cost to change the backsplash in the kitchen, as well as the tile in the shower?

Hi! Just found your channel! Just curious what’s the square footage of your house?

When I built my home, my builder wanted to change $900 for the same sink and that was 20 years ago!

Love from India ❤️

If you don’t mind me asking, how much was it to install the Mohawk plank flooring? Did they give a price per square foot? We have an appointment next week and I’m trying to get an idea of flooring costs.

Thanks for this video! For the shade of your paint, was it alabaster by SW? If so, how does it look against your white kitchen?

Can you talk about ceiling height in your house and the cost attached to different ceiling heights.

A good idea is if you plan on switching light fixtures, use the electrician from the builder so as not to void any warranty

Thank you

Only thing I would add about buying appliances ahead of time is remember you still have to close on the house! Do not use cash that you need in your account in order to close. Best thing is to check with your lender before making a large purchase

May I borrow your husband to put in fixtures and fans for me haha? As a Hoosier widow thinking of building in Florida I can’t do that alone😳. Thanks for the great tips! One question- did you add extra electrical outlets such as a family room floor outlet for a library table and for the deck/patio area if not included?

I'm so glad I came across your channel. I have so many questions. We are in contract for a new build that should be done by the end of August. We recently had our first studio appointment and we are currently going through all of the electrical and audio options. Question: what do they mean by selecting a texture for your walls - example - skiptral, orange peel, santa fe, etc. Where you guys asked this question, if so what walls do they mean?

What structural upgrades did you do?

What type of window coverings do you have?

I wish my house had a gas stove, and water heater. I HATE electric burners and it’s so much cheaper to run gas than electric for a water heater anyhow. Also the cleaning depends because some electric stoves still have coils and stuff gets under and it’s awful to clean.

Appreciate the info! Good to know stuff. I really love your floors. So this is off topic, but Jenna, can you give us a makeup tutorial?? Also wonder if you could post a wedding photo/photos. Just totally disregard this if a safety/privacy issue. It’s just that you guys are so cute🤗😉

We had 1 appointment & it was closer to an hour. It was the beginning of Covid so we definitely felt rushed & stressed. We've built before & knew what we wanted for the most part. Our 1st build at 20 was a nightmare; I was clueless.

This convinced me I should upgrade paint. We have kids and they RUIN the walls. Thanks!

Design center = Profit center for the builder

Thanks, Guys!

Your experience is so different than mine! I picked every single thing in my house and sourced it from Amazon, Wayfair, local stores, etc and just handed it to my builder and he installed anything I turned his way. I wonder why it’s so different for you?

Isn't it more economical to have your floors done by an outside contractor vs. the builder?

We are currently building a custom home so we don’t have a “design center”. I’m just on my own going around to different places picking everything separately. I’m kinda jealous. Also, love your navy blue couch! Can you share the info?

What fridge is that? Can you please link it. Thank you

I have my walkthrough on Monday! Could you share your walkthroughs checklist pls? :)