3 things you must do to ensure your new home is actually custom.

Nov 13

EDUCATION

Many of us enter the process of building a custom home for various reasons. For some, they no longer want to live in the traditional master planned community. There are times that we have outgrown our current home and we just don’t want to leave our neighbors and community behind. In these situations, it is common to tear down our existing home and build a new custom home. No matter the real world reason that makes custom home building the logical solution, we really do want a home that looks good.

In this blog post, I want to share the 3 simple things you can do to lay the foundation for a custom and luxurious home. If you haven’t met with a builder--take note. If you are mid construction and you wonder if you have left out anything in your planning--keep reading. Finally, if you are weeks from completing your new home and you just don’t feel that spark and excitement you had hoped for--I have advice.

It really doesn’t matter how big your new custom home may be or where you have chosen to build, there are a few design elements that you can include in your project that will make your home feel luxurious and elegant.

Wallpaper

If you know me, you know how much I love wallpaper. Many people will begin the process of designing a custom home with an accent wall here and there. Many of you will go a little further to do a custom paint color in the dining room. That’s it. That is where the color and richness that your walls can bring to your home--ends. This is in fact unfortunate. Most people think that when you paint the walls, or add wallpaper to your home you are limiting your options. This is not true. If you wonder, what will I do after I become tired of the blue wallpaper in my master bathroom--you should certainly continue to read my blog.

In this day and time, wallpaper is the thing. There are so many options that there is bound to be a solution that works well for your home. Today, you can purchase wallpaper made of grasscloth, silk, and cork. The patterns available range include retro graphics, murals, botanicals, asian inspired, animal skins, and beyond.

Let me be very clear. I am in no way saying you should have wallpaper in every room of your new home. Not at all. Thought should go into scale, pattern, and the overall design concepts you have in mind. In my design practice one of the services that I offer my commonly is helping homeowners develop a color palette for their new home. While we may start with wall color for all the rooms, we quickly work our way into wallpaper as an option and then direction for fabric choices to consider and you begin to purchase fabric.

Are you completely clueless about where you should install wallpaper? Here are the most common rooms that I use wallpaper in my design practice:

Formal living room
Formal dining room
Powder room
Laundry room
Mudroom
Master bedroom
Guest bedroom
Office/Library

The options are limitless. If you are considering adding wallpaper to your custom home build, I highly recommend you have professional measurements before you order. Finally, you must hire a professional wallpaper installer that is familiar with the type of wallpaper you have chosen.

If you opt for non-vinyl grass cloth, you will see seams in the installation.

Lighting

You have probably heard me say this before, lighting is the jewlery added to every room. One of the best decisions that you can make early in the design process is to plan and budget for quality upgraded lighting. This upgrade does include the electrical systems and wiring that go in to place behind the walls and ceiling.

Lighting itself has the ability to completely transform a space and create a mood. I have to say, even if you work directly with a custom home builder for your floor plan, material selections and finishes--consider working with a lighting designer. In most markets, there are great lighting showrooms with highly lighting experiences that can help you understand your floor plan, lot selection and the considerations you should consider. In my design practice, rarely do we use standard flush mount lighting. I am a fan of LED recessed lighting, chandeliers, pendant lighting, and scones in some combination in every room.

If you are spending 18 months building your dream home, you don’t want to end up with a dark hallway that is drab during the brightest moments of the day. How would 2 recessed architectural LED lights installed at a 30 degree angle flooding the walls with light have completely changed the vibe and feel?

You want to develop a lighting plan well in advance. Simply adding a chandelier to a walk in closet, dimmers throughout, and extra pendant over the kitchen island after bids are in can add thousands of dollars to your budget. ; It may seem small, but it will cost considerably more to have an electrician come back out to hardware lighting after the walls and ceiling have been closed.

It is possible to purchase the most amazing furniture, rugs, window treatments, and accesories but your home will feel incomplete without quality light fixtures. I highly recommend adding a nice mix of various forms of lighting in your new custom home. By blending modern lighting technology, dimmers, and a diverse range of fixtures you can ensure that your new home has luxurious custom feel.

Upgraded Trim

In the early years of my career I watched builders charge considerable amounts of money for the most basic houses. In many cases, these houses had no window trim! The last recommendation that I can offer is to upgrade the trim level in your home. There are various areas that you can focus that will give your home the high end custom feel that you really want, but still be unsure about how to achieve.

This is an area that you can truly make your home exciting and one of a kind.

Crown Molding-Adding crown molding to the hallways, foyer, and literally every room in the house add so much detail. These beautiful pieces visually blend the transition from the wall to the ceiling. There are so many different styles and thicknesses to consider.

Baseboards- This is where the floor meets the walls. You could say baseboards are the crown molding of the floor. Elegant shoe molding and baseboards of great thickness and height will add so much detail and richness to the house. Don’t go too large or small. The height and thickness should be proportionate to the scale of your space.

Kitchen Cabinets-When finishing out your kitchen cabinets the taller the cabinets the better. In my design practice in most cases we opt for 42 inch upper cabinets at a minimum. Adding extra elements to your cabinets like crown molding, spacers and filler between each cabinet, and applied molding to the face of the cabinets themselves as well the vent hood will add so much beauty and elegance to your kitchen.

Paneling-Paneling the walls of your more formal space will add so much allure and character. You can panel at chair rail height, three quarters the ceiling height, or the entire room on all four walls, floor to ceiling. There are so many different styles and patterns to consider. If you don’t have the budget for extensive millwork, I would highly recommend paneling the first formal room off your entry to the right. You can have so much fun with paint and stain to make this truly one of a kind.

Coffered Ceilings-This is a great way to add detail to your ceiling. While many people may consider coffered ceilings to be more traditional and found in Prairie and Craftsman style homes, this isn’t always true. There many modern and contemporary homes that are beautifully done with this architectural element. Just as with paneling, there are so many patterns that can get created. You don’t have to stick with the traditional square boxes on the ceiling. In my design practice, I love to add coffered ceilings as a way to ground and anchor massive open concept spaces that everyone loves today. We have had great success with running coffered ceilings from the kitchen into the family room.

There you have it. These are just a few techniques you can use to make your custom home feel more upscale and luxurious.

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