Unlike @worthy, this is our first full build after remodeling our current digs of nearly 30 years. It is likely the only one.

I'm not concerned with resale. I've designed it so that many remodeling changes can be made fairly painlessly. The structural central core needs to be left alone but there are plenty of opportunities to slice and dice it elsewhere without structural engineering.

An example would be to put a stack in the laundry, cut some walls and make a huge closet and space for a soaking tub in the main bedroom suite. Those things are not important to us but the next couple could get there without any beams or columns or engineering.

We like the big laundry for us, with the sink and counter and cabinets.

When I hear the verbal hand wringing "what about resale?"

It reminds me of that friend's house you visited as a child where the formal living room furniture is all covered with plastic and you are admonished "we don't sit in there", and it usually has some gawdawful white carpet that is begging for dirt and stains to attack from everywhere.

We are building this for us to live in, until the upkeep is too much and we move to a condo or similar.

That said, we are using fairly neutral choices in LVP flooring, quartz counters, etc.

The first floor powder room is going to be ADA. It has the required 60" circle of space, and I can easily make the sink mount so that a person in a chair can use it.

@izzieo, i'm laughing inside at "resale"... This house was designed with our particular needs in mind and no concern for resale. But since I'm going with almost entirely natural materials to fit the site, because I like them and that's what I want, I hope that it will be appealing to future homeowners, too. (I'm using some colorful paint in various rooms, but paint is easy to change.) I figure if they like the landscape, the house is not going to be what stops them--it might be the steep road.

Re countertops, I have granite now, and it's bulletproof, but I've always wanted soapstone, and that's what I'm getting this time. Haven't picked the slab yet. I don't intend to oil it, but to let it darken naturally. I realize it gets a patina, and I don't care. It's impervious, it won't stain, and it doesn't need to be sealed. Regarding quartz, I agree that some of them are beautiful. But I prefer the all-natural stone materials. You can get safe sealers. Fwiw, I sealed my granite once 17 years ago, and never needed to again. Otoh, quartz contains far more silica than natural stone, in addition to other manmade substances, and it has caused a lot of cases of silicosis in workers--so don't let them cut it on-site. One reason I know about silicosis is a neighbor of mine had to evacuate her house and leave all her belongings behind because workers accidentally contaminated the house by cutting a silica-containing material that created silica dust that was then sucked into the HVAC system (which they hadn't blocked off) and spread throughout her house. They had to do a hazardous waste clean up and now they're redoing the whole interior. It has been more than a year.

@A C, all I can say is it WILL get better! If nothing else, it will eventually be done and that will be better! So sorry about the tile drama! I took a long time choosing mine as well and I have not yet picked the kitchen backsplash. When I go there this week, I'll see more of the kitchen installed, and that will help. One thing that really killed me was the paint color choices--I was in paint color hell for both the exterior and the interior. I have so many samples now, I want to donate them somewhere (if anyone has suggestions?). I like your wall tiles! The only caution I have about your bathroom floor tiles is I think they're not slip-resistant (from looking at the web page), which I would think about for a bathroom floor.

@Kelly M, I love that island countertop idea! I think it will look awesome.

Speaking of things a future buyer may not like so much... I laid out my shower wall tiles on the floor, and the tile guys numbered the tiles on the back to make sure they kept the order right, and then put them on the wall. It's supposed to look like falling blossoms and leaves. They just sent me a photo. The sides of the shower will be white, and the niches will be solid blue. The deco tiles are a bit bluer than they look here:

This is such a beneficial discussion for me and I’m sure for so many others. @Renee, your quartz is beautiful and definitely makes me want to not rule it out completely. @A C I which I could give you a hug - I’ve been quite overwhelmed this week especially seeing some things I don’t like during our framing stage. Regarding building for now vs. resale, we are building what works for us and what we want. However, we aren’t taking a bunch of risks as our home will be a traditional farmhouse. @2rickies - that tile is fantastic!! Bravo!!

It's a little fat, but otherwise pretty nice. It could be eliminated if you retrofitted an apron front sink.

This is unique to every home and budget. Might be worthwhile to go through and pick your fixtures now instead of trying to guess what you're going to spend. How many fixtures do you need? Are you planning on doing cheap boob lights in all the bedrooms? Are you looking at high end lighting stores? You could spend $75 on a fixture or $500 or $3000.

We've built and renovated many homes as licenced builders and never once tried to estimate a lighting budget beforehand. What's spent at that stage is determined by how much over--why is it never under?--we've gone on the big elements, i.e., excavation, foundation, framing, services.

I agree with the advice to start looking at fixtures. I blew well past my original lighting estimate (whole house remodel) with one fixture. I kept a spreadsheet to keep track of styles, sizes, prices, etc. because after awhile I looked at so many. My designer warned me that the builders she’s worked with always estimate low on lighting.

Different topic but she also warned me that many home owners don’t plan on window treatments until the end, and often get sticker shock. She was right.

Are you sure she is a "friend"? People today throw that word around too casually. I have hundreds of "associates" in my personal and professional life, but only a handful I would ever call a friend. Even family does not fall into that exclusive group since you are forced into that relationship. People also think proximity and frequency equal friendship, which it does not.

A real friend is a person that cares about you and your well being without any benefit to themselves. These are the people that stand by you when even you feel not worth being stood by. They could easily walk away but choose to help you stand back up and take satisfaction of you having a good life. These people are priceless and should never be taken for granted. You don't need many friends. One true friend is better than a hundred associates that only care what they can take from you for their own benefit.

Pics

Second kitchen

@liz888, it looks fabulous! After all my paint angst, I brought chantilly lace and white dove to the house yesterday and it was clear that white dove was the winner. For whatever reason, the whiter whites just look too stark in our very bright rooms, and the warmth of white dove made the room feel more comfortable, and it goes well with all the other colors and materials. Everyone's place has such different light and combination of features, it's very individual. And now I know way more about paint than I ever imagined I would or wanted to know (and just about everything involving this build is like that)!

Electrical rough in is making progress! Looks a bit different in the ICF walls.

Bonus pictures of the Lovely sunset this evening, and Skinny - the runt of the litter who’s getting some extra feeds now and keeps falling asleep in my hands.