I'd start with some inspiration photos of some houses you like, try going on houzz.com for ideas.

I'd then got with choosing colors and types for your cabinets and floors and that will help pull everything else together!

Thanks for your response. We actually have chosen our cabinets and granite (not the actual slab, but the general color family) for our kitchen already. (FWIW, they're natural cherry Shaker cabs and a greenish granite.)

We've also spent lots of time on houzz, and I think we have a basic sense of what style we like. But what I can't figure out is how you choose one specific pendant light (or tile or drawer pull or pocket door or paint color or ...) and figure out where to buy it.

I really identified with someone in the bathroom forum who said she outfitted her whole bathroom in about an hour at Home Depot. I wish I could do that, but my husband won't let me.

Oh, gosh Minette: my DH would love it if I had gone to Home Depot and picked out everything in an hour. He was getting a little tired of me mulling over every little decision.

An example of choosing a bathroom faucet...determine your budget, finish, handle type, etc. Then go to a website such as faucetdirect.com. You can enter your preferences and see what you come up with. After that you can adjust your budget or preferences as needed. I did most of mine like that, and it at least helped narrow down the field. Don't forget to have fun along the way! How many times in our lives do we get to do this much shopping all at once!! :-)

We renovated our kitchen, living and bathrooms 3 years ago, and now we are about to build our own house.

For lighting we bought ours from home depot, loses and lamps plus. There were some great things at home depot that were very affordable and once installed look much more expensive.

For faucets, sinks etc, look at home depot to get idea of what you want, then hit google. There are many things you can get at 30-50% off home depot's prices.

Depending on where you live you should also check out some of the local discount cabinet stores, not for cabinets but for the fixtures. We got a great toto toilet for about 50% off the cost listed elsewhere, and a kitchen sink for a similar deal.

We are in a similar place. Demo started today and we are rebuilding our 2nd floor.

For bathroom fixtures I knew I wanted polished chrome, and I wanted an older look. I've also had good luck with Kohler fixtures in the past so I started there for faucets and shower parts. Oh, and I love cast iron for tubs and shower bases (feels so sanitary and solid) so that limited those choices.

For lighting and door knobs I wanted black. Not ORB, but plain flat black. That limited my choices to one style of Schlage or Kwikset each, or awesome Emtek knobs I can't justify. And going with black door knobs means black light fixtures.

This is getting long but figure out your constraints - do you like faucets with cross handles, levers, or a single wand-thingy? That will narrow it down quickly. Also - consider things you can easily change versus those that are a PITA. Shower valves are HARD to change, but light fixtures are easy. So when push comes to shove, I'll go with cheaper lighting to get the good quality shower valves.