TL;DR: Houzz is a great resource for production housing design choices. By using Houzz to prepare we were able to make design choices that kept us on budget. Thank you, Houzz contributors!

I can't recommend enough using Houzz as your starting point for designing a production house. I've never built a custom home or done a reno - which comprises most of the posts here - but Houzz can be helpful for your production home experience. Read a lot, post questions with a thick skin and you'll be better for it.

This is our second production build and the price point is higher than in 2013 so preparing for the design center was necessary. Fortunately, the design center sent a presentation of options and brand lines (sans prices) to prepare. And I did for a month!

By creating Ideabooks (and Pinterest boards), I walked into the cabinet and countertop appointment confident to make decisions. It was clear the 'designer' wasn't going to take the lead so I asked my husband and Realtor to pull samples. The 'designer' watched as I managed the appointment with deftness, recalling specific brand and design names. We were done an hour early due to my prep with Houzz. I use designer loosely in our case because she wrote things down and provided no help and when I asked for guidance she said, "Well this isn't my style so I can't provide any advice." That's when you know you're on your own; thankful to my Realtor for her help because she knows trends vs enduring choices.

The second appointment had to be rescheduled due to the builder rep being sick so my Realtor and I, with the time blocked went to the design center to flesh out ideas. I sent those to the builder rep so when we arrived for our re-scheduled appointment the items were pulled for us and my husband could yeah/nay items. Then we spent more time on misc items like outlets/lighting. We even had time to muse about the predicament of paint; the designer thought Kilim Beige was still an option and ha! it hadn't been for two years BUT turns out it was still in the design database (hence why the designer thought it was an option) so after a few heated phone calls with the sales rep we were able to get the paint. When both designers think it's an option and you build your home design around it, it's unsettling to find that the only options are standard SW Bright White or upgrades to various shades of gray - NO beige options at all!

Best yet! We achieved our total home purchase budget only going over by .6%.

Standard items: (some will be replaced later when we have a better idea of how the house lives)

• Tile in the bathrooms and laundry - Daltile Cannes Crema in 12x12 no accents
• Kitchen backsplash - Daltile Color Wave almond subway, glossy, classic layout
• Appliance package - GE
• Lighting - Kichler
• Cabinet pulls
• Commodes (they come in a lot of design options!)
• Faucets except had to upgrade for ORB (Kohler)
• Fireplace mantel
• Mouldings and casings ($6000 for upgrade)
• Undermount bath sinks - Kohler
• Garage door and window panel ($2150 for carriage style upgrade)
• Ceiling fans
• Shower enclosure ($900 for frameless heavy glass upgrade)

Upgrades:

• Whole-home flooring Armstrong Empower Rigid Core LVP
• Cambria countertop Windermere
• Cabinets: Merillat Glenrock, Kona, full overlay
• Cabinets: Added pull-out shelves x 2; trash bin cabinet
• Silestone Eternal Marfil bath countertops in both (saved money using in both baths)
• Paint: SW Kilim Beige (vs. standard of SW Bright White)
• Master bath tile to 12x24 in standard tile option
• Undercabinet lighting
• Kitchen sink single bowl Kohler Cairn Neoroc in matte brown
• Door levers instead of knobs
• Increased height on hall bath vanity, added drawers
• Additional interior recessed lights, GFI and 120v outlets, exterior lighting

Being on budget means we can afford to:

• Install a backyard fence
• Clear out the 'back' landscaping behind installed sod and plant more barrier trees
• Convert deck steps to dachshund ramp
• Window coverings for 14 windows (this one might be the death of me)