Have any long lead time items if not hard quoted, at the least specified to the last "t", so you are ready to pull the trigger at once after approval.

I love this. Thank you.

Have you selected all of your finishes? This is the time to get out to the stores and look at stuff in person. I did a lot of on-line research and "window shopping" but I also paid visits and it was great to not have pressure to make decisions quickly. I don't know what you are replacing but I paid multiple visits to look at appliances, faucets and equivalent; tile, counter materials; sconces - really anything that was going to be determined by me in terms of taste as well as functionality to some extent. For example, I had liked some kitchen faucets on line but when I tested them in person I realized I didn't like how they functioned.

I don't know how you are sourcing cabinets. I wound up going with a custom local cabinet maker but I had once thought about a kitchen remodel but hadn't done it at that time and I did spend a lot of time visiting different kitchen cabinet stores and seeing the various brand in person. Also helped me realize how I wanted to configure the cabinets.

Perhaps this is obvious but do you have your GC selected?

So your house design is done and you are just waiting for city/county permits?

Is this a custom or production/tract builder?

Who is going to be making design choices?

Stop daydreaming and finalize your design choices, so you can start ordering stuff. There are many things that are still very hard to get.

We are still waiting for Crestron dimming modules a year after they were ordered and 4 months after we moved in. What that means, is that to turn on/off many of our lights we need to use the breaker panel. No one thought some of these shortages would not only continue for this long, but actually get worse. Have you tried buying a car lately? The one I was looking at might take 18 months for the dealer to receive! A combination of material shortages and demand.

Make sure you know your lead times. Especially on appliances, cabinets and windows.

Get those ordered as soon as possible.

Pick out and order every possible thing you can. This should include some various wines. Figure out the wine you like best and then order a case of it, maybe two.

No wine! Someone has to stay completely sober to catch all the issues created by those that seem to be drinking on the job! 😉

Lead times for appliances are measured in toddler age months. Cabinets are half a year. Some tile is 12 months. Lighting? Flooring? Plumbing? Rent a storage unit snd start stockpiling things. NOW.

@chispa You go out and look for all the errors first... Then wine! :)

@Helen I haven't picked out ALL my finishes. That is a good call to get those tightened up. I'll also be away for a couple months, so that puts a crimp on seeing things IRL, but when I get back I will definitely be ordering samples and doing some visits!

@chispa .That is mad! Oh wow. :( I think I'd live by candlelight before traipsing back and forth to flip the breaker- hahah.

@Verbo .that is GREAT advice (if not depressing!)

Order your appliances if they have a long wait time (36" dual fuel ranges are over a year for the popular ones, for example).

Order your cabinets, often 3-6 month wait times.

Unless you are traveling to the far reaches of civilization you can still check out stuff in person since the stuff you would be looking at would be available nationally for the most part.

Are you working with a good designer? I found that absolutely critical in terms of helping me - from the "big" stuff down to smaller stuff like advising on where the toilet paper holder should go.

I would order windows and appliances right away. Really nail down all your finish selections; if you need to swap something because of lead times, you'll know now and can shop some more. It's exciting!

Agree with lead time. We are 3 weeks into a 20 week wait for one window, which I had to remind myself was five months. Look at your list of EVERYTHING and prioritize ordering by longest out lead time. Make sure you and your designer and or project manager are on the same page with you and you them so all know what is happening when with decisions, ordering and timelines.

And be prepared that things change from day to day and even hour by hour. The faucet that is in stock today, can suddenly become unavailable tomorrow and have a new back order time of several months.

I waited 5 months for some bathroom accessories from Brizo. After I received them I realized I was short one towel bar and just happened to look online and by chance one of the online companies had 20 in stock that day. I got that one in 2 days! I did pay more, because I didn't get my builder's discount, but it was worth it to have it in hand. Crazy out there!

Mostly a repeat of below but we're having to repeat ourselves to clients weekly.

• Assume a minimum of 60 days lead time for the simplest items and finalize all decisions. This is recovering very slowly.
• Question "in stock" promises... inventory counts have been inaccurate because the people who count are out, materials get diverted, etc.
• Order long lead items, especially imported items (5-6 months depending)
• windows, exterior doors, some interior doors, any that are custom
• Light fixtures are often manufactured to order - we're seeing 6 months
• Orders are not always processed quickly as staffing has been thin at all levels
• High end appliances are sometimes 12 months out,
• Garage doors have been 6+ months out
• Begin cabinet layout design, finalize once framing completed
• stockpile what you can
• Be flexible w your "final" decisions
• Minimize changes

ADDED

• select all appliances & plumbing fixtures
• select door hardware, especially color (for hinges @ door orders)
• select roofing colors, exterior colors

IMO going away at this stage is really not a good idea so maybe explain that part. I never design a kitchen until the appliances are on hand especailly right now.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting

I wrongly assumed appliances would be selected so I added that to the list. We always have to layout cabinets with ordered appliance specs. Important to get any plumbing locations finalized.

Clients traveling usually often don't get critical decisions completed timely. Trades who run out of work in front of them leave for their next commitment, return when their schedule permits, It may be 2 days or 2 months.