HHello Inspired Room readers — Cassie here. I’m excited to share the first post in a three-part series about our experience building and finishing a newer home. We moved into our house a little over three years ago, and lately I’ve been thinking back on the build, the decisions we made, and what we might change going forward.
The exterior of our home midway through construction.
We live in a neighborhood dominated by new construction or homes built within the last decade. While I adore the character of older homes, buying new made sense for our situation. Newer homes come with several advantages — fewer structural worries, updated systems, and the convenience of a more move-in ready property. The trade-off is that many builder-grade homes can feel generic and lack the custom touches and history found in older houses.
There are a few practical tips to keep in mind if you’re buying new construction. We learned several lessons during our build — some choices we’re happy with and others we’d change if we could. Here are the highlights from our experience:
What worked well
- Choosing neutral finishes. We were fortunate to purchase our home just before the interior finishes were finalized, so we could choose most of the materials. We opted for a light, neutral palette that would work with our furnishings and stand the test of time. Neutral choices make it easier to layer color and texture later without extensive remodeling.
- Prewiring for lighting and customizing later. Instead of taking the builder’s stock light fixtures, we had the home prewired for pendants and a dining chandelier and installed our own fixtures later. That approach saved money and gave us the freedom to pick pieces we truly loved.
- Keeping upgrades minimal at the builder level. Builders often add steep markups on upgrades like window coverings, specialty lighting, and built-in storage. We limited our upgrades to items that would have been difficult or costly to change later — speaker wiring, upgraded cabinets, and select electrical provisions — and planned to handle other updates ourselves over time.
Our kitchen nearing completion with prewired lighting ready for chosen fixtures.
How the kitchen looks today after we installed our own lighting.
Decisions we regret
- Painting everything the same color. To save on costs, we had the walls and ceilings painted the same light neutral. That was cheaper, but it left us tied to a single mid-tone color on the ceiling that makes future paint choices trickier. In hindsight, selecting a truer white for ceilings would have been more versatile while still being budget-friendly.
- Problematic recessed light bulbs. The builder installed recessed cans that require an uncommon high-efficiency bulb. So when a bulb burns out it’s frustrating and time consuming to find replacements. If possible, insist on standard, easy-to-supply fixtures and bulbs.
- Accepting pre-installed blinds from the builder. We had the builder install blinds before moving in to avoid dealing with window coverings right away. That convenience cost us — the options were limited and marked up. Choosing and installing our own window treatments later would have saved money and allowed for more personalized choices.
So much greige! For reference, the color is Sherwin Williams’ Accessible Beige.
I hope these reflections are useful if you’re navigating a new build or a recently constructed home. In the next post I’ll share specific ways we’ve added character and warmth to our builder-grade house — small changes that have made a big difference. Keep an eye out for the follow-up post about adding character to a builder-grade home.
Until then,
More posts by Cassie:
Add Character to a Builder-Grade Home Part Two
A Mudroom Makeover
A Small Backyard Renovation and Deck Addition