Congratulations on building a home with Hearthside Homes! We understand just how monumental this is for you and your family. Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects about building a home is being able to make decisions about the materials! From tile to carpet, cabinetry, countertops, paint and more, it’s fun to get to make your home uniquely yours. At Hearthside Homes, we want to make this process easy and enjoyable! When you build a home with our team, you’ll be invited into our Design Center to pick out all the bells and whistles for your new home.
This week on the blog, we’re interviewing an expert! Lori Bailey is the Designer here at Hearthside Homes. She helps all of our clients feel confident with the material selections they choose! Sometimes clients attend their design meeting with a clear vision, and other times they don’t know where to start. Lori will assist you through each and every step! Our team has compiled the answers to a list of frequently asked questions in regards to material selections. We hope you enjoy this insight!
How To Best Prepare For Your Design Meeting
Many buyers want to know how they can best prepare for their design meeting. After all, you’re going to be picking out every detail of your home in a matter of hours! To prevent feeling overwhelmed, Lori has some suggestions on how you can best prepare for this.
LORI SAYS: “At the design meeting, we select all of the flooring, carpet, tile, countertops and paint colors. It really helps to have a general idea of what you want such as white painted cabinets and gray countertops, etc… Bringing in photos from other Hearthside homes or online resources can help guide the selections”.
Before you attend the design meeting, know what style you like! It really helps if you can share a few inspirational photos. Pinterest is a great tool! Feel free to bring inspirational photos for your kitchen, bathrooms and exterior. You should also know what color cabinets and countertops you want to go with, as these elements often inspire the rest of the material selections. If you have these decisions made prior to the meeting, it will be easier to make choices on other aspects of the home.
How Long Does This Meeting Last?
LORI SAYS: “It really varies from an hour to four hours depending on the size of the house and the decisiveness of the homeowners”.
Yep, that’s right! In all honesty, preparation plays a huge role in the duration of the design meeting. Again, make sure you have a general idea of the look and style you’re going for. From there, Lori can help guide you through the entire process!
Will I Have Plenty Of Options Within The Standard Pricing?
At our Design Center, there are standard options as well as upgrade options you can choose from. If you want to stay strictly in the original budget, make sure you let Lori know at the beginning of the design meeting. She will exclusively show you options that are within your budget. Alternatively, if you have a little wiggle room, there are some beautiful options you can upgrade to! We try our best to cater to all types of customers. With that said, you do have PLENTY of standard options to choose from! You won’t be pressured into upgrading to anything either.
LORI SAYS: “There are dozens of tile options that are standard, also many flooring and countertop options too. We have 5 styles of standard cabinets with many hardware options. Paint colors are really unlimited!”
What If I Fall In Love With Something Outside The Budget?
Sometimes homeowners fall in love with something a little outside of their original budget. Whether that’s additional carpet padding, a beautiful backsplash or luxurious countertops, Lori can provide pricing right on the spot! From there, you can determine if the upgrade is something you’re comfortable with. You won’t ever have to worry about a sales push during your design meeting!
LORI SAYS: “While we have a generous amount of standard options, we also offer some very nice upgraded materials so homebuyers can choose to put their budgets towards what is most important to them. I recommend prioritizing what is most important to what is least important. For example, many homebuyers choose to upgrade the countertops in the kitchen but not in the secondary bathrooms.”
What If I Need More Options?
It doesn’t happen often, but some homeowners want to see more options than what are displayed at our Design Center. In this case, we’ll direct homeowners to our supplier SRS Design located in North Kansas City. They have an extensive showroom and excellent designers that are very familiar with our homes. They will communicate your choices to our team so that you don’t have to worry about relaying the information.
Eeek! Can I Change My Mind?
Although you should leave your design meeting feeling confident, sometimes homeowners change their minds on certain aspects of their material selections such as paint or flooring.
LORI SAYS: “Any changes in the build process create an opportunity for errors, but for the most part changes can be made after the meeting. Buyer’s just need to contact Hearthside Homes or SRS Design (whomever they met with) and let them know what they would like to change. Usually, that change will be followed up with a change order on Builder Trend for the home buyer’s to approve.”
Keep in mind, it’s best for all parties if you can make definitive choices at your design meeting! Although we’re very organized at Hearthside Homes, making a lot of changes can delay the build process. If you’re on the fence about anything, ask Lori and she will guide you to a great choice!
What Are The Next Steps After The Design Meeting?
You’ve just made all your material decisions at our Design Center – HOORAY! Before we can send you on your merry way, Lori will walk you through what needs to happen next. You will still need to pick out your appliances and lighting. Every homeowner is particular about these sorts of things, so we’ll send you straight to the source. You also have the option of meeting with our cabinet supplier if you choose. Just like SRS Designs, we are comfortable and very communicative with these vendors. Once you leave their facility, they will notify us about your choices.
LORI SAYS: “Homebuyer’s also need to meet with Factory Direct Appliance, Ferguson Lighting and have the option to meet with Miller’s Custom Cabinets. After all the design meetings are complete, we will issue a design selections change order for home buyers to review and approve.”
Lori Shares Her Best Advice
LORI SAYS: “When buyer’s come in for the Pre-Construction meeting, take a few minutes after the meeting and browse through the showroom. We can briefly provide an overview of the options. Also, visit our models and spec homes if possible, to get a better idea of what to expect.”
Building Your Home With Hearthside Homes
Are you thinking about building your own home? Hearthside Homes would love to help! Our goal is to make the home building experience easy and fun! We currently build in the Parkville, Kansas City, Liberty and Kearney areas. Click here to view our communities. Once you choose a community, you’ll pick a floor plan you love! We have dozens of layouts for you to choose from. If you’re having trouble deciding where to start, one of our experts can help you decide what’s best for your family and lifestyle. Click here to explore our 2 story, 1.5 story, reverse, ranch and split style homes.
Want to learn more about the Hearthside process? Click here to experience a family’s journey from start to finish! From the pre-construction meeting to material selections, home orientation and a 1-year warranty check-up, Hearthside Homes is here to guide you through it all! Ready to contact one of our experts? Fill out this form on our website and one of our team members will get back to you. Additionally, you’re welcome to give us a call at (816) 781-0234 or visit our design center at 1915 Industrial Dr #300, Liberty, MO 64068. Don’t forget to follow the fun on Facebook and Instagram!