The new build selections checklist

A few weeks after you sign a building contract, most builders invite you to a selections appointment. In one or two long sessions you choose almost everything you will see and touch in the house: floors, benchtops, tiles, taps, lights, power points, bricks and roof colour. Those choices are then written into your contract. Changing them later usually means a variation, with a fee on top of the price difference, and sometimes a delay.

It is one of the most important days of the whole build, and most people walk in underprepared. This checklist is how we help clients get ready.

1. Before the appointment

• Read your inclusions list line by line. Know exactly what is standard and what is an upgrade. Many “included” items have a set allowance; anything above it is extra.
• Set an upgrade budget, then keep a buffer. Decide what you can add before you see the display, not after. A buffer of 10 to 15 percent of that figure stops one beautiful benchtop from eating the rest.
• Furnish the floor plan. Draw your actual sofa, bed, dining table and TV to scale. Power points, lights and switches only make sense once you know where furniture goes.
• Collect references, but edit them. Ten images that share a feeling are more useful than a hundred that don’t. Note what you like about each one: the colour, the texture, the light.
• Bring samples you already own. A rug, an artwork or a timber piece you are keeping will anchor the palette better than any display.

2. Decide the big surfaces first

Large areas set the mood of the house and are the hardest to change later. Choose them together, in daylight if you can, and hold the samples side by side.

• Flooring for living areas, bedrooms and wet areas, and where each one changes.
• Kitchen benchtops and cabinetry colours.
• Wall and floor tiles for bathrooms, ensuite and laundry.
• Internal wall colour and ceiling colour.
• Exterior: brick or render colour, roof, window frames, front door and garage door.

Keep the palette tight. Three or four main materials, repeated through the house, will always look more considered than a different idea in every room.

3. Electrical and lighting: the most regretted decisions

Ask anyone who has built what they would change, and the answer is almost always power points and lights. Walk through a normal day in the floor plan and mark every place you will need power.

• Double power points beside each bed, and USB outlets where you charge phones.
• Power in the kitchen island or peninsula, in the pantry for appliances, and behind the fridge.
• A TV wall with power and data at the right height, and a plan for hiding cables.
• Power in the garage, outdoor living area and garden, including for a future car charger if you might want one.
• Layered lighting: general light, task light over benches and desks, and softer light for evenings. Downlights alone make a room feel flat.
• Pendant positions fixed to the furniture plan, centred over the island or dining table, not over the middle of the room.
• Switches where you enter a room, two-way switching for stairs and long hallways, and dimmers in living and bedrooms.
• Ceiling fan provisions in bedrooms and living areas for Perth summers, even if you add the fans later.
• External lighting for paths, the front door and the alfresco.

4. Kitchen

• Choose appliances before cabinetry, so every opening is sized for what you will actually buy.
• Check rangehood type and where it vents.
• Plan storage by use: drawers for pots, a pantry you can see into, space for the bin and recycling.
• Sink size and position, tap style and finish.
• Splashback material and how high it runs.

5. Bathrooms and laundry

• Shower niches: position, size and whether the tile lines up with them.
• Tile layout and grout colour. A darker grout on floors is more forgiving.
• Tapware and accessories in one consistent finish through the whole house.
• Vanity storage and mirror cabinets, plus power for toothbrushes and hair tools.
• Laundry bench length, overhead storage and a place for drying.

6. Design for the Perth climate

• Notice which rooms face west. Afternoon sun is strong for much of the year; plan window coverings, eaves or outdoor blinds for those walls.
• Think about roof and exterior colours with summer heat in mind, not only how they look on the display board.
• Treat the alfresco as a real room: ceiling fan, lighting, power and a sensible connection to the kitchen.
• Choose flooring that copes with sand, pets and bare feet.

7. Before you sign

• Ask for the full selections summary in writing and check every line against your notes.
• Confirm which items are standard, which are upgrades and the price of each upgrade.
• Ask how and when changes can be made after this point, and what a variation costs.
• Keep photos of every sample you chose, with codes and names.

The short version

1. Know your inclusions and set an upgrade budget with a buffer.
2. Furnish the plan before choosing power and lights.
3. Choose big surfaces together, in a tight palette.
4. Over-plan power points and layer the lighting.
5. Size the kitchen around real appliances.
6. Keep one finish for tapware and hardware.
7. Design for afternoon sun and summer heat.
8. Check the written summary before you sign.