What to Expect when Building a Custom Home
What to Expect when Building a Custom Home
Building a custom home is a big undertaking, but a job well done is so worth the effort.
Are you interested in creating a home that is fully unique for you and your family? Building a custom home is a big undertaking, but a job well done is so worth the effort. This article will walk you through what to expect when building a custom home including the five types of professionals you need to hire, what their responsibilities are, and how best to work with them.
Who you need to hire when constructing your dream home:
Architect
Lighting designer and AV consultants
Custom builder
Landscape architect
An interior designer like Uma Stewart Interiors & Lifestyle who can help you coordinate the whole project!
Here at Uma Stewart we are an interior design firm as well as licensed general contractors. Our job is to coordinate a full team of structural/architectural consultants, skilled tradespeople, A/V experts, landscape designers, and artisans to execute a consistent vision across your project. From our experience, here’s what you can expect and who you need to hire when building your custom home.
Usually a custom home build will start with an architect. Architects work on exterior design, structure, whole home layout, with some details on interior architecture. Next, the builder or contractor has to translate these plans into the actual construction. A lighting/AV designer is needed to work on automating the lights and technology in a home, calibrating light levels, and working with you to select the best AV equipment for your family. Once the exterior of the house is finalized, a landscape architect will design landscape features and plantings.
When clients come to us with architectural plans for new builds, they are often overwhelmed because the builder has given them a long list of items they need to select as part of the construction process. They also feel uncertain about whether they should accept the architect’s suggestions for layout, interior architecture, and material, or if they should consider other options. Enter the interior designer.The interior designer’s role is to coordinate with the whole team to orchestrate a consistent vision across the entire project. Your interior designer will help you to select all the finish materials like exterior paint and stone, as well as interior finishes like flooring, wall coverings, tile, counter surface, plumbing fixtures, and lighting fixtures. We can review lighting and AV plans to make sure they work with furniture plans, and landscaping plans to ensure they accommodate your outdoor furniture needs. All these features need to work together for the aesthetic of the home to be cohesive and selecting all of it can be overwhelming for the homeowner.
Oftentimes clients feel a lack of confidence when making so many decisions. The interior designer is the homeowner’s advocate throughout the construction process, helping you to feel calm and translating things between you and the builder and other teams.
Certain details truly rely on the interior design being in place first. For example, lighting placement is best decided once furniture layouts are determined. The interior designer creates a vision for the furniture layout so that the lighting designer can place lighting strategically. Without the furniture layout first, the lighting may not end up supporting the way you will eventually use the space.
Architects leave many interior details undecided and often are less current with furniture layouts, products, and kitchen and bath designs – another reason why it’s great to have an interior designer to help shape the vision. Interior designers take the architect’s plans and fill in all the beautiful details. We work with everyone to coordinate a finished and cohesive project.
Since we at Uma Stewart are well-versed with the construction process, and skilled at project management, as well as interior design, we are the starting point for many clients looking to build their dream home in an easy, stress-free way. We will help to clarify your vision and then connect you to the right people to make it happen, plus we’ll be there every step of the way to keep things moving on track. You deserve to have your whole project orchestrated in harmony.
If you’d like to explore working together, schedule a call and let’s talk!