Whether you are downsizing, upsizing or making this your second/vacation home, one thing’s for certain, not only do you want to make sure everything is constructed to the highest quality standards, but you also want your new home to reflect your individualized taste and preferences. For more than 70 years, Belgravia Group’s in-house design team has guided buyers in choosing their interior finishes.

Sharing her insights, Amanda Mason, Belgravia’s in-house Senior Design Director, outlines five things to consider as you navigate the selection process.

1) Does your builder/developer have a designated sales center and/or in-house designer?

2) Make sure you can choose from a wide range of high-quality finish options.

3) Know what you like before your initial appointment with the designer.

4)What technology is available to facilitate your selection process?

5)Ask about the selection process before you sign a contract.

An established design center, like the sales gallery at Renelle on the River, makes it easy for buyers to “touch and feel” as well as “mix and match” finish options so they can visualize their future home’s interiors. And while some developers have their sales team also oversee the selections process, others employ experienced in-house designers who have their pulse on the latest design trends with the sole job to ensure buyers have a seamless and enjoyable selection process. For example, at Belgravia, once buyers sign a contract, they meet with our design team to develop a full and comprehensive plan for all the finish details, such as lighting, plumbing, appliances, tile, flooring, countertops, and cabinetry, among others. Before you buy, make sure you ask not only who will be handling your selection process, but also their level of design experience.

Not every builder offers a wide-range of interior finishes – in fact, some offer as few as two or three package options where all finishes are pre-selected. Therefore, if you like the flooring in package B, but the cabinets in package C, you’re most likely out of luck. Along those same lines, buildings that offer package options usually lock in those finishes years before a building or house is finished, often missing current styles or changing design trends. If having a distinct and personalized home that stands out from others in your buildings is important to you, look for developers like Belgravia Group that offer buyers dozens of high-quality, high-end finish options and continually refresh their inventory of finish selections to reflect what’s new and exciting in the marketplace.

Pay attention in your everyday life and how you live in your home. Did you see a flooring style you like at your favorite restaurant, or at a friend’s home? What colors are you drawn to? Do you like dim or bright lighting? What type of cabinet or countertop material appeals to you? Knowing the answers to these and other questions will help any builder’s in-house designer understand your style so we can determine the best options for your new home. And feel free to bring photos from magazines or the internet that show what you like – the more information you share with a designer, the happier you’ll be with the end result.

There are numerous benefits to buying a new-construction home today, including immediate access to innovative technology that can take the guesswork out of choosing selections for your new home. For example, at the sales galleries for Renelle on the River and 360 W. Erie, buyers can take virtual reality tours of their future home with Belgravia’s VR technology. Using a customized headset, buyers can walk a floor plan and view different types of finish selections in real time – from seeing how different cabinet, countertop and lighting options look during the day or night. By using this type of technology, buyers can feel more confident about their selections because they’ll be able to see how they would look within in the context of the entire residence.

Purchasing a home is a major life event with many moving parts and pieces. Buyers shouldn’t take it lightly and neither do we. That’s why it’s important to have an organized, full-service design team in place as a continuous resource for buyers before, during and after the construction of their home. If your builder doesn’t offer a personalized design consultation or guarantee to walk your home to ensure what was designed meets your expectations, then you should think long and hard before signing a contract.

Amanda Mason is the Senior Design Director for Belgravia Group, where she oversees the rough and finish selections, interior design and design development for Belgravia developments.