Interior design

New build interior finishes: How to prepare for your options meeting

 Depending on when you buy a new build, you’ll be able to choose interior finishes for your home. We speak with Co-Founder of Haus Interiors  and Interior Designer Felicity Stevens to hear her tips on preparing for your options meeting.

Image credit: Stonebond Properties

The options meeting is one of the most exciting parts of the new build journey. This is the moment you get to pick finish touches that’ll help personalise your home.

From kitchen counters and cabinet styles to flooring and tiles, one of the benefits of buying a new build home is that you can design the space without managing the building works.

What is an options meeting?

During the home buying process, you’ll be invited to book an options and upgrades meeting, where you’ll spend time at the sales office choosing finishing touches for your home.

You’ll be presented with samples and swatches of finishing features so you can pick interior finishes.

However, most of us don’t have interior design experience so it can be daunting to be presented with lots of choices. And visualising the elements coming together can be more difficult than you’d think.

Felicity Stevens, Co-Founder of Haus Interiors and interior designer for many new build show homes, shares her tips of preparing for your options meeting.

How to prepare for your options meeting

Everyone always asks us how we manage to get the look, and the simple answer is that we are set up to do it. It’s our job. We spend our weekdays planning and preparing.

However, when you buy a home, you have to make time to plan its design outside of your daily chores and responsibilities, so of course it’s going to take longer.

You also don’t have the set up and suppliers we do, and that’s ok! Nothing we design in our show homes is unachievable, and if you don’t have experience designing a house before, then there may just be things you are yet to learn.

Here are some key considerations to help you prepare for your options meeting:

Research before your appointment

Go into your choices meeting with some initial ideas and concepts. This will really help to narrow down what you like and don’t like.

Instagram and TikTok are useful sources of inspiration.

Think about the functionality of the room

Understand the use of each room. This will also narrow down what flooring types you should have and the colour of them.

Foot traffic and how often a room is used are key things to consider. For example, you’ll want a more durable floor for the hallway and bathrooms.

Look at the layout

Think about orientation of the rooms. For example, will your kitchen have dark spots?

What direction will the sun be facing? The location of your windows to help determine this. This will be particularly important when choosing colours and shades.

Put YOUR style first.

Throw the boring considerations out the window, like re-sale value or what will your friends think. Go with choices that you love. If you want a coloured kitchen, for example, just go for it.

Consider upgrading things that’ll make most difference to you

Personally, I would much prefer the spend a little more upfront on certain things that will make a difference.

For example, I would always upgrade kitchen tops to quartz in advance, rather than have the additional cost and hassle to get them changed later down the line.