We chose the exterior color scheme at the same time we selected all of the finishes in the interior of our home. That was definitely an important day! One thing I decided to do prior to our meeting with the interior designer was spend more time in the builder’s spec home that we initially fell in love with.
Field Trip To The Display Home
I visited and took tons of photos of anything and everything I liked the look of right down to the doorknobs. 
I really thought the interior of this home was so attractive with its color choices, that I definitely wanted to select some of the same finishes for our home. And, since it was one of those home plans with an open floor plan, it was definitely important to make sure the colors selected looked great as they flowed from room to room.
So, I snapped photos at lighting fixtures, paint colors, doorknobs, shower doors, cabinets and flooring. I was fairly certain that the interior finish selections would be a breeze with all of my photos as a way to guide me as well as a House Plans and More’s Interior Home Finishes articles.
Hit The Floor
First, we needed to make the flooring selection. We decided from the start that our home would feature hardwood floors throughout except for the bedrooms, where we wanted carpet. We love the look of wood, and with dogs, it’s just a smart choice for easier maintenance and cleaning.
Matching Colors And Color Scheme
We loved the look of the wood in the spec home and immediately wanted to see a sample of that. But, to our dismay, the flooring in the spec home as well as the kitchen cabinet color were no longer available. So, we had the designer lay out all of the standard flooring colors and styles in front of us. We were a bit disappointed in the standard options to say the least. Not only was the flooring a bit more yellow, or pine color that we liked, but also it was the more narrow sized planks that I associate with flooring from a decade ago. It felt as though the wind was let out of our sails when we saw the choices available. So, now we started talking upgrades. We love the look of this kitchen in a house plan we’ve seen online at House Plans and More that has dark floor and cabinets (see the image to the right). It’s Plan #592-071S-0019 and this home had photos of it built a couple of different ways and both are very nice, but we’re most drawn to the darker floor.
Turning Your Home Into Reality
If you’re like my husband and I, you already have a mental picture of how you want your new home to look. We really liked the look of the dark, almost chocolate brown flooring and cabinets often seen in new house plans built today. It’s a sleek look that pairs well with many popular home furnishings. Well, in order for us to get the color flooring we had our hearts set on, we were talking several levels of upgrades! So, we compromised a bit, but still had to do a couple upgrades until we found a color that we liked. No, it wasn’t the deep chocolaty brown I always envisioned, but it was a little lighter than that, but it would look great with furnishings in the dark chocolate brown that is popular today and our dining table and chairs were in that color. Although we tripled the cost of our flooring in a matter of minutes (and we’re talking a lot of flooring), it was the right decision since almost the entire home has wood flooring. We quickly learned that “finish selection day” might get expensive…
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