While some parts of a pre-owned home may meet your needs, it’s important that its colours and materials are enjoyed, as well.
This is what makes the selections process at the Shane Homes design studio such a valuable asset.
Once someone buys a pre-construction home through Shane Homes, they’ll make exterior selections and interior selections.
The exterior selections happen first and are necessary to receive approval to start construction on the home.
These selections may include the colour of siding, trim, stone, exterior door, and if the home has a garage, the garage door.
The colours of the exterior of the home must fit within the architectural controls of the community, which members of Shane’s design team can provide information on.

Before making these decisions, Tricha Hamstra, of Shane’s design studio, suggests exploring full-scale examples.
“If their house is the first one on their street, go a couple of streets over and take a drive in their community to see what’s been approved and get some ideas that way,” she says.
“I find that really helps people visualize, because it can be very tough when you’re looking at a small sample to picture that colour being on four sides of your house,” Hamstra says.
For interior selections, there are two parts to it.

Buyers will meet cabinet, plumbing, and appliance suppliers directly, who can expertly guide them on their choices for these items.
Meanwhile, picks for interior finishings are done at the studio.
This is where Hamstra and other members of the design team work with buyers on their selections of features such as flooring, countertops, wall tile, paint, interior doors, floor tile, wall tile, backsplashes and the fireplace.
 “Pinterest is a good place for inspiration,” says Hamstra, of the social media platform, adding Shane’s design team will do its best to recreate what they see with what’s available through the studio.
“Another great tool is to go through our show home because that is product that we have and that is available to the customer,” she adds.
If they go into a show home and say ‘we love that countertop,’ chances are we are going to have that same one or something very close to it in our own design centre.”
This is a process that can be done from the comfort of one’s own couch through virtual tours of show homes on the Shane Homes website.

The approach to the selections process varies from person-to-person.
“I have people who open their laptop and have everything budgeted out, they have every serial number for everything that’s going in their home,” Hamstra says. “Then I have customers that come in with a picture on their phone and say ‘I like this but I don’t know how to do it.’
“We get both sides of — neither is wrong or right, it’s just a matter of how people plan.”
Drawing from their experience and expertise, the design team may also suggest alternatives.
“If we see something where it’s not quite complimenting each other, like if they pick a flooring that does not quite go with their cabinet colours, we will tell the customer that and will be able to help and suggest other options that will make their vision come to life,” says Hamstra.  
“At the end of the day, it’s their home,” she adds. “I can create a palette that I love, but it’s about the home owner and what they love.”

The design team can also make suggestions on factors such as the material’s level of maintenance.
“People want to live their lives and not worry about the products put in,” Hamstra says, pointing to luxury vinyl plank flooring as one of its durable products.
On current design trends, warmer tones are on the rise.
“People are wanting to use colour,” Hamstra says.  
“White on white is always going to be a timeless kitchen and look, altogether, but what I am seeing is people want to add vibrancy to their homes,” she adds. “We are also seeing some throwbacks to mid-century retro, like a revival of those eras but with a modern twist.

“You can always go timeless and it will last for decades but I am seeing people take more risks.”