Customize Builder Grade House

[Ronald Gruzinsky]

Iam here to tell you that even if you have a builder grade home like I do- there are so many changes you can make to your home to make it feel more unique than the neighbor next to you with the same house.

What really makes a house a home is the love that is in it. Size and similarity to the other houses on the street do not make a difference in what makes a house special. It is you and your loved ones that make it unique. Follow your intuition and make changes to your builder grade home that make YOU happy and will make you smile as soon as you walk in the door ;).

I so wish I did! My contractor back then did all the work and it was before I was on any sort of social media or blogging! If you would like to email me or DM me on Instagram, I can send you a picture of the before so that you could kind of see what he covered up ;).

Nothing makes a house look more custom and refined than decorative or detailed moldings. Custom molding will add architectural detail which is often lacking in builder-grade models. Whether you install board and batten, shiplap, beadboard, or any type of wainscoting, it will add character and value to your home.

Those big mirrors that come in most builder grade bathrooms are functional but definitely not pretty. Framing the bathroom mirror was a simple DIY project (I did it myself) and made a huge impact in the space!

Installing custom molding and taller baseboards as mentioned will help to add architectural details to your plain builder-grade house. The possibilities are virtually endless. Install a fireplace mantel, change out windows, or install salvaged pieces with history, for example.

We have lived in our builder grade home for over five years now, and one of my main goals has been to make our space feel cozy and custom without the designer price tag. While I love architectural elements and high end finishes, they were not in our budget for this house. I worked hard to create a designer look with decor finds and easy DIY projects instead! Today I thought I would share my favorite ways to make a builder grade home look custom and expensive, without hiring an interior designer or contractor. I hope you find this post helpful and would love to hear which idea was your favorite in the comments.

I recently added easy DIY picture frame molding to our living room and it made such a difference! This was my first time installing wall molding (also known as wainscoting or box trim) and if I can do it, you can too. Another option to consider is board and batten.

One of the most important interior design basics I have learned is the importance of scale. Generally a few large decor items are better than lots of small ones. This applies to lamps, accessories, and wall decor, but for this post I wanted to mention florals and branches in particular.

Have you noticed that designer spaces tend to have a more eclectic look? Rather than purchasing a furniture set, try mixing and matching pieces that you love. In my post about where to save and splurge on home decor, I recommend investing in a sofa or sectional because this is a piece you will use so often. But when it comes to accent chairs, side tables, and coffee tables, there are so many budget friendly options to mix and match!

When it comes to upgrading a builder grade home, some of the best items to swap out are light fixtures. I have already mentioned scale a few times with regards to area rugs and decor, and it is equally important when it comes to lighting! Builder grade light fixtures tend to be too small, poor quality, or just not stylish.

Like I mentioned earlier, when we built our home we were not in a place to invest in high quality countertops or appliances. While I would love to renovate our kitchen someday, there are so many things you can do to make a builder grade kitchen look custom and cozy on a budget. I added a kitchen cart and runner to fill out our space, and recently decorated above our kitchen cabinets.

A quick way to make a builder grade home look custom and expensive is to style a layered bed. I like to use sheets, a quilt or blanket, a duvet (folded back), and a cozy throw tossed at the end. You can even use two duvet inserts to make your bed look extra fluffy. Here are some of my favorite bedding options:

In addition to painting your walls, you can also paint interior doors for a high end look. I decided to add warmth to our kitchen and living room by painting our doors Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore. In this case, I felt that it looked better to paint the door trim as well. Check out my post about how to paint interior doors for step by step directions!

Try swapping out the window treatments in your living room or bedroom for an easy upgrade. I love the combination of fabric or woven wood roman shades and pinch pleats. Our affordable Amazon curtains come in a variety of lengths, widths, and colors and are a fraction of the cost of designer drapes!

Since Kayla Haven began as a home building account I wanted to make sure I shared all the things I learned while we built our home! I have put so many polls on Instagram asking everyone what they wanted to know more about, and there were so many topics. Because building a home is dynamic and has a lot of information, I thought I would dedicate each topic to its own post. From now until the end of the year I plan to talk about one topic once a week in this building a home blog series. If you are just getting going building, or thinking about this in the future, hang tight, I am about to give you all the insider information.

A custom home, is as its defined, custom. Here you are starting completely from scratch. Maybe you found a few floor plans you like on Pinterest or want to modify a layout you saw in a local parade of homes but you still are satisfied and need to mesh them together. You decide you want to have full reign on every decision. This includes things like the size of every single wall, the tile, cabinet designs, stains, etc.

Custom homes are beautiful but they can also consist of a lot more work. Lots of times custom homes are much more expensive because they incorporate numerous design styles. The design styles likely need many different subcontractors and various retailers to obtain the products the client is looking for. In a fully custom design there is literally no limit, and you can go as custom as you like.

We built a semi-custom/custom home. We found a few floor plans we liked and eventually landed on the bones of a home our contractor had already built. The home then was modified to fit our layout. Instead of having free reign on all finishes, we did end up meeting our contractors at a local business to make selections. Many of the selections we were presented with were great options. However there were quite a few places we decided to look elsewhere, do it ourselves or upgrade.

Find a contractor that has created work that is in line with the type of home you are building. It is important to talk to them about previous projects and even walk through them if you can. Some builders can and will build any type of home their clients want. Others are very specific in terms of what type of home they will agree to build. It is important to have a conversation with your builder right away when interviewing. You will want to know what they are comfortable building and what they are not. In addition, you want to make sure you have all the knowledge you need to have before you start building or break ground. Building a home can and will become expensive really quickly. It is best to have a good idea on what type of home you are building and what they may cost you before you dig a hole.

I hope you found this blog post helpful. I plan to continue with these blog series and talk about a topic once a week for the rest of the year. If there are any questions you would like me to address, please leave them in the comments below. Also, if you are not already following me on instagram, make sure you follow along @kaylahaven_ . My instagram has so much helpful information from my building journey as well as numerous other building accounts.

You will notice in the picture above the entryway chandelier does not match the hallway flush mount fixture. The hallway was to narrow for a pendant fixture so I found two styles that complimented each other.

We originally replaced all of our downstairs blinds with the above pictured plantation shutters a little over 5 years ago. We loved the look so much we carried the same look to all of the upstairs windows earlier this year.

The plantation shutters pictured below are in our master bedroom. The company we had used for the downstairs blinds unfortunately are no longer in business. But good news!! You can order these plantation shutters now from Home Depot! We even opted to install them ourselves and saved a lot of money!!

The ripple effect of adding shiplap to this wall is that this room became the new casual dining room and the table where we all sit down to eat dinner together. You can read more about this room swap and see more pictures of the rooms before and after here in this post.

Amazing transformations can develop when you remove all of the furniture and re-think what has always been. When you allow yourself the runway to decorate in a different direction or consider a new way to use a room the pay off can be HUGE.

Canatella Custom builders made this television frame for us so that when you walked into the room from the entryway, your eye sight was not cluttered with having to look at the side of the tv and the cords behind it.

Honestly, before we replaced the original door with this chalkboard door that I special ordered from Home Depot, our guests would get confused on which door was which because they looked so alike and would open the basement door when they were trying to exit through the garage.

Heather Krout is a free-lance writer, home decor consultant and personal stylist. She lives in Maryland with her husband and three daughters, Eve, Maci and Livvy. Heather enjoys writing, decorating & sharing the seeds of encouragement that God is sowing in her heart while free-styling her life along the path God has designed for her.

3a8082e126