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Artful Design Interiors When I hear people say "grey", I have found it includes greyed version of other colors or neutrals. Neutrals make such a rich, elegant palette. Find the flooring that works for your family and the color cabinets you like and from there choose your paint from the hundreds of rich neutrals out there. Stay away from a lot of blue gray, as it make a room cold-looking.

If you are going to use area rugs and have seen some that you love, that should be what you build off of in a room, because that is where you have the least choices.

When choosing lighting, determine what is going to take place where and select task lighting that provides ample light. Ceiling lighting - recessed, rail, cable, etc. gets placed after you determine your furniture layout.

Are you putting the cooktop or range in the island?

creeser Congratulations! We just moved into a new house we designed and built a few months ago. It is going to be both fun and stressful for you. Are you going to have attic space for storage? If so, the absolute, best thing we installed in the house is an attic lift. Basically, a small elevator to take stuff up to the attic. The attic access door is somewhere else and you go that way to unload the lift, but it beats the heck out of trying to lug heavy boxes up that narrow ladder.
My next tip is to pick out what you want in paint, light fixtures, flooring, doors, etc early so you have time to think about it. Your contractor will come up about a week before they are needed and tell you then you need to pick it out. I hate being rushed especially on those big decisions, so give yourself time to make sure of what you want. Always pick a second option just in case what you want is discontinued or sold out. Get a list of the things you will need to make decisions on from the builder because there will be stuff you haven't even thought about.
Lastly, have fun with it!

Corie Ives We like warm rich neutrals for sure! I don't think we will do hardwoods for now, with kids... someday! The island will have nothing on it... just a prep area/sitting... Thank you for your thoughts so far, it is soooo much to try and decide! I am leaning towards off white/cream coloured cabinets... and perhaps a darker cabinet for the island to offer some POP! Should we have the same cabinets in our bathrooms? Same counter top in kitchen and bath as well? Thanks again!

Architectrunnerguy Something always bothers me about a house that has the entire garage "Stuck on" the front, especially with a front load garage doors. All I see is roll up door giving the whole house a self storage facility feel. Is this the only solution that the designer could come up with?

Artful Design Interiors I can't say I like the look of different countertops all over the house. If you are going with granite or quartz, I would find out if grouping them together allows you to buy fewer slabs and save money.

All Inclusive Home Remodeling I agree about the garage door, my only suggestion would be wood and laminate flooring
the laminates have come along way over the years and are eco friendly,carpet is just out and I believe it will not return either. lately i have been running the good quality 7-12mm in the entire house and adding nice rugs, looks better, no allergens, pet friendly also. Congrats on the new home its a beauty!!

Corie Ives Thanks everyone! I appreciate the time and info you took to reply! Unfortunately the garage like that is stuck there... its quite common where we live to see this!

jakkiz These style brick houses are common here in the newer suburbs of Australia also. Ask your stone mason for the pieces that he cuts out of the stone slabs in the kitchen etc, these left overs can have the edges neatened and used as chopping boards! I also think that keeping the same stone on all benches is a great idea. Looks great and well thought out. It will be a lovely home!

Sunday I am building a house too, I am using Karndean Classic Oak vinyl plank put though out the entire home. It is a very top quality vinyl product and I can't wait for the house to get finished. It is very kid friendly. I have a 9 y/o and 12 month old.

Sunday Also, I gave up matching granite ( bathrooms are remnants) and a separate shower for foam insulation and I am so happy with the foam. I can't recommend it enough.

Corie Ives Do you happen to have any pictures of your flooring? If I go cream cabinets what is everyone's suggestions for flooring color and counter top color? Thanks!

Sunday Corie, it is being installed Dec 26th, go to Karndean.com and look for USA (they are international company) look up Van Gogh Classic Oak, look it up the room visualizer. It is rustic but not too rustic and a great medium color. Also it has more of a matte finish so it will not how up near the dust and stuff as a glossy finish. It is very thick and durable. Don't do cheap vinyl. It will scratch. The Karndean you can run a key across it and it does not scratch. As soon as it is installed (and I learn how to post pics), I will post pics of my floors, cabinets, granite, backsplash, etc. Building a home (my first has been very stressful) but I am getting closer to the end. Wish you the very best. Sunday Wilson

Sunday Ok, floor is installed!, Here is a pic of it right after installed, the house is still not completed. But I love the floors. The floors appear darker in the picture. Karndean Van Gogh "Classic Oak" 7inches wide and 48 inches long.

olldcan Here's an article you might enjoy, congrats on the new house,

http://www.houzz.com/discussions/84124/Building-a-custom-home-----Any--must--haves-cool---

Corie Ives Flooring looks great! Thanks again for sharing!

Nebraska Furniture Mart Clive IA - Chris Friest Corie, look at my "Idea Book" titled Mertz. Very similar to your situation. They are a younger couple with a young child. The house isnt quite finished but the colors and textures are coming along great. DO NOT be scared of wood floors, even with a young child. Look into hand scraped wood floors. That way if they get dinged, dented, scratched, etc you can simply go over the eye sore with a cloth and some Old English wood polish and it looks like it was meant to be there.

Dustin Parker Hey Corie, I'm Kara Parker (Duecks) brother, you may remember me. I work for Krevco Lifestyles and specialize in supply/design/and builds of fireplaces and their surrounds. I also can supply many of the items used in new home construction, from cultured stone, to bathroom products and so on...drop me a line if you think I can help you. (Dustin Parker)

Corie Ives Hey Dustin thanks, Nice to hear from you! We opted out on the fireplace, can't afford it right now! :( totally bummed about it...We will be looking for back splash for the kitchen tho! :)