Building a luxury home is an exciting and rewarding experience, but it can also be overwhelming and challenging. There are many things to consider when embarking on such a project, and it is important to be prepared and knowledgeable about the process.

Here are some key things to keep in mind when building a luxury home:

1. Speak up when you don’t understand and enjoy the learning element of the entire process.

Building a luxury home is a complex process that requires a lot of knowledge and expertise. It is important to be open to learning and willing to ask questions when you don’t understand something. Your team will likely challenge you and push you to make difficult decisions, but this is all part of the process of creating a truly exceptional home.

2. Trust your team.

While it is important to be involved in the process and to communicate your needs and preferences, it is also important to trust your team and allow them to do their job. Micromanaging can lead to unnecessary stress and can hinder the progress of the project. If you trust your team to make the best decisions for you and let them do their job, the better the project will look, the further your budget will go, and the happier and less stressed you will be.

3. Be transparent about your budget from the beginning with everyone.

One of the most important things to consider when building a luxury home is the budget. It is important to be transparent about your budget from the beginning and to communicate it clearly with everyone involved in the project. This will help to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that the project stays on track financially.

4. It’s a journey… it takes a long time, but it is so worth it in the end.

Building a luxury home is a long process that requires patience and perseverance. It is important to remember that it is a journey and to enjoy the process along the way. While there may be challenges and setbacks, the end result will be well worth the effort.

5. Be honest and prepared to commit.

Building a luxury home requires a lot of preparation and planning. It is important to be fully committed to each step of the process and to be prepared for each meeting and decision. Make sure you do your homework and come prepared with questions and ideas.

6. Collect inspiration & know your priorities.

Before you begin the process of building a luxury home, it is important to have a clear idea of what you want and need in a home. Collect inspiration and keep a notepad to jot down ideas and preferences. This will help you to communicate your needs and preferences clearly to your team. It is also important to know your priorities and to list them in order of importance. This will help you to make decisions and allocate resources in a way that reflects your values and preferences.

Building a luxury home is a complex and challenging process, but it can also be an incredibly rewarding experience. By being prepared, transparent, and open to learning, you can ensure that your project stays on track and meets your expectations. Remember to trust your team and to communicate your needs and priorities clearly.

While there may be setbacks and challenges along the way, the end result will be a truly exceptional home that reflects your vision and values. So, take your time, enjoy the journey, and savor the rewards of building your dream home!

WHAT IS ‘MARKET’?

High Point Market is a furniture design show exclusively for interior designers, architects, and furniture store owners, where all the new styles and products are introduced. Located in High Point, NC, the show draws around 150,000 professionals each year. The city of High Point houses skyscraper buildings and an entire transit system open just two weeks a year for the market. There are over 2,000 showrooms in 180 buildings, with 12 million square feet to explore and gain inspiration from. The first market was in 1909, targeted to the South, and today, designers and architects from over 100 countries attend!

As a company, we eagerly anticipate our yearly visit to the High Point Market, and it’s not just us – so do all the ‘design greats.’ It’s a thrill to stroll through the vendor showrooms and bump into the likes of Joanna Gaines or Barry Dixon, casually admiring the same furniture pieces as we are.

WHAT NEW STYLES WERE SHOWN AT MARKET?

This year at the market, there were some continuous themes that we saw, and rest assured, they will make their way into designs over the next few years.

Texture continues to be incorporated into everything from unique lighting details to fabrics, to added details showcasing a unique texture on wood furniture. Deep rich bold colors were everywhere at the market. Think beautiful red wine burgundy, a punchy rich deep blue, silk olive green, and a spiced nutmeg color.

But what those rich bold colors are partnered with in a design brought the most fun new inspiration and was showcased across the market. A red wine Burgundy partnered with its lighter counterpart, a soft mauve. A deep blue with a light lavender or a chocolate brown partnered with a sage green…. It was the balance of rich and bold with soft and calm. Beautiful!

Be sure to check out our social media for some further insight into what we saw at Market! 

WHAT WE ENJOYED THE MOST AS A TEAM?

Our Business & Logistics Director, Emma Mauvais & Junior Designer, Yliana Kolosseus, experienced High Point Market for the first time this year! When asked her favorite part of Market, Yliana responded with, “My favorite part of attending the High Point Market was the opportunity, as a designer, to see and experience firsthand the quality of products we are considering for our clients’ homes. By touching and feeling the materials, examining the craftsmanship and details, and seeing the products in person, I am able to better assess their suitability for specific projects and ensure that they meet our clients’ expectations.

In addition to this, the chance to network with other professionals in the industry, attend educational seminars and events, and gain inspiration from the latest design trends and styles was definitely a highlight.”

As a team, we got the opportunity to tour Thayer Coggin’s manufacturing plant and showroom. Thayer Coggin is one of our vendors, and we’ve used their bespoke pieces in very select projects over the past 10 years. They are the very definition of timeless modern design, and their furniture craftsmen are some of the best in the world. Each piece is bench-made and meticulously fussed over and built with the highest quality of materials. They study and take cues from techniques seen in shipbuilding. They also partnered with NASA for their seat support strap system because nothing else was up to Thayer’s standard. To have our entire team see ‘behind the curtain’ of luxury furniture manufacturing and get to talk with the distinguished craftsmen was truly an honor and a highlight!

WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT TO SEE IN OUR DESIGNS INSPIRED BY MARKET?

The word ‘trend’ was hardly uttered at Market. The focus was on statement, durable, well-crafted pieces, so we plan on continuing to focus on timeless design. As we look to being earth-friendly, we will continue to incorporate furniture pieces into our designs that don’t need to be replaced in a few short years or end up in a landfill. Instead, they are loved, used, and adored for years, and hopefully for generations.

Keeping timeless design as the priority, additionally “our goal is to push creative boundaries with each project, delivering innovative and unique solutions that surpass our clients’ expectations,” expresses Yliana [Junior Designer].

Rich beautiful fabrics will be more of a focus as we move into our furniture designs of 2023 and 2024. Introducing a more diverse color scheme balancing subtle and bold in the same space will be an exciting touch we want to bring into our future designs.

The lighting industry really outdid itself this market and showcased gorgeous uniquely designed fixtures. With production technology increasing and companies hiring designers on staff, even the ‘cost-friendly’ lighting suppliers are introducing many new collections that are nothing short of stunning sculptural art for your home.  You will see lots of gorgeous lighting fixtures in our designs from new builds to additions of lighting into our furniture/furnishings projects!

In conclusion, High Point Market remains a prominent event for the design industry, bringing together professionals from all over the world to explore the latest styles and products. This year’s market showcased the continued trend of incorporating texture, deep rich bold colors, and the balance of rich and bold with soft and calm. We’re excited to show off our findings from this year’s Market and implement them in our project’s designs!

Building a luxury custom home involves several steps, including selecting a suitable location, designing the home’s layout and features, obtaining necessary permits, and overseeing construction. It’s important to work closely with an experienced team to ensure that the home is built to your exact specifications and meets all necessary building codes.

Throughout the process, it’s crucial to maintain clear communication with your team and stay involved in decision-making to ensure that the finished product is everything you envisioned.

DO: Set a Realistic Budget

It’s essential to set a budget that takes into account all the expenses involved in building a luxury custom home. This includes everything from land acquisition costs to architectural fees, building materials, and finishes.

DON’T: Skimp on Quality

While it can be tempting to cut corners to save money, it’s crucial not to skimp on the quality of the materials used in your luxury custom home. This will ensure that your home lasts for generations and maintains its value.

DO: Hire Experienced Professionals

Building a custom home requires a team of experts, including architects, builders, and interior designers. Look for experienced professionals who have a proven track record of delivering high-quality results & gorgeous designs.

DON’T: Rush the Design Process

Designing your luxury custom home is a crucial part of the process. It’s essential to take the time to get it right! Rushing the design process can lead to costly mistakes and result in a home that doesn’t meet your needs or expectations.

DO: Consider Energy Efficiency

Building a luxury custom home doesn’t mean sacrificing energy efficiency. In fact, it’s possible to build a home that’s both luxurious and eco-friendly. Consider investing in energy-efficient appliances, smart home technology, and sustainable building materials.

In summary, building a luxury custom home requires careful planning, attention to detail, and a commitment to quality. By following these do’s and don’ts, you can ensure a successful and enjoyable building process that results in a beautiful, functional home that truly reflects your personal style. Trust in the expertise of Alisha Taylor Interiors to guide you through every step of the way and bring your dream home to life!

At our Luxury Dream Home Date Night Event, we discussed what steps to take when building your luxury dream home.

We were honored to have Brady Fenn & Adam Kostis join us for the evening. Brady Fenn, with Fenn Rogers Custom Homes, is a luxury home builder, contractor, and remodeler, specializing in new builds and full remodels. Adam Kostis is the Creative Director at Cosan Studio, a Scottsdale-based architectural firm, executing thoughtful, well-designed projects.

There are so many benefits of assembling your Dream Team at the beginning of your luxury new build project. We suggest selecting your members wisely, doing your homework & trusting your gut. Building a custom home is an exciting & extremely complex venture, and we encourage you to pick the team of professionals that you feel comfortable with, that you trust, and that you will enjoy working with throughout your project.

On a luxury custom home project, you have a builder, an architect, and a professional interior designer, and those three are your core team members. Throughout the entire project, you’ll add a landscape designer in there, you’ll add a cabinet company, and other vendors and your team will get bigger. But it is so important to hire those three critical professionals before you even have an idea on a napkin.

Brady, as a custom home builder, what would you say are some of the benefits of having all those professionals hired on the front end?

Brady Fenn: These three people are essentially who you can trust to build your dream home. If the project is starting to go down the wrong path or getting out of budget, these three people are going to tell you and assist in the process to get it back on track.

As builders, we want to be involved when you first start the plans, because we act as another advocate for the clients to stay on top of the architect and interior designer.  We want to get it to the point where we can start building it as quickly as possible without sacrificing quality.

I think that that’s a big thing that we do as builders. Let us be your advocate to help guide this process. And sometimes we’ll be the bad guys, so that you, the client, don’t necessarily always have to be.

And obviously budget is a huge reason to get us involved early. We generally have a good idea of what things are going to cost, what the market is doing, which materials are delayed, and where we can possibly value engineer and bring up some good ideas of ways to save on cost without sacrificing quality.

Absolutely. Adam, in your experience as a professional architect, a lot of the time you get approached first. So how do you guide clients to get together that dream team at the start of a project?

Adam Kostis: I always like to think that ideas are whimsical. As architects, we’ve got whimsical ideas on paper. And clients, as well, have whimsical ideas for their dream homes. So that nature can spiral and get out of hand if you don’t have a structure within your team, and that team is the three of us. It includes that builder, that interior designer, and that architect. So, without those professionals, your ideas, as clients, are just whimsical.

Putting that pen to paper and making sure that everything is well thought out and methodical, that’s where things become more efficient. And we can start to get you exactly what you want in a faster timeframe working altogether. And time is money.

Another question we get is how can potential clients find that dream team. We know who the awesome builders, architects, and designers are in town because we’re in the field. What would you suggest for a homeowner? Where do they even start? How do they find a great architect, a great builder, and a great designer?

Adam Kostis: Instagram! Lol.

Brady Fenn: That’s a hard question, especially for us, because we don’t do the best job at marketing. We rely on word of mouth and reputation. Talking to someone who’s been through this process is important. And whoever you talk to and feel most comfortable with, within the three of us, whether it’s the architect, builder, or designer, we suggest really leaning on those professionals. There are lots of great builders and professionals out there, and there are different personalities and different fits.

And all have familiarity with the process too. As interior designers, you know how we build and who’s on our team. So you know what you can design and how we’re going to execute it. The same goes for the architect, we know how your process is. That familiarity helps the project flow more smoothly. And as you said, time is money.

It’s all about the Dream Team and getting those team players early in the process to ensure an efficient and beautiful project. Although we would love to say, “hire Alisha Taylor Interiors” – in reality, your dream team members must fit into your vision and expectations of the project, and vice versa. At Alisha Taylor Interiors, we don’t just design your custom luxury home details, but we focus on the client experience, bringing joy to building a custom home and alleviating stress.

The first step to starting your design process for your custom home is to select a Dream Team that will contribute to your beautiful, luxury custom home, and provide you with a professional, positive home-building journey.