We love our home — truly. But no build is perfect. No matter how much planning or experience you bring to the table, there are always a few things you only realize after you’ve moved in.

Some of ours are minor. Some, we just laugh about now. And others? Let’s just say I’m here to save you the regret.

Here are 3 things I’d do differently if we built again.

1. Too many ceiling lights

We geared towards being too cautious when it came to lighting. Do we use any of the pot lights in the living room? No. Just like the electricians said. And we act as if we’re vampires when they’re turned on.

I will give us grace on this one. We had no reference; we lived on a boat for most of our marriage (a story for another day). 

Maybe it's just us. If someone else lived in this home, they might use them more than we do. So far, we've only used our kitchen and dining room pot lights, and both are on dimmers. Thankfully, our home has great natural lighting so most of the time we don't have lights on period (yes that was strategic with the house design). And our best lighting investment for our entire home, was our great room lighting. Yes, they are the only lights we need on. Those and our stair lighting (10/10 recommend).

What I’d do differently: Get an electrical plan. Focus more on indirect lighting — sconces, floor lamps, wall washers — and much less on ceiling cans / pot lights. 

2. No curbless shower

This one’s on me.

Troy got covid while preparing the slab for our master suite, and between his fever and my brain fog, we forgot to run the lines for the heat pump and missed the curbless shower detail. It wasn’t on the plan (my job), and it slipped through the cracks.

Do I still love our shower? Absolutely.
Do I regret not having a cleaner, curb-free design? Kind of.
Do I regret that the heat pump had to be added after? Yes. Deeply. It’s being added as we speak. Same end results but a reno that never needed to be done.

What I’d do differently: Slow down, even when you’re racing to pour concrete. Add a final design check step before trades are on site.

3. Our Heating System Was an Afterthought

Don’t get me wrong. We have a heat pump with two heads and it heats and cools our home well. Our hydro bill is very low, compared to most.

Our main heat source? A wood-burning fireplace insert that we love.

Okay, I hate the slivers. But otherwise, it works beautifully.

The issue? We didn’t really think through the full heating plan. We thought about the house, but didn’t think about the barn. For the barn we just threw in electric heaters. And wow was it ever costly to run them. 💸

But then my husband heard of an outdoor wood boiler. Could that have been the heating solution with a heat pump as the backup / cooling system? Not sure, either way we didn’t put much thought into it honestly and that is where we went wrong. 

What I’d do differently: Talk to your HVAC professional and GC early. If you have multiple building (workshop, detached garage, carriage home, etc.), consider every building — separately and all together — when planning long-term systems.

I don’t share these regrets to scare anyone. I share them because these are the things that often get missed, even by people who live and breathe design and construction like I do.

There are so many decisions in a new build. You won’t get every one right.
But if even one of these helps you dodge a mistake or plan more intentionally — that’s a win in my books.

Want more behind-the-scenes and lessons from the build?

Join our Private Headquarters for member-only posts, planning tools, and real-life stories from the job site.