Nathan Chesebro is a custom home contractor in Bristol, Maine. As the
head of Chesebro Construction, he helps his clients build and renovate
the homes of their dreams. Custom building a new home is a great way to
ensure that your space looks exactly the way that you want it. However,
it can be a very stressful process for many people, and cause conflict
among families. If you are struggling to compromise on a major decision
when building your home, here are some tips:
- Sit down with your partner and other relevant family members, and make your own individual lists of your must-haves for the house. Ideally, this should be done at the very beginning of the process. Then, when you are finished, compare the lists to look for common ground. The things you agree on should be the things you should focus on.
- If you absolutely cannot come to an agreement on something, see if you can do a trade-off. For example, maybe you get an office space if your partner gets the back deck that they want. When building a home with someone else, you'll have to accept the fact you will have to make some concessions.
- Think about what you will need down the road, not just right now. For example, if you have children, you may want to think about how old they will be in ten years and what they will need then, whether it's more space to play, bigger bathrooms, or more storage space.