Thoughts on Feature Creep

Perhaps not surprisingly, our design has been affected by that common malady: feature creep. It is too easy to say "Let's get this nicer appliance", or "Let's add a smart electronic control system to the entire house", or "We should add another room for guests". But every addition has an impact, and must be carefully considered.

We started with a good idea of the activities we wanted to support and a rough size target based off of where we live now and sample floor plans from an earlier project. Functionally, we aimed for a master suite and two other bedrooms; a laundry/utility/craft room; an office; a kitchen fit for two cooking together; a large dining and entertaining space; a comfortably-sized entry; space for guests; a library; and a media room. We hoped to overlap functions in shared space and fit it all in 2000 sq. ft.

That was unrealistic (building on a slope didn't help). We managed to accommodate most of these functions, but with stairs and landings and making sure all the rooms were large enough, we ended up at 2700 sq. ft. While it is larger (and therefore more expensive) than we planned, we decided it was the right layout and size for what we wanted. We dropped the guest room (but left room for a future expansion), since we don't need a guest room until the other bedrooms are fully occupied.

Detailed design presented similar trade-offs. We eliminated some kitchen niceties and kept others. We opted for a cheaper (but still nice) oven and chose a nicer gas stove. We chose slightly nicer faucets and sinks and upgraded our wood flooring. However, we simplified our exterior siding, and may decrease the built-in shelving and case-work from what we had planned.

We try to find a good balance between adding and simplifying. We keep the things that are most important to us and eliminate the nice-to-have items. We are happy with our choices so far, and we have yet to feel like we've made a significant compromise just to reduce costs. (One principle we have kept in mind is that some things, like built-in shelving, are easy to add after the house is built; while others, like plumbing, are difficult.)

It has helped that Yuval has been up-front with us about the costs. We can't say we are happy about the rising cost, but we understand how it relates to our choices (such as increasing the size). With most of the quotes in and a final budget set, we are at a slightly lower per-sq.ft. cost than the early estimates. That helps us feel confident that we will strike a nice balance between extra cost and getting what we want.