You’re buying a new construction home! Congratulations! Once you’ve stopped drooling over the $250k in upgrades in the model home, it’s time to start designing your piece of the American dream! Before your first design appointment, tour a couple of homes in various stages of the construction process to get an idea what your home looks like without makeup on. In this article, we lay out “essential” upgrades, “nice-to-have-if-it’s-in-the-budget” upgrades, and “you’re-better-off-spending-your-money-on-fireworks” upgrades.