You can never have enough electrical outlets and the coax cable is always on the wrong wall from where you want to put the TV. (just venting a little)

I hope I get to build my own house someday. There's so much custom nonsense to throw in! An added plus: if I'm married by then, which is likely the way things seem to be going, SHE can make some interior design decisions, freeing me to deal with really important issues, i.e. plasma screen and mini fridge in the bathroom, so I can watch the game in ultimate comfort. WHOOP!

Did I ever tell you that my dream home is an airplane hangar big enough for a B-25, a Cessna 140, and a small double-wide tucked into the corner?

I spent years drawing plans for the ultimate house, but at 4000 sq.ft., Husband said, "Think again." I got it down to 2000 sq.ft., which he liked, but he thought that a one-bedroom, six-car garage house might be hard to sell if we needed to move.

That's when I hit upon the hangar idea. He's onboard with that, but is dragging his feet on buying me a B-25.

Ah, this brings back memories.

Builder: “Did you realize the shower head you selected for the master bath is $90?”

Me: “Huh, for just the shower head, not including the faucet?”

Builder: “No, just the shower head. That is basically half your plumbing fixture allowance for the master bath. Didn’t they tell you the prices?”

Me: “No, I just picked out things from the catalogue that I thought were pretty”.

Wait til you get to drawer pulls, cabinet door knobs, window treatments (which side do you want the pull for the blinds), outlet covers… Have fun!

They don't call them "Window Treatments" for nothing, after treating the windows you need treatment for the price.
Also, when I built mine, 1 plug on the tv wall and 5 plugs on a "half wall" abutting the kitchen. I mentioned to the kind builder that I needed another plug on the "tv wall" I was informed that would be $100 more, I said just take one the five off that wall and put it there and he said that couldn't be done ... fun and games builders play

I knew there was something I was forgetting to ask you. Did you ever read Tracy Kidder's book "House." In it he tells the story of a family designing and building a new home. But the story is told from multiple angle: the architect, the builders, the carpenters, the home owners.

As a reader, I grew to care about all these people when at first I didn't like some of them. You would enjoy this book I think. And find it comforting too, when you want to strangle the builder.

Kidder also wrote "The Soul of a New Machine" which is about a team of computer designers.

Shannon, I think we've allowed for enough electrical outlets, but we've already had some second thoughts about the placement of a cable jack. We're just trying to get in the ballpark. New cables can be run, after all.

SHE can make some interior design decisions

Kids say the darndest things! Gunny, it brings a smile to my face thinking about how you apparently equate letting the wife make the decisions with missing out on the stress of those decisions. We don't have the time or space to describe how many different ways of wrong you've got that. ;-)

Deborah, husbands can be such wet blankets, sometimes. Every little woman deserves her own Mitchell and a hangar to house it.

Actually, I may have to see if my pilot friend will let me post photos of their place, which is within spitting distance of an airstrip, and comes with a B25-sized hangar (complete with amazing electric lift door) plus another out-building that would easily hold six cars. It can be done. ;-)

The books sound fascinating, by the way. I'll have to look for them during our next foray to Barnes & Noble, now that we're past the need to flip through every kitchen & bath magazine in the rack. "House" sounds therapeutic.

Cindy, we're now at the pull-and-knob stage, and I think MLB will gasp once she tallies up just how many cabinet doors and drawers we've put in the layout. "But knobs look sooo much better than finger-pulls!" Ooohkey-dokey. It's just money.

Bleu, fortunately, what you described is simply an alien concept to our builder. What we ask for, he does. Of course, there may well be a cost to it, but so far all our changes have been reasonable. In fact, dealing with our builder has been the most pleasant aspect of the whole process. I may have to write about that part of it, because it seems to be different than what many people experienced during their own construction projects. I figure it makes all the difference in the world.

Yeah, I remember the myriad of choices we faced when we did a total gut & redo of our kitchen a few years ago. It was exciting and yet the countless - and endless - decisions were nearly overwhelming.

And yup, realizing that you can squander $100 on drawer pulls inside of about 5 minutes and still only be halfway done is quite a headspinner...

Well, see Rob, that was probably part of your problem. You viewed the drawer pulls as "squandering money," while anyone* knows that it's actually a shrewed long-term investment. ;-)

*"Anyone" being defined as those in the business of selling drawer pulls to gullible goofs like me.