Bringing your own items into the design
Got a sink you've already chosen? An appliance you're keen on? A piece of furniture you want to design around? Flag it to your designer early and they'll work it in.
Lots of customers come to a renovation with specific items they already love — a particular sink, an appliance they don't want to live without, a piece of furniture the design needs to work around. These are easy to incorporate, as long as the designer knows about them early.
Steps
- Tell your designer at the start of the design phase. Before the layout takes shape, share the items you want to bring in. Photos, links, spec sheets, dimensions — whatever you have.
- Confirm the dimensions. Specifically: width, depth, height, and any installation requirements (services, ventilation, weight). Items that need integration — fridges, ovens, sinks — have constraints that shape the surrounding design.
- Decide who orders. For a customer-supplied item, you usually order it directly. The article How materials work covers the split. The item is marked "customer-supplied" on the materials tracker so the builder knows to expect it from your side.
- Make sure the materials tracker is up to date. The tracker is the shared view of every item on the project — when it's expected, who owns it, what status it's in. Customer-supplied items go on it the same way as anything else.
- Have it on site at the right time. Your builder coordinates the build programme around when items need to be installed. If a customer-supplied item is late, the build can stall around it. Track delivery dates against the programme.
What happens next
Your designer integrates the items into the design pack, the builder quotes against a scope that includes them, and the materials tracker keeps everyone aligned through the build.
If something goes wrong
If a customer-supplied item is damaged in transit, doesn't fit, or doesn't arrive — that's between you and the supplier you bought it from. Your builder can handle this, but if you need more input, your build advisor and designer are also on hand to help.
Related articles
- What's in your design pack
- How the materials tracker works
- How materials work — your role, the builder's role, ours