Two identical floor plans can finish $200,000 apart on selections alone. That swing is not waste — it's choice — but it deserves to be spent deliberately. Here's where the money moves, where it shows, and where nobody will ever know you saved.
Where the budget actually swings
Spend here — you'll feel it daily
Worth the spend
- ✓Kitchen layout, drawers and hardware — touched fifty times a day
- ✓Windows — light, quiet and warmth for fifty years
- ✓Primary shower and one great tub — daily rituals
- ✓Millwork at eye level — entry, living built-ins
- ✓Envelope and mechanical — invisible, priceless
Save here — invisible in a year
- ✕Secondary bedroom flooring one grade down
- ✕Guest bath tile: simple field tile, great installation
- ✕Paint-grade closets behind closed doors
- ✕Fixture brands' middle lines — same guts, less logo
- ✕Trend pieces better added later as decor
The allowance system that keeps you in control
Not 'allowances TBD' — a number per category you can see, compare and adjust before signing.
Every tile, tap and handle chosen while changes are free — on paper, not after rough-in.
Upgrade the range, downgrade the guest bath — moves inside the allowance system show their math in writing.
Our design team runs this allocation with every client — see it working at a free consultation.
✱ Representative planning figures for Metro Vancouver, mid-2026 — assembled from municipal permitting schedules, the BC Energy Step Code framework and Armacan project records. Every lot and scope is different: treat these as orientation, not a quote, and confirm against your property in a free consultation.
