Before You Build℠ Podcast

<p>Whether you’re dreaming of building a custom home in the future or you’re ready to start planning now, this show is for you! The Before You Build Podcast is your one-stop shop for actionable home-building tips and advice as well as tips for designing your dream home so that you feel equipped to design the home of your dreams that makes you (and your wallet) happy for years to come. </p><p>We’ll answer all of your burning questions such as: How do I plan for building a custom home? What should I do before building a house? How do I design my new house? What mistakes should I avoid when building a house? How do I create the perfect floor plan for my family? How do I hire a builder? How do I finance my home build? And the biggest question of all, how do I bring my dream home to life without blowing the budget? Well, friends … the answer is in PLANNING for your home build long before you ever break ground.</p><p>I’m your host, Carrie Barker (aka, Caroline on Design). I designed my own custom home from the ground up, inside and out. Through trial and error (psst … I built pre-Pinterest), I created my absolute dream home that is not only perfect for the way my family lives but also turned out more beautiful than I imagined. The best part … I did this all without blowing the budget and without design regrets. </p><p>I cracked the code on how to bring my own dream home vision to life while sticking VERY close to budget and now I’m here to teach you everything I learned along the way so that you, too, end up with that cozy, beautiful home you envision in your head and a mortgage you’re comfy with. </p><p>The short, actionable, and bingeable ‘Before You Build’ episodes will prepare YOU for a successful home build with less stress, more confidence, and joy throughout the process. And just so you know … the key to building your dream home close to budget is all in the planning you do BEFORE YOU BUILD! So let’s dive in and get started!</p>

075. A Custom Home Build MUST DO!

Building a custom home is a HUGE investment in both time and money. Obviously, you want to get it RIGHT! I want this for you, too, so I’m giving you a huge tip in this episode … stay tuned because this is a custom home build MUST DO!EPISODE SHOW NOTES: carolineondesign.com/custom-home-build-must-doBEFORE YOU BUILD℠ PROGRAM: carolineondesign.com/before-you-buildFREE CLASS: carolineondesign.com/free-trainingWEBSITE: carolineondesign.com

11-06
12:36

074. The Key to Confidence when Building a House

If you’re feeling overwhelmed about your upcoming home build and you don’t know how you can possibly feel confident designing an entire house, this episode is for you. All it takes to feel confident is to have CLARITY before building your house.There’s a reason that ‘Clarifying Your Vision’ is the very first step in my BEFORE YOU BUILD℠ Blueprint that I teach my clients.A clear vision is an essential component to feeling confident (and in control) as you go through your home build.It is the a...

10-23
14:59

073. My Top Floor Plan Regret (What I'd Change if I Could)

This episode is a little different than my typical episode … it’s more of a personal explanation of my top floor plan regret that I have for my own custom home. Although this is a personal story about my own home build experience, I know it will help anyone out there who is toying with the idea of doing what I did (and now regret).I'm also sharing a BONUS at the end of the episode ... my second biggest floor plan regret :).EPISODE SHOW NOTES: carolineondesign.com/floor-plan-regretFREE FL...

10-09
11:26

072. Floor Plan Design with ChatGPT

I recently decided I was going to try to create a floor plan design with ChatGPT. I was looking online at different floor plans, and I found things I liked about each one, and then I thought, "Well, why don't I just create my own, and I'll have ChatGPT do it?" I thought I could plug everything that I wanted in, and a beautiful floor plan would spit out, and voila, I would have it. That's not exactly what happened. A floor plan did spit out, but it was far from beautiful!&n...

09-17
11:07

071. The BEFORE YOU BUILD℠ Movement (How I HELP!)

My business coach recently asked me, 'What movement would you love to create for the people you serve?' In other words, how do I want to help YOU and others who are building their dream homes?I had SO many thoughts automatically run through my brain. I knew these things deep down, but I haven't done a great job of explaining exactly how I want to help YOU. Tune into this episode because I'm sharing it all :).Grab a seat in my FREE class, 'How to Build Your Dream Home On Budget WITHOUT Sacrifi...

09-04
13:43

070. Benefits of Planning Before Building

In this episode, we’re talking about the MANY MANY MANY benefits of planning before building your house. I see these benefits first-hand with my home build experience, as well as with my clients as they go through and complete the home build process.I’ve started a movement to get people to PLAN before they build because I know there are SO. MANY. BENEFITS. to doing this.It’s IMPERATIVE to PLAN if you want to stay on (or close to) budget when building.It’s IMPERATIVE to PLAN if you want t...

08-28
11:35

069. 11 Floor Plan Mistakes to AVOID!

Are you starting to work on your custom floor plan and want to make sure you do it right? (i.e., you want to avoid making costly floor plan mistakes that you’ll later regret.) If so, tune in!In this episode, we’ll cover common mistakes people make when creating a custom floor plan (or tweaking a stock plan). Unfortunately, I even see some builders (and the occasional architect) make these floor plan mistakes simply because they overlook the little details.But don’t worry … you'll have a big a...

08-13
18:57

068. Vision Before Building Your Dream Home

If you’re worried about building and designing your dream home because you aren’t a designer (and you don’t want to hire one), I’ve got good news for you. You don’t need a designer … you just need a crystal clear vision BEFORE building your dream home.Tune in to learn WHY a crystal clear vision of your future house is so CRUCIAL.-EPISODE: carolineondesign.com/before-building-your-dream-home-BEFORE YOU BUILD℠ WAITLIST: carolineondesign.com/join-byb-waitlist -FREE CLASS: ‘How to Bui...

07-31
08:51

067. 3 Big Mistakes When Building a House

I’m sharing 3 BIG (actually, huge) mistakes that most people make when building a house.These three mistakes lead directly to going over budget on your home build. For many people, this can be significant budget overages.But don’t worry, half the battle of staying on budget is knowing what mistakes to AVOID.You’ll be armed with this knowledge and you’ll know exactly what to avoid.-EPISODE: carolineondesign.com/mistakes-when-building-a-house-FREE CLASS: ‘How to Build Your Dream Home...

07-17
06:57

066. 3 Quick Home Build Tips

This episode is a little different than usual, but I think it’s going to be super helpful to a lot of people.Soooo … I got some GREAT questions from a woman who attended my free masterclass.I answered her questions in a voice memo and I’m sharing that exact voice memo (unedited and all) in this episode.I’m doing this because there are some golden nuggets that I think anyone building a house can take away from these answers … whether you choose to join BEFORE YOU BUILD℠ or not.I’ll play that v...

06-20
10:16

065. Beware of the Lowest Home Build Bid!

PSA for anyone who is looking for a builder right now or will be in the future. The lowest home build bid does NOT mean the lowest price.Let me repeat that … the lowest home build bid does NOT mean the lowest price.In this short and sweet episode, we’ll talk about why it’s VERY important to consider more than just the bids (or price quotes) when selecting a builder.-EPISODE: carolineondesign.com/lowest-home-build-bid-FREE CLASS: ‘How to Build Your Dream Home On Budget WITHOUT Sacrificing Your...

06-05
08:14

064. Home Build Budget Overage Q+A

Avoiding home build budget overages is one of the TOP home build concerns that I hear over and over from clients inside my private BEFORE YOU BUILD℠ program.This is a VERY common fear among people getting ready to build their dream home. Sooo ... if you’re feeling nervous or confused about the budget piece of home building, you are definitely NOT alone.But believe me ... the more information you know about the home build budget BEFORE you build, the better your chance of sticking to that...

05-22
14:17

063. First Step to Creating Perfect Floor Plan (for YOUR family)

Whether you plan to hire an architect or not, the key to designing the perfect floor plan for YOUR family (that is functional, can grow with you, and you absolutely LOVE) all lies in the very first step. And in today’s episode, I’m going to tell you what that very first step is so that you can move forward and start creating the perfect floor plan that will work for your family now (and into the future). -EPISODE: carolineondesign.com/perfect-floor-plan-FREE CLASS: ‘How to Build Yo...

05-08
08:33

062. Your Home Build Success Plan

Before creating YOUR Home Build Success Plan, you need to really think about what a successful home build looks (and feels) like for YOU.More specifically, how you will feel while you’re building and how you’ll feel about your house at the end of your build when you move into your brand new home.I’m going to share what most people consider to be a successful home build.You might relate to some of these things.You might even relate to all of them.You might even have other things that I haven’t...

04-24
13:01

061. Kitchen Design Q+A with Anne-Marie Klobe

This episode is a VERY informal kitchen design Q+A session I had with Anne-Marie Klobe, Kitchen Designer. This Q+A session was not intended for my podcast but rather for clients in my private 'Before You Build' program.However, there are SO many golden nuggets of kitchen design advice that I wanted to share with all of you! The sound quality isn't my usual standard, and the call is extremely informal, but the tips are SO worth listening to.In this episode, we cover:The first thing to do BEFOR...

04-10
26:16

060. Your Initial Quote for Home Build (It’s OK!)

Your initial quote for your home build can be a little frightening, BUT it's OK!Your initial quote is just that ... an INITIAL quote. It doesn't mean it's the final price of your house.It's just a starting point.Believe me ... it's MUCH better to get a crazy high quote BEFORE you start building because this allows you time and space to pare your future house down to a comfortable price before you break ground.Tune into this episode to learn about a concept I teach inside BYB (i.e. creati...

04-03
11:02

059. Ripple Effects of Planning Before You Build

If you’ve been listening to this podcast for a while or you know anything about my signature program, you know that I am ALL about planning, planning, and more planning before you build a house.This (planning) is what I teach, and it’s exactly why I’ve named this podcast and my group program ‘Before You Build’.I teach this because I know the power of planning before you ever even consider breaking ground on your new house.Planning is honestly the key to every single positive result that you w...

03-20
15:25

058. Floor Plan Design Process with Holly from Hereabout

I’m chatting with Holly, the founder and architect of Hereabout, about her floor plan design process.Holly has more than a decade of experience in residential architectural design, and she started her business, Hereabout, to bridge the gap between budget and design for people who want a thoughtfully designed floor plan but might not want to pay for (or spend the time on) creating a custom floor plan from scratch.In this episode, we cover:Holly’s process for getting into the mindset of her pot...

02-28
27:56

057. Why Hiring the RIGHT Builder is Important (and where to start)

Hiring the *RIGHT* builder is one of the most important parts of creating a home build experience that is both positive and successful. In other words, your builder plays a crucial role in bringing your dream home vision to life … without completely blowing your budget. I’m going to illustrate the importance of WHY you need to hire the right builder for your project and then I'll share some tips to get you started on the path to finding the right builder for YOU.---Episode Show Note...

02-14
13:39

056. 'Before You Build' Program Q+A

I’m in the middle of a live launch week promoting my group coaching program (the ‘Before You Build’ Program), so I wasn’t planning on doing a podcast episode this week. However, I’m getting soooo many great questions about the BYB Program from potential clients that I wanted to hop onto the podcast and share the questions (and my answers) with you.If you aren’t familiar with the ‘Before You Build’ program, I’ll give you a quick overview plus tell you NOW is the BEST time to join BYB!-Epi...

01-31
17:39

Recommend Channels