Decisions, Decisions

So far, building a house seems more complicated than completing a space shuttle mission. There are so many decisions to be made. Very. Important. Decisions. Big decisions and small decisions, yet decisions none-the-less. Decisions we have to live with for...well, forever. A lot of the big decisions about the structure of the house are done. After several revisions, we have plans (hallelujah, we have plans!). We are working on a few other ginormous decisions like geothermal and solar energy (more on that later) and now that we have a long cold winter ahead of us before we actually break ground, we have more time to think more about the interior of the house. More time and more decisions. If you know me at all, you know I'm not great at making big decisions. I'd rather be on the space shuttle heading to the moon. Yes, please. That is not a hard decision at all.

I often invest a significant amount of time agonizing over decisions. Simply put, I am a perfectionist and I am afraid of failure. There I said it. In an effort not to turn this post into an irrelevant delve into my psyche, let's just leave it at that. I've always been that way, it is my strength and it is also my weakness. As such, I have trouble with decisions. James doesn't help either. He generally makes decisions quickly and without fanfare (too quick and easy sometimes if you ask me!). And it can get real ugly when his decision isn't quite in line with mine.

The fundamental problem is there are just way too many choices. For me, the key to making a decision on big choices lies in doing my homework. My perfectionist side likes to have all the information available so that at least I think I am making the best decision (even though it doesn't always end up so). Through this "fact finding" mission, what we have found is that there are many different ways to build a house, and so many alternatives to method, material and philosophy. There are many "experts" and believe me, they are not all saying the same thing. I like to get to the bottom of things before I decide on something. I can now add building a home to the list of near impossible things to get to the bottom of.

Take, for example, the pile of books, catalogs, handouts and fact sheets that we have collected from home shows, websites and design centers. Talk about getting to the bottom - there is no bottom! It never ends!

organized madness!

So, as you can imagine, at times we have felt overwhelmed by the amount of decisions to be made: vinyl or fiber cement? yellow or green? how about blue! bamboo or hardwood? oil or gas? geothermal? wait, how much does that cost?! is our site suitable for solar? no, we aren't cutting down trees. okay, maybe just that one. what kind of floor do we need for radiant heat? what about our wood stove? how high are the ceilings? how about we add a window here? can we do built-ins there? carpet - really? it better be recycled. what kind of counter tops should we get? I don't like granite. how about concrete - seriously, concrete? how do we make the living room comfy, it's too big. where will the TV go? over the fireplace? Whaaaaat!?!

OMG. I need a vacation. And advice. Feel free to dish it out if you have any.