[villagetinker]

We managed to buy a lot and build the house we wanted (a Gardenia), with 3 stretches. We picked everything inside, so we were confident we would not have to do anything. REAL WORLD: we have completed 40 minor to major additions to our original dream house, we now have our real dream house. While the villages in general does a very good job of designing and building houses, there are some things they (in our humble opinion) miss. The big changes were landscaping (twice) and the birdcage which we decided not to get with the initial build. All of the items after that were more of the personal preference.
IMHO, do not skimp on cabinets, counter tops, these tend to be expensive to replace, we got these right. While I tend to agree with many of the previous comments, what is important to others may not be at all important to you, so look at your EXISTING house and see what you like and do not like, and use that as a list to start with.
Hope this helps.