1. Shortlist
Keep plausible alternatives while the decision is still open. At this stage the job is comparison, not pretending a product is final.
Renovation planning guide
How do you track renovation selections without losing changes?
Use separate states for options, the current final and procurement, then preserve the important change history instead of continuously overwriting one row of information.
For homeowners managing many fixtures, finishes and product decisions across a renovation.
The tracking model
Move each decision through clear states instead of one vague “done” column.
2. Current Final
Identify one current final when the decision is made. This gives everyone a clear present answer without deleting the fact that earlier alternatives existed.
3. Revision
When the final changes, preserve the change instead of silently replacing the previous choice. The current answer stays clear while the revision remains understandable later.
4. Procurement readiness
Check whether the information needed to order is actually present. A final choice can still be missing quantity, supplier, identifying details or other order context.
5. Order status
Track purchasing separately from the design decision: not ordered, ordered and delivery-related status answer a different question from what was selected.
6. Handoff
Export or print a usable current view when a contractor, designer or supplier needs the information. The handoff should reflect the current decision state rather than a mix of old and new choices.
Keep two questions separate
What did we choose? What has happened with the order?
Those questions should not share one status field. A selection can be final but not ordered, ordered but not delivered, or revised before purchasing. Separating decision state from procurement state keeps each transition explicit.
When a spreadsheet is enough
A current-state grid is a sensible starting point.
If the project mainly needs one reliable snapshot, a spreadsheet can work well. RenoKeep provides a free Excel starter with separate Choice Status, Order Status, Order By and Expected Delivery fields.
When the spreadsheet becomes manual reconstruction
Revision history matters when the current final keeps changing.
A current-state sheet is intentionally optimized for the present snapshot. Once you repeatedly need to answer what changed, which final replaced which earlier choice and what is actually ready for ordering, preserving revisions becomes more useful than adding more spreadsheet columns.
How RenoKeep applies the model
Selection Book keeps current finals, revisions and ordering context connected.
RenoKeep Selection Book v1.1 is a local browser product. It keeps the current final visible, preserves later revisions, provides a separate Order Ready view and creates dedicated export and handoff outputs. It does not place orders or check live supplier availability.
See the sample ordering-list PDF · See the sample selections CSV
Next step
Use the system that matches the amount of change you actually have.
Start with the free spreadsheet if a current snapshot solves the problem. Use Selection Book when you need the current final, later revisions, order-readiness context and handoff outputs to remain connected in one local project.
Explore RenoKeep Selection Book What a selection sheet should include